Electric Trike

Introduction

06.08.2022. Due to my being time and resource poor, this project will take a few years to reach completion. Despite this, I intend to append information to this article in thimbleful amounts.

It all began with the idea of travelling to my nearby university using my own creation, using the neighbours' old and unwanted push bikes, and some free solar panels I collected. First came the nascent visualisations in my imagination: an electric trike with the option of manual pedalling, capable of seating two people, and having a above-head appendage that acts as both a roof and solar-energy harnesser. Second came a rudimentary drawing. Third came the mechanical complications.

Features and Considerations

The table below contains the trike's features and the considerations for each feature:

Feature	Considerations
Powered by either humans (via pedalling), or the motor using electricity.	To prevent the pedals from spinning while the trike is in freewheeling- or motor-induced- motion, the driven sprocket of the pedal chain will be freewheeling.
Above-head solar panels that act as shade and an energy source to charge the batteries that power the motor.	The panels I have are approximately 1.6m × 1m in size. They will be oriented so that the roof will have a length of 2m and a witdh of 1.6m.
Two-person capacity, as well as rear storage	The trike must be wide enough to accomodate two people comfortably.
Front and rear suspension
Gears for torque or speed	Gears from push bikes will be used, as well as the derailleurs, to change gears.

I have only a mere hour's worth or so of welding experience at the time of writing this. Therefore, this trike will be constructed from square-tube steel, rather than aluminium (aluminium welding is complicated, let alone steel welding).