Hi, so Tri'Ode will be available on market for professionals only this summer (hopefully end of may) for 7500€ (taxes included) in France, then in Europe and one day in the US and the rest of the world. It is for professionals only for now.
The first production is small (50 units) the fallowing will be around 300 units.
as for specs it is:
165 kg -- 365 lbs for the sla version
45km -- 28 miles range for the sla version
top speed buy moped regulations in europe 45km/h -- 28miles/h (top speed rule for mopeds in the US ?)
Over versions are coming: moped/lithium (80-100 km range), faster/lithium (~80km/h/60km), 2 seaters etc ...
for the funkiness of the design, five main reasons :
1 st, i designed it (last version) and i'm a mechanical engineer, I've never designed anything else before, so I've done my best.
2 nd, the thermoforming Technic makes it very hard !
3 rd, we have to look different because we won't match "standard" automotive finish level with thermoforming.
4 th, the kinematic of the front axle make it very hard to "dress"
5 for the last version i had to look like the previous ones because we showed them in car shows etc... so the public now it is the same bike.
Concerning our design for the front axle. It is true that we don't like to show it too much. it took us years of fine development to get the performance we have know even if it looks simple, it isn't.
We are competing against big companies like piagio, quadro, peugeot .... etc ... they have many people working on this when we are 3 mechs on our side.
The performance we have in handling, comfort, braking etc.. is very good so yes we keep it a bit secret.
What you don't see on the image is that we have a patented system that can "lock" the system from tilting if needed automatically. you can see this very well on the videos. When I get off the scooter while roalling, the system makes shure it don't fall.
This system is our main difference it brings a lot of confort :
locks if you go backwards
locks when you stop
and security :
locks when you slip and don't let you fall like any over 2 wheeler (thats what we are competing against)
It allows us to have a slow speed non tilting mode too.
To be honest, and i don't want to be rude but for me the FTC idea is dangerous if applied to a full tilting vehicle (like ours)!
It is a serious miss understanding of the way tilting vehicles work.
On a tilting vehicle, leaning angle and steering AREN'T correlated !
FTC will work in one scenario or in an over but vehicle dynamics is a lot of scenarios and an infinity of combinations.
So for me FTC can exist as a prototype for a very specific use but never as a commercial/on the road vehicle because it won't be able to handle dangerous situations.
PS: Sorry for the English,feel free to correct me (so in can improve myself) !