24v Mid drive Tricycle
Left is before the bracing was completed and to the right with bracing secured.
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Each string of LEDs demands 24v @20ma. As such each light string has 24 super bright LEDs. For the marker lights, there are 8 at the front, 2 groups of 3 on each side and two groups of 5 at the back all wired in series.
So our front wiring is established. From the left handlebar we have 8 22ga wires to the front controller. From the right handlebar we have 5 22ga wires to the controller. The front lighting will mount later to the front of the control cabinet and it's 15 wires directly connect into the cabinet. 8 18ga wires, 8 22ga wires pass from the control cabinet to the electrical compartment. Thats 16 wires that have to pass from the center of the handlebars to the rear frame.
Electric Mid drive system: 24v system
To install the mid drive motor you need to use the supplied guide plate for mounting and fashion a new plate with bracing that spans between both inner basket rails. The sprocket hub is then mounted to the sprocket and attached to the motor. Once in place align, size, and apply the chain between the motor sprocket and the freewheel sprocket on the axle using a chain link. The direction of motor shaft rotation must be correct! Consult the documentation with the motor.
Electric E-Trike controller
The heart of the Electric Trike is the control unit that fits in the back Electronics bay on the right hand side. On an E-Bike it is both the heart and brain but, and there is always a but, this is a super E-Trike. As a super E-Trike the controller takes direction from a brain called the Main controller. The main controller handles E-Trike drive, Lighting, braking, AC charging, solar charging, and power Inversion. So in this case, the E-Trike controller is powered from Main controller. The Key lock wiring of the controller can be bridged or wired as a secondary key switch. 5 hall effect wires go to the drive motor as does the 3 phrase wires. The throttle takes 3 wires and two sets of 2 wires run to the brake handles as motor cut-out switches. Several changes must be done to the original plan. Battery pack has to change from 15 series cells by 5 cells parallel to 8 cells series by 10 cells parallel (double the capacity) going 24v from 48v. Solar charge goes from 57v @4ah to 30v @6ah (faster charging). The axle system needs 2 x freewheel sprockets up from a single sprocket. Lighting has to be changed from 48v to 24v. The charge / inverter has to be changed also from 60v to 30v, and a custom controller is needed.
Since I have decided to go with a different motor drive system, The wires coming from the front must connect to the corresponding connections on the ebike controller. The key switch wires and battery connections wire to the main charge controller rather than directly to a key switch and battery.
Windshield & Containers round up the finishing.
For this Tricycle project there comes a need for custom containers for Batteries, Controllers, and the Windshield itself. Poly carbonate (Lexan) or Acrylic (Plexiglas) are the go to resources that can accomplish this. While we can make the containers using 3D printed forms, the lack of a 3D printer and CAD skills makes it more prudent to go with plastic sheeting which we need for the windshield anyways. Below is my research in such plastic sheets.
Bill of Materials
| Section | Item | Estimate$ | E-Total$ | Actual$ | A-Total$ |
| Basic Trike |
bike 1 bike 2 bike 3 |
$0.00 $100.00 $100.00 |
$200.00 |
$0.00 $9.98 NLR |
$9.98 |
| With the changes along the way I was able to acquire 2 donated bikes and reworked the design such that only 2 bikes were needed. The front 26" wheel is changed to a 26" electric hub wheel. The other bike had 24" fat wheels and became the rear wheels. One of these wheels needed a new tube. The first bikes 26" wheels became the wheels for the trailer. | |||||
