# Electric reverse trike



## HydroJim (Dec 21, 2012)

I'm planning on making an electric reverse trike during this upcoming summer. I was originally going to make the trike gas powered, but I figured it wouldn't cost much more to make it electric and it would be a lot more fun to drive. Plus the cool factor 

I've done my reading on the wiki and I understand EV's pretty well. But I've got a few questions.

First, here is the trike frame next to a kawasaki ninja:









Trike should weigh about 120 pounds more than the motorcycle not counting batteries. The final weight depends on the batteries.

What kind of voltage would I need to maintain acceptable acceleration while also maintaining 65 mpg on the highway?

If geared correctly, could 48v be enough to get me up to speed? but it would take a long time? It's enough to get the donor motorcycle up to speed, and the trike has 1/3 of the aerodynamic drag, so I figured once I get to speed 48v should be enough. I'm just not sure about the acceleration because of the added weight.

Ideally, for cost reasons, a 48v motor would be nice because that's less batteries I have to buy.

Basically, I'm wondering if you think 48v would be enough to get me up to speed while maintaining decent acceleration, or should I go for the 72v?


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## Yabert (Feb 7, 2010)

HydroJim said:


> Ideally, for cost reasons, a 48v motor would be nice because that's less batteries I have to buy.


That is a typical error. Similar capacity battery will cost similar price despite it's a 48v or 72V battery.
To have good acceleration and maintain highway speed, I suggest you a 72v systems.

What range do you expect?
What kind of battery do you think used?


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## GREENHORNET (Dec 25, 2012)

HydroJim said:


> I'm planning on making an electric reverse trike during this upcoming summer. I was originally going to make the trike gas powered, but I figured it wouldn't cost much more to make it electric and it would be a lot more fun to drive. Plus the cool factor
> 
> I've done my reading on the wiki and I understand EV's pretty well. But I've got a few questions.
> 
> ...


Focus on weight and aerodynamics this will be your biggest bang for the buck. 

Most trikes have poor cd figures. I have yet to see any honestly that can rival some of the better car aerodynamics despite being almost perfectly suited for this. The Aptera so far I think has been the best attempt yet still to me could have done better! 

Anyways you will be highly disappointed in a 48V system unfortunately. 72V would get the job done if you keep the trike weight around 1,000lbs or preferably less. 96V would give you some fun factor at marginal extra cost. The power storage in something this small can utilize a hybrid design of Lithium Iron and Supercaps to cut down on total storage weight and increase performance.


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