Front hub electric motor for 24" tricycle

GoldenMotor.com

bosstweedy

New Member
May 25, 2013
1
0
0
Austin, tx
I'm trying to put an electric front hub motor on my 24" Sun tricycle.. Was wondering if would be powerful enough to pull two people (built an extra seat on the back)? Also where Could i get a semi-cheap quality engine kit? I don't need to go fast at all, actually no faster than 5mh. So if this is possible please help me out. Thanks!
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
4,877
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British Columbia Canada
Hi bosstweedy,

Welcome to the forum.

I have a 1952 Monark that I restored and built a sidecar for. I have had both front and rear hub motors on it and now it will have 48v mid motor which is a separate motor that clamps onto the seat post and has a chain going down to a second chain ring/ sprocket and drives the rear wheel as if I was pedaling. If I do pedal, the motor is disengaged automatically.
This is because with my weight and the bike and sidecars weight I wanted something with a lot of power and the mid motor was easiest to do since I wanted gears.

Hub motors are easy to find. Lot's of them on eBay though it is eBay and you do take a chance at best though many people have bought there and been quite happy. Google Golden Motors Canada. They have a great reputation for quality and service. There is a Golden Motors China which is the parent company.
The chap in Canada handles the claim as where as the parent company in China wants you to send the wheel back and they have to look at it. It's easier to send it back to Canada.

Also you can look up a company in China called EM3ev. English chap who has an excellent name for quality hubs and batteries. Again you will need to send the wheel back to China but there is no fooling around while they make up their mind about what to do.

For two people I would say a 48v motor would be best though a 36v will work well. I just rather have the extra power. As for the wattage, 750w to a 1,000w, which gives the wheel the power to move you.

As for batteries you have a few choices. S.L.A. or sealed lead acid. Car batteries by any other name. Deep cycle are best. As with any battery they last longest if you don't drain them below 50% of the available power and charge them up right away once your home. Main draw back is size and weight.

LiFePO4 or Lithium iron Phosphate. My choice. More charges over the lifetime of the battery than S.L.A and they hold more power. More expensive as well. In the $700-$800 range for a good sized one that will give you a far bit of distance.

Lithium Polymer, That is the one I have now. You have to be careful with them. If charged to fast or if drawn down to far and then charged they can catch fire violently. Never had any problem with mine but I was always careful.
I won't buy another one. The next one will be LiFePO4 from EM3ev.

Lithium Manganese Dioxide. Safe and pack a lot of power.

Those are the four you will see sold. Buy from a reputable seller.

Ping Battery.-China. Great reputation

EM3ev-China. Hub motors and batteries. KC Vale builds trike commercially and uses these batteries with great success.

Allcell Battery-Chicago. Hearing that they have a good battery and service.

Hope you still with me.

Look Up Endless Sphere. That's an electric vehicle site that has a lot of electric bike information on it as well as forums.
Look up our own electric bike threads. Lot's of information and quite a few trike builds.

Hope this has helped.

Steve.

That is the main