| Trike Framing |
0.5" x 48" Sq Steel Tubing (25) 20ga Metal skin () Welding $2/joint . . . 120 cut brackets Compartment Locks (6) Piano Hinge (8ft) |
$160.00 $230.00 $120.00 $36.00 $12.00 |
$558.00 |
$195.00 $0.00 $42.00 $0.00 $9.00 |
$246.00 |
| Building the frame took considerable reworking. Firstly, the .5" square tubing got changed out to .75" square tubing, and instead of getting 25pcs x 48" I only received 23 pcs cut to almost exact lengths. Welding was replaced by 120 cut .5" x 1" 'L' brackets and 480 rivets. | |||||
| Driveline |
1" x 48" Steel Rod (1pc) 1" Pillow Bearings (2pcs) 16T Freewheel Sprocket (2) 15T Sprocket 1" sprocket hubs (3) Chain (15ft) |
$8.55 $25.18 $26.48 $15.00 $15.00 $50.00 |
$140.21 |
$38.95 $25.18 $30.98 $15.00 $15.00 $0.00 |
$125.21 |
| The steel rod was much more expensive than planned. We are only driving one rear wheel instead of both so sprockets become 2 not 3 and the existing chains are resized to work. | |||||
| Brakes |
Brake F Caliper Brake L Caliper Brake R Caliper Servo motor |
$26.00 $26.00 $26.00 $35.00 |
$113.00 $1011.00 |
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $35.00 |
$35.00 $416.19 |
| A little reworking and I was able to reuse the brakes from the donated bikes to facilitate the braking of the three wheels. The front brake remained unchanged. The former rear brake of bike one became a transfer caliper on the center mount frame. The transfer caliper then fed the two rear brake cables such that when the rear brake is applied it pulls on the middle caliper which in turn pulls two brake cables to the rear wheels that use the brakes from the second bike Now with electric braking the front brake cable to the center is gone as is the middle 'Y' caliper to be replaced with a pivot and servo. | |||||
| Lighting Ctrl |
(1) DPDT-co-sw Paddle switch (1) SPST-mom Horn Sw (2) Push on/off haz/hlight (1) IC 555 timer ic (1) socket 8pin dip (1) PCB Perfbrd (1) Tr1 2N2222A (1) vr1 100k (2) rly1,2 SPDT Relay (2) r1,2 1kr (1) r3 12kr (2) r4,5 470R (1) c1 1uf (1) c2 .01uf (4) diodes 1N4148 (1) Projectbox (2) Pheonix screw terminal 8p (1) HBAR MNT PWM Brake: (1) IC 555 timer ic (1) socket 8pin dip (1) IC ILQ2 optocoupler (1) socket 16pin dip (1) diodes 1N4001 (2) diodes 1N4148 (1) resister 10KR (2) resister 100KR (1) resister 10R (1) 5v zener (2) 100uf (1) 10uf (1) Phoenix PCB screw terminal 2p (1) 2p header male (1) 16p header male (1) Key switch (1) Rly3 spst CylonEye: (1) 74ls73 jk Flip-Flop (1) 74ls191 4 bit up down counter (1) 74ls154 16 line demultiplex (1) socket 14pin dip (1) socket 16pin dip (1) socket 24pin dip (13) LED's |
$6.99 $3.65 $7.30 $0.75 $0.72 $2.50 $0.57 $0.25 $5.49 $0.40 $0.20 $0.20 $0.69 $0.69 $0.06 $12.00 $3.59 $3.55 0.75 0.72 1.14 0.72 0.10 0.30 0.20 0.40 0.20 1.60 1.12 0.69 1.42 0.20 0.20 15.00 2.43 $1.52 $1.52 $3.95 $0.72 $0.72 $0.72 $2.47 |
$100.79 |
$2.99 $2.29 $4.58 $0.49 $0.15 $ $ $0.15 $5.40 $0.10 $0.05 $0.10 $0.39 $0.39 $0.00 $0.00 $3.59 $0.45 0.75 0.72 0,00 0.72 0.10 0,00 0.20 0.40 0.20 0,00 1.12 0.69 0,00 0.20 0.20 2.43 $1.52 $1.52 $3.95 $0.15 $0.15 $0.15 $2.47 |
$38.76 |
| Lighting control reworked into a windshield mounted unit at handlebars with only turn switch at left handle grip. | |||||
| Lighting |
(1) Headlight (2) Tail lights . . . (208) LEDs . . . PCB stock for 6 displays . . . Epoxy case (2) Turn Light . . . (80) LEDs have 11 of 80 . . . Epoxy case (4) Marker . . . (16) LEDs . . . Epoxy case |
$11.00 $40.00 $30.00 $20.00 |
$101.00 |
$11.00 $39.42 $ $4.00 $15.20 $4.00 $3.04 $2.00 |
$78.86 |
| Purchasing a high luminous LED headlight and creating custom signal and tail-lights made more work but made for a unique and less expensive solution. | |||||
| Accessories |
