SSE CozE electric reverse trike

[dain]

Happened across this forum somehow as I was looking for a CAD model for a 2003 Yamaha R1 engine.. figured I would join!

I would like to introduce myself first - my name is Dain and I live and work in Iowa as an engineer for John Deere.  I've been constructing an electric reverse trike for about a year now, I wanted to build one because I don't always feel like riding a motorcycle in the morning and I thought it would be fun to have a vehicle that doesn't use any gas!  Also, motorcycle parking is right next to the door at work!!

I started with a Mazda Miata K-member, front suspension, and steering and designed my chassis from that.  I'm using a Motenergy ME1003 72V DC motor, Alltrax AXE controller, and 6 Trojan T1275 Batteries.  I also wanted to keep cost down, which is why I didn't use a lithium battery and went with the lead acid and DC brushed motor... I can always drop a bunch of money into a big motor and lithium pack later once I prove out the chassis and the rest of the vehicle. 

Acceleration to 30mph is brisk and the top speed is around 50-52mph depending on conditions - range is about 30 miles.  The trike weighs about 1100lbs. 

[dain]

Obviously I have to post some pictures of the actual machine...  I have quite a few more pics of the build if anyone is interested, but I think these two do a good job showing the mechanics behind it all

[dain]

Still working on finishing the body, but I had it out a couple weeks ago on a nice day and took a couple pictures of what it looks like currently!  Completely street legal, registered, and insured! 

[Liteway]

Interesting design. Nice work. Clean and compact frame. Coil over mounting angle in relation to the swing arm looks a bit odd. Shouldn't force be applied as perpendicular as possible to the coilover for its most efficient operation? Is that working out ok for you?
Where do the batteries go?

[dain]

I've got 4 batteries mounted in the nose, and 1 behind each seat. The rear suspension works great, I used an extra racing shock I had laying around from my IMCA late model days - the ride is very smooth and controlled even on bumpy roads! The angle geometry with respect to the swingarm pivot gives me a bit of progressive spring rate.

[aarwigg]

Dain,

Wow, this is really nice! I have been drooling over electric motors for some time, and would ultimately love to build one myself when I have the funds. The frame looks great too. It looks like you actually designed it all out first - that's what engineers do apparently. I kind of built mine section by section, and ,as you have commented on how to improve it, you probably already knew it wasn't all on paper/computer first. I would love to see a video of it in action if you ever get a chance. Very nice.

Aaron

[dain]

Thanks for the compliments - I gave it my best attempt at building without a lithium battery and the performance/range still just isn't quite enough. I feel like I gave it the best shot I could with lead acid... had I focused on aerodynamics I might have gotten there but I didn't want to compromise styling. A lithium battery and more powerful brushless motor is what I really need which will set me back around $8k for the pair - not worth it. It DOES get me to work and back at 45mph though, so that part is successful. Us engineers do like to have at least a few things on paper before we build! This vehicle I probably had 50% designed before I started building. Design a little, build a little, repeat.

[DaveJ98092]

It is funny when you post an EV bike or trike, the words come out "$14,000 for a bike that only goes 85 miles at 75 MPH, no way." When you try to explain that it only costs $0.09 to charge it up compared to $4 in gas to ride a gas powered bike the same place, you get "But the payback of that $14,000 will take forever". I did an Excel spreadsheet to show the costs and they still don't get it. The costs of Oil, Filters, Chains, Sprockets and coolant changes that you do not have on most EV's are lost on them.

I was going to buy a Corbin Sparrow, an OLD TECH Lead acid battery EV trike, so I priced out a hub drive, controller/charger and a set of Li Batteries for a trike build and it was $6500 to $8500 depending on how many batteries needed for extra range. I talked to Darius over at ZEV Corp, the makers of a Suzuki 400 clone EV zelectricvehicle.com/22.html They sell all the parts.

[dain]

Dave - All said and done I have just over $4k in this trike, but like you said it uses the old tech lead acid and a brushed motor. Personally I don't think there is a ton to gain by using a brushless motor aside from there are smaller more powerful units out there than my ME1003, but cost wise the motor and controller are easily twice as expensive. With lithium you may have also forgot about your BMS (battery management system) that is required to make your expensive lithium batt last more than a few hundred charges - a charger is easily $500+.

