Electric Trike
Mechanical fixes, battery and power-system upgrades, advanced controller tuning, and a lot of late-night soldering.
I was bored on my phone browsing through Facebook Marketplace when a particular listing caught my attention. Two adult-sized drift trikes made for riding down hills for only 200 CHF!
That was the start of a 4 month journey full of late-night soldering, prototyping, wiring and researching, which resulted in a fully electric trike, balancing comfort, performace and reliability.
Specs Evolution
I categorised my upgrades into 3 main stages. The prototype was built
entirely from scrap parts in my basement and I was just focused on
getting the trike to drive for the first time.
The main upgades
of the next stage, were a 48V Li-ion battery and a 1000W direct-drive
motor. With the huge power increase I had to make sure I wasn't soley
relying on rim brakes, so I installed disc brakes.
The final
trike was equipped with a Grin Technologies Baserunner which allowed for regenerative breaking and a 10km/h speed boost through
a technique called Field Weakening.
| Stage | Power System | Motor | Controller | Brakes | Safety Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype | 36V strapped battery | 500W geared hub | Cheap controller | Rim brakes | None |
| Mid-upgrade | 48V 20Ah Li-ion | 1000W direct-drive | Basic 48V controller | Disk brake | Basic lighting |
| Final | 48V 20Ah + backup | 1000W direct-drive | Grin programmable BLDC | Disk brake | LED lights, horn, buzzer, switches |