Helmet Horn Mirror Windshield . . . 24" x 36" Plexiglas . . . 4 Electrical Conduit Clamps - plated (Select size to fit on the forks and/or handlebars) . . . 2 feet 1/4"-20 All-thread Rod - plated (struts) . . . 4 1/4"-20 Acorn Nuts - stainless steel or chrome plated . . . 8 1/4" washers - stainless steel . . . 12 1/4"-20 Nuts - stainless steel . . . 4 Rubber Grommets - 1/8" ID, for 1/8" thick material. . . . 2 feet 1/4" dia. Black Shrink Tubing (to cover the all-thread rod) . . . 1 Inner Tube (to cut into pads to isolate the clamps from your forks and handlebar) . . . 1 yard Felt Cloth - synthetic or wool |
$45.00 $8.00 $9.00 $50.00 |
$112.00 |
$45.00 $0.00 $0.00 $28.00 $ $ |
$73.00 |
| We kept the mirror from the first bike, used a high db horn as part of the lighting control system, and made a custom windshield. | |||||
| E-Trike Convert |
24v 500W mid drive Kit |
$389.00 |
$389.00 |
$389.00 |
$389.00 |
| The E-bike mid-drive kit consists of the motor brackets and controller unit, brake handles, key switch and monitor. | |||||
| Battery Pack 24v @30Ah 1440W 120km Range Wght 12 lbs |
(8x10) 3.2v 6A Cells type 32700 (30x3) Cell forms 2m x 8mm Nickel Strip Plexiglas case |
(80) x $9.63 = $770.40 (80) x $1.29 = $102.40 $7.00 $28.00 |
$907.8 |
$ $ $ |
$907.80 |
| The most expensive part of the project is the making of the battery pack(s) | |||||
| Electronics |
(2) Cell Logger . . . Changed to (1) voltage display up front . . . add (1) led voltage level up front (1) 1Charge 208B . . . (15) BD140 transistor $12.45 . . . (15) 20k vr4 pots $1.50 . . . (15) TL431 zr1 $10.65 . . . (30) 20k resistor $1.50 . . . (15) 1k resistor $0.75 . . . (15) LED's $2.85 . . . (15) 330R resistor $0.75 . . . (60) 1N4007 diode $17.40 (1) Solar Ctrl . . . 4k7-5w . . . 240R . . . TIP142 . . . (2) 1N4007 Diode (1) 48v120 Inverter . . . 2w10BD bridge rectifier . . . (6) IFR9540 Mosfet . . . (2) IFR540 Mosfet . . . (3) 1N4007 . . . (1) 1uf Capacitor . . . (2) 2N547 transistors . . . (2) .01uf Capacitor . . . (1) 120-60-625w transformer . . . (1) 12vRelay-10a contacts . . . (4) 470R . . . (2) 1KR . . . (9) 2pos pcb connectors (1) 120v48v Charger . . . 2w10BD bridge rectifier . . . (1) 1uf Capacitor . . . (2) .01uf Capacitor . . . (1) 12vRelay-10a contacts (1) EBike Ctrl |
was $6.04 now $4.60 and $1.20 $181.98 $34.96 $48.65 $24.95 incl |
$296.58 |
$ $ $12.45 $1.50 $10.65 $1.50 $0.75 $2.85 $0.75 $17.40 $2.15 $0.05 $2.74 $0.58 $1.48 $10.08 $3.48 $0.87 $0.10 $1.02 $0.20 $68.85 $6.90 $0.20 $0.10 $13.50 $1.48 $0.10 $0.10 $6.90 Incl |
[$174.77] |
| With our custom electronics we have better control over charging, distribution and monitoring. It also doesn't hurt to be a fraction of the cost. | |||||
|
Solar Array 48v 2Ah 96W |
0.5" U Channel 30Ft (112) Polycrystaline Cells 16ga Wire Tab wire |
$48.00 $48.00 $8.00 $8.00 |
$112.00 |
$44.00 $102.00 $8.00 $32.00 |
$186.00 |
| The solar array also under went some radical change. Instead of 3 panels with two folding over the first panel, I changed from 3 x 1'x 4' panels to 2 x 1.5' x 4' panels that fold up vertically behind the seat. The change means that 220 cells can be worked in to provide 4A of charge instead of 2A. | |||||
| Other |
Pop Rivets Class 5 Bolts (7) Primer (3 cans) Blue Paint (3 cans) Acetate glue Epoxy/ resin 8oz to 16oz |
$3.49 $4.67 3 * $6.95 3 * $6.95 $ $ |
$49.86 |
$3.49 $4.67 3 * $6.95 3 * $6.95 $ $ |
$ |
| $3109.12 | $2346.70 | ||||
Adding things up:
For a rough total of $3109.00for a full featured ETrike with a 120km range at 50km/hour. It will be basically maintenance free for a span of 4 to 5 years then may require $885.00 to go another 4 to 5 years. Not to shabby! 60 months for under $41.00 per month and 120 months (10 years) for under an average of $28 per month.
I'd say that is a far cry from using an ICE car for simple trip commuting at a monthly cost of $1000 per month for 5 yrs not including maintenance.
Who'd of thought transportation costs of $60,000 over 5 years could be done for $3000. Provide free travel without need for insurance, fossil fuels, and high maintenance charges which aren't included in this report.