Electronic drive-trains are absolutely idiotic. They have been tried. They do not work.
The inefficiency is monstrous, if you actually expect to collect the power produced by the cyclist, and transfer it to a motor at the drive wheel.
The only reason this works, is it has a battery to draw power from. This is just an electric trike with extra steps. The pedals are pointless.
Ok, I’ll admit: The word “need” is doing some heavy lifting in the title there…
Don’t pedal then?
It’s a viable concept as an EV, so the innefficiency you’re citing is really only applicable to the value added by pedalling… that can be as innefficient as it wants to be, since it’s just extra… it’s still value added…
No?
God damn thats stupid. Just run a chain under the box, theres plenty of room. Just adds complexity needlessly.
Or if you’re worried about the chain taking up too much vertical space then you could use a crank shaft and a pinion gear at each end.
It’s not stupid, it’s gimmicky!
Wait, is gimmicky inherently stupid?
brb, consulting scholars
One main advantage of electric assist ebikes is missing here, which is the ability to ride without the electrical assist system active.
From what I see, the benefits of this kind of system would be no need for gears, and a pretty effective immobiliser just by switching off the motors. However something similar can be achieved using an Enviolo hub and a frame lock…
I’m not sure how I’d feel about foregoing a tried and tested chain drive for something like this instead, my main worry is going up a hill and the dual 250w motors cut out, and what happens when you hit the 16mph assist cutout.
This might make more sense with more powerful assist motors, but I’m not entirely sold yet on a combined 500w hauling a big cargo trike like this, especially when fully loaded. I’ve bogged down a 250w going uphill, and that’s just with my own body weight.
I’m curious to know if these electric only systems would still work without power or if pedaling would still move enough electrons to provide power. If so, that would be pretty cool, but personally, yeah, I think I’ll be sticking with a chain because shit happens and things fail. Love having fallback options: If my chain breaks, my rear hub can still get me home and if I lose power I can still pedal.
With the aerodynamics of that big box in back you need a steep downhill to reach 16mph on only 500watts of power.
