M3E Tilting Trike road registered

[Willow]

Now have all engineering and stat. approvals for my trike.... it's got a number plate!

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This is a major milestone for me. The Australian Design Rules are not a walk in the park, and there is no category for Tilting Vehicles... and they defenitely have some work to do on the Electric Vehicle side of things. However, the trike was passed with no modifications neccesary.

With 1000km already on the clock, I made my first trip to work. 30km used up 60% of the pack - though I was taking it very easy, as I still sufer range anxiety. Was cold, and I had to make a stop for coffee to warm up. But other than that I got to work Grinning. Have it charging outside the Council building (my place of work)... so the trip home is a feebee. Saw my first Tasmanian ZERO on road too by chance heading the other way.

Have facebook page for it now - http://www.facebook.com/m3e.delivery.etrike like it if you will.

....and for those that havn't seen the video, press play now!

[TylerDurden]

Sweet!

[Philistine]

Well done mate. Saw the video you posted of it a ways back. Looks fantastic. All of Aus post should riding them. Genius stuff - I will be following your project with interest - could be the next Hills hoist (or was that a Kiwi invention?) I am sure one of those righteous bastards will chime in if so.

[Willow]

Thanks Philthy Phil...

So much fun to ride, and a real head turner. You can read peoples lips or hear them as they walk by, the most common phrase being "..What tha F#@$ is that?"

version 2 will be better... bike as it is sits pretty high (ok for me, but too high for most) and could do with improvements to battery and motors. Next one should do at least 90km/h and get about 80km range. At the moment I can cruise at 70 on the flat, with a tail wind, and wouldn't want to do much more than 35 - 40km without fear of over-discharge. Next one will be more visually appealing - dare I say a little more traditional.

Need a partner or backer to really get things moving.... it's not a cheap venture.

Simon.

[TylerDurden]

Need a partner or backer to really get things moving.... it's not a cheap venture.

Kickstarter?

Avoid VC or a partner, if at all possible.

[Willow]

...Have been checking out Kickstarter - looks like a possibility... would need to raise a substantial amount though - which may make it difficult. But a much better option if it was to be successful than dealing with a Venture Capitalist - at least in the early stages of commercialisation.

Anyone got a spare $3million to play with??

[whatever]

any chance you could outline what was involved getting it road registered in some detail ( if you have time)?
I'm sure it would be helpful for others wanting to get a diy ev on the road
Being a three wheeler its great you got it registered........no crash testing involved?

[Willow]

..first step is to download the Design Rules for the class of vehicle (in my case the ADR for LEM1 - ICV) Light weight trike - individually constructed vehicle, which requires no destructive testing.

Draw in detail, CAD or paper, or make a model of the vehicle you intend to build, using the Design Rules as your bible. Make a list of the types and models of components you intend to use.

Before doing any real work, take this information to the Transport Department and apply for permission to construct the vehicle.

Engage an Engineering Signatory at the beginning (the most important person in the process)... they will provide you advice, and stop you wasting time by going down the wrong track. Keep them up to date of your progress and get them to check things long the way.

Get a certified welder to do any fabrication work... much harder (and expensive) to start from scratch with a frame, but can be done. A conversion is a much more achievable project....

Ensure every component you buy is certified and rated for the application. (headlights, rims, brakes, wheels etc.)

Build it. ride it. test it. ride it some more just to be sure... and hopefully at the end your Engineer will be happy enough to sign off, having complied with all the design rules.

In dollar terms, it has cost me the equivalent of 3 new 750cc motorcycles to produce a single speed and range limited EV. And a number of years of my time, but I had to do it.....the sense of achievement is worth every cent.

[AussieJester]

Great to read you finally got the plate Simon, definitely been a long haul
kudos to you for sticking to your guns and seeing the job through ...LOVED
the filming and editing of the video too OUTSTANDING work!

KiM

[Willow]

Thanks Kim... much appreciated.

[whatever]

thanks for giving that detailed outline of the process for rego
I have a few different electric trikes all with pedals though, I did once come across an rta regulation that gave the maximum dimensions
for a pedal power ( with auxilliary assist motor) trike, damned if I can find it again after much searching........you wouldn't happen to have come
across that info in your endevours?
To use a pedal powered trike ( with motor assist) on road, one of the limiting factors is the max dimensions allowable.......it was in some obscure document
which I just cant seem to find again...........asking the rta is I think a waste of time.

[Sancho's Horse]

It takes some cajornes to say you are going to do something like this and then do it. Congrats. If you decide to kickstart something like this, you need to understand the demographic that supports kickstarter, and you need to appeal to their interests. You are likely right about achieving the numbers you need, but getting some portion of the way there can't hurt, and will only help at getting other funding.

If I were pitching this to that crowd, I would pitch how you have been successful at breaking in to the difficult, antiquated (by electric vehicle needs) legal vehicle status, and how getting vehicles like yours into the market represents an important step in creating a change in public and institutional thinking which will open the doors for the whole class of vehicles (small/efficiently designed) which the true electric vehicle market will likely represent. We shouldn't even be trying to build a fleet of huge heavy, costly sedan evs, we need this type of thing, and you fellow kickstarters can help make that a reality.
? Eh? Try it, you might be surpised.

[Sancho's Horse]

Oh, and the fact that it cost this much to achieve registration and you have eaten the costs, hero worthy. Don't forget to casually mention that.

[Willow]

I have a few different electric trikes all with pedals though, I did once come across an rta regulation that gave the maximum dimensions for a pedal power ( with auxilliary assist motor) trike.....

If it was going to be registered - the auxillary power would be the pedal power, with the motor being the primary drive. Effectively a Hybrid in the eyes of the DOT.

It takes some cajornes to say you are going to do something like this and then do it....

