Why has this forum gone quiet?

[unclemark]

Why has this forum gone quiet? Am I missing something

[kiwicanfly]

Are you just asking about the eTrike board or the whole forum in general?

I think things do quiten down a little this time of year as people start spending more time driving their cars than building them.

Except in the Southern Hemisphere of course where it has gotten so cold I have had to resort to wearing a long sleeve shirt

[unclemark]

Nice to see the rest of the site and business is booming but I was thinking more about the etrike board. Looks like the posting stopped a year or two ago. 

[batbuilder]

Sold my etrike last week ebay ad.




Didn't get much for it. I enjoyed building it and got it running, all working and driving but could not think of a use for it apart from a toy. I learned a lot when building it though and the money spent is the fraction of what a college course would cost. 

If I were doing it again I would:

Use the suspension that Stuart recommends rather than trying to modify something " cos it was cheap".
Not use hammerite paint on the chassis.
Use larger front wheels maybe 13".
Use Lithium batteries, the lead ones are heavy and and useless after a coupe of years.

If you want any more info PM me.

[erik]

Nice e-trike!
I have been considering to build one too. would look great as a recumbend tricycle as well (build light ) . I am studying to build a low resistance granny bike which is pretty amazing. I need old steel hubs and large wheels LOL!!

Lead acid batteries need to be abused to increase capacity. If you don't they go bad in short time notice. you can read al lot of info on this in the Gwiz car forum. This is initially a Lead acid powered car. Lead Acid batts can be recycled and you get some money back for them. The costs of a 3 year lifespan would be 600 euro for a Gwiz car batteriepack which is far more cost effective as li-Ion. For range you should use throttle management

When you weed through websites regarding e-power (endlesssphere etc) you should notice shelf life of batteries are left to be desired unlike manufacturors state. to break even with e-power you should be able to use it as a daily comutter or it'll be a very expensive ride.

For me the biggest downside of e-powered vehicles is need warm batteries (15+Celcius) to operate not cold or frozen. In cold seasons they should be pre heated to remain capacity and to keep their voltage level acceptable. You'll need heat from your garage or power socket for pre heated batterie system. If the batts get hot the voltage will increase as well as your power consumption and th milage will get shorter as well without throttle management.
Your footprint will not be as low as advertised. This would make it impractical for a daily commuter as most trikes are not closed versions. Hard to break even on the pack. However, the use of a light scooter IC engine would be far more suitable for occasionally commuting. Honda 125/150cc scooter engines are very fuel efficient. You could even buy a new one for reasonable money and break it apart. I think this is cheaper as e-power build and possibly lower footprint. e-cars seem to have a very high footprint to manufacture.

I like e-power a lot but I recon it is not practical. H2 is cheap to produce (high voltage/low current) but we have to be patience for this technology.