Philippines Pedicab (Trisikad) Conversion

I am an Australian engineer now living in Cebu, Philippines. A few months ago, I converted my 26" mountain bike into an ebike using a 48V 1000W conversion kit I purchased from China and 4 x 12V 16Ahr SLA batteries from Manila. There were a few problems that I had to solve, however I eventually got it all together and it worked!

My good Filipino friend, Erwin, has a tisikad that he uses transporting people and cargo around our sityo (neighbourhood) to earn money to keep his family. He was most impressed with my ebike conversion, so I offered to look into converting his trisikad into an etrisikad.

Here is his trisicad before conversion:


LH Profile with the driver Erwin in the background. That white animal bottom left is the only girl who truly loves me unconditionally. The motorcycle is my Yamaha YBR125G.



The first thing we needed to determine was if my conversion kit was powerful enough to power his trisikad. We did this by measuring the maximum static pulling force that his trisikad could exert with him pedalling and the same with my mountain bike just using the hub motor. This produced a pulling force of 30kg (294N) from his trisikad with 20" wheels and 32kg (315N) from my MTB with 26" wheels. It looked like the same conversion kit would be powerful enough for Erwin's triskad.

We next took some measurements to ensure that the hub motor would fit into his 20" wheel and into his bicycle frame. No problem with fitting into the wheel but it was going to be a tight fit into the frame. We both thought that it would work.

Another kit was then ordered from China a more batteries from Manila. It arrived about 2 weeks later.

Here is the conversion kit:

View attachment 7 View attachment 5

We were originally going to fit the hub motor into the right rear wheel as there was plenty of room in the frame for the hub motor. I then noticed that when turning right, trisikads turn about their right rear wheel (that wheel remains stationary while the bicycle pivots around it). As such, the hub motor had to go into the left rear wheel.

After a full day of mucking around, we finally got everything fitted and it WORKED! Erwin now has that ebike grin.



The etrisikad's pulling power was measured at 39kg (382N) and has a top speed (without passengers or cargo) of 39kph (24mph). With a full 250kg load plus Erwin, the trisikad was able to operate on all roads that it normally operates on without any problems.

Under normal operations, Erwin reports that he is getting about 60km (37 miles) range with his 4 x 12V 16Ahr batteries.

This is the first etrisikad in Cebu and probably the first in the Philippines. Total conversion cost was a little under USD400.

That's pretty cool. I bet he won't have the only e-trisikad for very long. He'll soon get imitators.

It looks like he could easily add a front hub motor if desired.

If those are lead acid batteries, he may be disappointed in how long they last.

I like this build / conversion.

FWIW, the original bike frame there is almost exactly like the one I used to build Delta Tripper around:
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22720&hilit=delta+tripper&start=25#p689786
(don't build a trike like Delta Tripper, though...if you want one build it like SB Cruiser,
https://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=67833&start=775#p1424309
which is MUCH better geometry and handling and cargo capacity, or the Raine Trike
https://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=80951&hilit=amberwolf%27s+raine+trike&start=50#p1371156
which would ride better due to the larger rear wheel diameter).


I like the old-motorcycle-tire cut up for fender(s). Probably a little heavy, but very durable and won't rattle. :lol: I would however recommend stainless steel hose clamps (even cheap ones recycled off old cars) that have been formed into a rectangle shape over the zipties; the zipties will age from UV / etc over time and break (though not as big an issue there as it is here in Phoenix, I'd wager).

rbscebu said:

I then noticed that when turning right, trisikads turn about their right rear wheel (that wheel remains stationary while the bicycle pivots around it). As such, the hub motor had to go into the left rear wheel.

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Unfortunately that scrub is kind of how most trikes end up working--it's less of an issue on the left wheel of a sidecar type like this, than on a regular delta like my SB Cruiser.

Under normal operations, Erwin reports that he is getting about 60km (37 miles) range with his 4 x 12V 16Ahr batteries.

Click to expand...

