Looking for cheap sys. Wifes trike. Elec

[Sianelle]

An awful lot depends on the load you're carrying and the terrain you're carrying it over Doc. My tricycle is fitted with a pair of 12volt 17Ah batteries and it gets used for mainly 'going-and-getting' or 'taking-it-to-there' type trips. It is rare for my tricycle not to be hauling a load of some kind so for me it's not so much a matter of round trip distance travelled being the critical factor, but 'can-it-take-the-load'?
The other thing to bear in mind is how much pedalling does your wife want to do? My tricycle has a two speed Sachs Duomatic hub and I'm pretty much always doing a little helping out with the pedals as I ride along no matter if I'm running light or hauling bulk bags of potting mix back from the garden centre. (My doctor tells me I MUST maintain a level of exercise with this illness I have).
With my controller I can set it to either 200watt or 250watt and most of the time I use the 200watt setting which I find to be just fine for around town. Here at the edge of the plains country things are a little undulating, but not severely so. There's certainly no intrepid type hills to face which suits me juuuuuust fine I guess my speed is around 10-13mph on average.
In terms of battery capacity I think you should be Ok Doc, but I would suggest a test run with support back-up to be really certain. Are you going to physically carry the 7Ah batteries on your trike to act as back-up? Could be a good idea if you're going for a distance trial.

 

[Dockspa1]

Thanks Sianelle for your input. Yes, I am going to keep the 7Ah batteries charged and in her basket all the time. You know the big batteries will wear out eventually and it's nice to know dhe has a back up if needed. She will be using it for a grocery getter and just for fun. I bought her a honda CT90 but she was scared of it so maybe this will do the trick. I will have to affix a lockable lid to her basket, mainly because of the cost of these batteries. What is the most distance you would guess that you personally achieved?

 

[Sianelle]

Yeah, you gotta watch those Honda CT90s Doc. I had one and I had to keep it chained up because it would rev its engine in a real mean way at anybody who came near.
I think I've been about 12Kms at the most, but that was all stop-start and carrying a heavy load back when I was delivering supermarket flyers and had a paper round as well.

 

[Dockspa1]

Ya Sianelle, She is afraid of that monster 90cc 4 speed.
Alass, she rode the electric tricycle and after once up the road on her way back she was smiling all the way.
Think she likes it! YaHoo
Doc

 

[Alaskavan]

Good work Doc.

 

[Dockspa1]

Thanks Van & Sianelle,
I just now decided that the one front pad brake was not enough especially because of the weight of the trike with batteries and rider so I welded a channel on the back and mounted another. Stops real good now but I think I'll keep her life inurance anyhow. (Grin).

 

[oldschool]

Battery cutoff switches are spst. Seems like the simple solution. Like http://www.batterymart.com/p-battery-cut-off-switch.html