Electric trike motors - Veloform and Cyclopolitain

Question

do these vehicles use hub motors or transaxle motors?

i know that they are electric assist, not permanent.

Would a powerful (500-700w) hub motor be strong enough for a passenger trike like these (3 people)?

www.veloform.com

www.cyclopolitain.com

Answer 1

Your Answer:

I found this link for a Veloform city cruiser II. That is a hub motor on the front wheel. There is some input about Veloform on this forum, you might find interesting.

http://www.rickshawforum.com/forums/show...

The Cyclopolitain is different There is no hub motor on the front. I can only speculate from the pictures I have seen. It looks like there is a drive on the rear axle. (probably independent???)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shandara/27...

700 Watts plus a rider should be enough to get these things to reasonable speed on a flat road.(Similar to a better cyclist) Say around 20mph (32km/h) probably a bit more. If the weight in the forum is about right (150 kg plus people) then they should do still manage around 10mph (16km/h) up a 7% grade. Range would be limited by battery type and capacity. Acceleration will be slow.

Source(s):

Experience with similar powered and weighted vehicles.