As noted previously, these wont' last all that long, especially if they are run down very far before recharging or left sitting at a non-full state. 50-150 charge cycles (rides/days) is typical.

If the budget can be spared, a good lithium pack built of cells intended for high current discharge would last several times as long, and wouldnt' be damaged by being in a non-full state. But beware the cheap batteries, as they are often either made of cells not made for the use they're being put to, or are poorly assembled, or even use recycled (used/worn out) cells.

I am based in Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan Island. There are over 5,000 trisikad on the island and many more throughout the Philippines.

Unfortunately not may trisikad owners can afford the conversion to an E-kad. They do well to earn USD9 per day and with that have to support their family.

What Erwin and I are now looking at is if having an E-kad makes more money. Triskads charge per person (3 passengers maximum) per trip. This can be either PHP5 (USD0.09), PHP10 (USD0.19) or PHP15 (USD0.28) depending on distance travelled.

To make more money, the E-kad has to charge more and/or carry more passengers during a 12- hour work day.

So far passengers like the E-kad more because it's faster. I have mentioned to Erwin that passengers will generally pay more for a faster trip. He has to balance out passenger numbers verses fare.

If daily earnings can be increased by about PHP100 (USD1.85) per day, an E-kad conversion becomes viable.

Li-Ion batteries were considered, however they were way outside our budget on this - an experimental project. This E-kad is used daily and we are hoping to get at least 6 months use out of the SLA batteries that we have. Within that time, we should be able to determine if an E-kad conversion is economically viable. If not, we will sell the E-kad at a loss and have leant our lesson.

If the batteries can be partially charged after every trip, that and using a voltmeter to watch the charge level can stretch the life of the LA cells. They can be cycled down to 20% with little damage, as long as they are immediately charged when stopped.

in case you wanna go li-ion... those are OG panasonic NCR. probably from unused laptop packs coz they're averaging 2800mah. Php100 per cell from a source just south of manila.

Erwin's E-kad has now been operational for a month without any problems. It is used daily for about 8 to 10 hours and the SLA batteries are recharged each night. So far, Erwin has not experienced flat batteries during his work day.

Erwin reports that using the E-kad has increased his income by between PHP100 and PHP150 (about USD2.30) per day. That is about a 25% increase over his pre-E-kad days.

His increased income is due to him doing more trips per day because he is faster and that he doesn't need to rest during his workday. He also finds that customers prefer to ride in his E-kad rather than the normal trisikad.

All we need to learn now is the overall life of the SLA batteries. Li Ion batteries are well beyond our budget and their quality is rather questionable here in the Philippines.

If the conversion kit equipment lasts a year, an E-kad conversion could be economically viable!

The only down-side is that Erwin is starting to put on a little weight with less exercise.

rbscebu said:

The only down-side is that Erwin is starting to put on a little weight with less exercise.

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Well, he could save a little bit more money by eating just a little less, and keep the weight off, too.

Erwin's E-kad has now been operational for a month without any problems. It is used daily for about 8 to 10 hours and the SLA batteries are recharged each night. So far, Erwin has not experienced flat batteries during his work day.

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If the batteries aren't run too low then the risk of outright failure is low. What will happen with overnight-only recharging, though, is the batteries will build up sulfates, and lose capacity steadily. Using a de-sulfating charger may help, but the best, cheapest way to extend the battery life is to find a way to recharge at least once during the day, even if it isn't up to 100% LA batteries are kind of like sharks: as long as charge is moving through them, one way or the other, they are ok. If the charge flow 'comes to a stop' with the battery below about 75%, then they start to slowly die...

Solar panels for the shade creator would be just the ticket. Also, if you do another conversion, get the same kit with a 20" wheel instead. It will run significantly more efficiently with better performance.

Erwin is probably eating the same amount he did before. Once he gets that back to an equilibrium (less food since he's applying much less human power to the pedicab) he should see a significant savings due to a lower food-for-energy budget. Food is generally a quite expensive energy source, high cost per watt-hr and low efficiency of a human as a motor. I'd expect this savings to exceed his increased revenue.