If you took the design from my Vtwin trike for a single seater you would have a better shot at keeping it cheap and electric. Single seat is a lot easier to make aerodynamic, can be made much lighter = less power to keep at speed and less power to accelerate. Find a powerful 48V motor, drop in 2 Chevrolet Volt lithium modules (48V/45AH) and you'd have a zippy around town electric trike that'd be good for 30-40 miles and 50-60mph and weighs less than 400lbs.

[dain]

Finished the majority of the bodywork this weekend - just need to 3d print my rear spoiler and I would call this thing complete.  Also installed seatbelts while I was at it.  Also took it for a spin this weekend... little chilly but having the wind deflector mounted helped A LOT!  Put about 30 miles on it and still had probably 25% juice left. 

[aarwigg]

dain,

Looks decent. What is the material of the white side pieces?

How big is the build platform on your 3d printer?

Aaron

[dain]

Plastic sheet from a local company Performance Bodies. They sell it in rolls - very tough stuff, easy to work with.

My 3d printer has 8x8x8" build area - the spoiler will be made in 7 pieces.. I am integrating a pair of power door lock actuators so that when I hit the brakes the spoiler tilts forward about 20 degrees for "active aerodynamics". This way I can get the aesthetics all the time and only have aero drag when I need it.

[Liteway]

3D PRINTER! Color me green with envy.
I have been thinking about solenoid actuated active areo for some time. Not sure how effective it would be at road speeds, but who cares, it would be d**n cool.

My twist would be to use 2 solenoids, each hooked to a separate mercury switch. One switch would be oriented at a right angle to the direction of travel to actuate in corners bringing the wing to a mid position when a certain threshold g was reached, increasing down force at the rear and increasing stability. The second switch, arranged north south, would activate a second solenoid under moderate to heavy braking to bring the wing to max down angle for air braking. The advantage of a mercury switch rather than wiring to the brake light is the wing would not drop every time brakes are lightly tapped, which (IMO) would subtract from its cool factor and may be a bit annoying. The wing flipping away in heavy traffic might invite a sneer or chuckle from the Toyota and F150 crowd.

Even beyond that, lightly tapping the brake in a high speed turn and fully deploying the air brake momentarily could be destabilizing.

[dain]

triplethreat - get on amazon and get urself a 3d printer - I believe they are selling the one I have for $400, XYZprinting Davinci - thing just works great! by far the best printer on the market under $1k IMO. I've had mine for over a year now - a buddy of mine bought one too and he has over 1000 hrs on his!

I definitely agree with you on using the accelerometer style switches that detect cornering, accel or braking - I figured I would see how it works first before I got too fancy with it. I am going to wire a switch inline with it so I can just turn it off which will probably be the case most of the time!

[Liteway]

I have to research the printer deal.

A master kill/activation switch for the active airo (along with a bright warning light) is a good idea.

[dain]

I think just a warning sticker "WARNING: TOGGLING SWITCH WILL ACTIVATE EXTREME AWESOME"

[Liteway]

HA! I like that, and one of those cool if silly red flip covers too.
How about, besides the master switch system armed confirmation light (whew) I could have other lights flash as the individual solenoids engage,
just to pretend to myself that I are a lectro mechanical wizzard.

[dain]

Thought I would post an update, so here it is!

I've had the vehicle down for quite some time for a much needed powertrain upgrade.  This includes a more powerful motor, controller, and lithium battery.  The motor I'm currently using is a Motenergy ME1507, also known as the "z force" motor that Zero uses in it's electric motorcycles.  Zero rates it at 53hp, but with higher voltage I believe it can push nearly 100hp.  I also built a custom lithium battery using 720 individual Panasonic 18650 cells, and keep them in balance with 4 hobby grade cell medics and by only charging at 10A (takes overnight to charge).  Controller is a Kelly 8080IPS 96600, which is about a 40kw peak controller, as Kelly is generous with their ratings (rated 60kw)

Since upgrading to lithium my vehicle has lost 410 lbs, so not only have I gained 10hp I've dropped from ~1160 to 750lbs.  Top speed is 60mph, but purely due to running out of gearing.  Range has increased to 50 miles!  Here is a pic of the trike sitting outside at work!  Replicating the vehicle would cost somewhere between $4k and 5k in parts in case anyone was curious, maybe took 150-200hrs to build.