...and an understanding wife, well as understanding as you could expect. A lot of time spent in the man-cave. Helps to have a full time job, to keep the bills payed - but that's a double edged sword, taking away time from the things you'd rather be doing. 2 kids to keep it real as well.

Have had a few people coming out of the woodwork to help where they can - a new friend has set up my Facebook page (a social media guru) to get the audience in place prior to any Kickstarter attempt.... should I go down that route. Like the page and pass it on...

After the Gizmag article was published, other sites ripped it - and a google image search for Deliver E Trike yielded the following results (had to take a screen shot for posterity)... domination.

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simon.

[Willow]

Saw two electric vehicles on my way to work today!... one being a golf cart on the back of a trailer, and the other being the ZERO mototrcycle I saw the other day.

One thing I did notice about the ZERO was how loud it was - mostly due to the chain drive I think. Wasn't what you'd call a nice noise - sort of grating really. When I'm holding speed - which is most of the 30km trip, the trike is near silent. I can't hear any motor noise, the tyres make a bit of noise just rolling, the wind pass the helmet is the loudest thing.

I might install an amp and some speakers - so I can have some tunes going, and turn a few more heads.

Love the stealth though, and just great to not have to drive the van... already saved a tank of diesel.

[jkbrigman]

Saw two electric vehicles on my way to work today!... one being a golf cart on the back of a trailer, and the other being the ZERO mototrcycle I saw the other day.

One thing I did notice about the ZERO was how loud it was - mostly due to the chain drive I think. Wasn't what you'd call a nice noise - sort of grating really. When I'm holding speed - which is most of the 30km trip, the trike is near silent. I can't hear any motor noise, the tyres make a bit of noise just rolling, the wind pass the helmet is the loudest thing.

I might install an amp and some speakers - so I can have some tunes going, and turn a few more heads.

Love the stealth though, and just great to not have to drive the van... already saved a tank of diesel.

Awesome work man. You aussies sure know how to get your s*** together and get the job done!

I loved that last comment: "already saved a tank of diesel". That sure puts it into concrete terms...I'd better get out there and work on my ebike!

JKB

[jkbrigman]

By the way: Fantastic article on Gizmag - great photography, it much better shows the scale of the bike - it's big, bigger than it first appears.
Best of luck to you Simon! You do E-S proud!

JKB

[t3sla]

salutation and congratulation

always wondered if you had a digital read of a lilt value, would be nice to have a log with travel/degree of moment over a ride

[Willow]

salutation and congratulation

always wondered if you had a digital read of a lilt value, would be nice to have a log with travel/degree of moment over a ride

Thanks dude.

With a meter like that you'd be tempted to take it to the max as much as you could.... never a straight line. I like it.

One thing that gets people is that they watch you take a few corners, then pull up at the lights and not put your foot down... put it in park lock (locks rear brakes on and stops its tilting) and you can take your hands off and just sit there and wait for the lights to turn....take off and then lean it over around the corner again.

[t3sla]

hmm come to think of it, wouldn't be hard at all with some ultra-sonic sensors and a char lcd / bar led..... keeeeen

weekend of tinker fun with a micro

[Willow]

A cold and wet ride in this morning.

Just checked the battery status after the charge - and is reading 2V less than it should. Hmmm. have a suspect cell in there somewhere causing the BMS to cut the charge early. Won't ride home in fear of frying it.

Would love to ditch the Thundershites in favour of some A123 or the like. Currently have 66V 40AH (and bulky BMS master ubit), but would probably have room for 72V 60AH of the A123 prismatics. Need cash. The extra voltage and capactity would be amazing.

edit that.....

...when the shunt gets any water on it, the voltage readout goes out the window... Voltage is actually sitting at a healthy level. Nice afternoon for a ride too. Bring on home time.

[Willow]

Have updated my facebook page with some images and such which are worth checking out...

here: http://www.facebook.com/m3e.delivery.etrike

[Willow]

Having taken a long time to reach my first 1000km - all in 'testing', the second 1000km has come around quite quickly - as I have been riding/commuting most days.

I rode in the pouring rain/sleet the other night going home - really not the sort of conditions you want to be riding anything in. About 3 degrees C, snowing higher up, coming on dark... I was drenched, freezing cold, and paranoid about breaking down. I stopped three times because I though I heard sparks, and I kept smelling burning - but it was either stinky cars or people starting their wood-fires. I got home without incident.

Took the cover off over the weekend to check everything out - all seems good, strapped a couple of wires up that looked like they might start rubbing on something... charged it to check the state of balance (each cell has a BMS moduke that glows red when it's approaching full). All cells were glowing red, one was a little slow, and I put the multi-meter on it. Touched the terminal, and accidently the battery box, which made a huge spark, a cloud of smoke, a melted probe and a bite out of the cell connector. No real damage, but another reminder of how much potentially destructive power we're playing with.... and some justification to my paranoia.

...good ride in today. I'm noticing that power usage is very sensitive to minor variations in riding style - and I'm trying to be conservative the whole trip. I notice about 5-10% variations, because I have either given a bit too much throttle in places, or not just coasted down the hill. I reckon if I rode it as hard as I did in testing, I'd have depleated the pack before arriving at my destination.

[Willow]

This is my little hidey-hole charge point on the building adjoining work.

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Charger is transported in the undercarriage - and comes out into the freash air when charging. black plug is going to the charger, and the mains plug in to the BMS controll box.

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[Willow]

...Got that sickley sweet smell of cooking Lithium yesterday just a few hundred metres from home. I havn't opened it up yet, but my BMS is telling me I have fried a cell or two... pushed it a bit too hard, and there are a couple of weak cells. Killing off the weak ones in the pack - makes the heard stronger.

I have few spares, so will get onto replacing dead ones over the weekend - longest part will be charging everything back up again...