Bricycle electric tricycle actually cooler than it sounds

Compared to the almost universally-embarrassing homebuilt electric vehicles we've seen pop up so far, the Bricycle electric recumbent bike is up there with the Tesla Roadster in terms of sex appeal -- even though it kind of looks like a futuristic delivery truck. Designed to transport one person as efficiently as possible, the Bricyle (developed by someone named Brian -- clever) isn't completed yet, but it's got a 48-volt electric-assist motor for when you get tired of pedaling through the 21 bicycle gears, and disc brakes for quick stops. Sure, but can you get it in a color besides electric cucumber?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 3:39AM]

so is it like a motorcycle with a trunk or just a scooter?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 5:44AM]

Brian, if you're reading this, please stop now! What you've come up with is a Sinclair C5, only 30 years later, probably even heavier, and even more impractical (How do you get in it? Crawl through a hole in the back?).

The C5 was a spectacular failure, and this is even worse. Battery-assisted conventional bikes and trikes are available, and all this does is pointlessly add weight and ruin the handling, for sake of little more weather protection than can be got from a set of mudguards and a jacket (in actually bad weather a high-sided three-wheeler is the last place I'd want to be - even if it didn't tip over, the front end would never stay put unless you weigh it down, making the thing even more impractically heavy!)

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 9:14AM]

This is a great idea! I like the suspension and brakes on all THREE wheels. I would like to see 2 motors, one on each of the rear wheels to help with keeping the steering light and for speed. I would also like to see a windshield. The primary reason I can see for having an enclosure is weather, which begs for a windshield. I would like to see where the battery pack is going to go. Low in front of the rear wheels or behind the driver would help with traction for dual drive rear wheels. Lastly I would like to see what kind of weight is forecast and how the driver gets in and out. If you could design this to go 20-30 miles at 50mph then it could be used for commuting, which is obviously the main target of this project.

I looked into converting a bike to electric and decided it wasn't feasible yet. The main hurdles were: 1. It just couldn't be fast enough for me to run home (8mi one way) when needed. Dogs, lunch, meet workers, etc would take me 40-50 min round trip. I need something that can hit 45mph. 2. Weather. A little bit of rain in the forecast would force me into a car for the day. I work in an office and can't have soaked clothing when I get there.

[Deyanimay Posted Aug 2nd 2008 9:15AM]

A gallon of gas: $5
An electric tricycle: about $300
Riding to school in style: priceless

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 9:22AM]

Ugh, yet another clueless post from Nilay. To say almost all home-built EV's are 'ugly' shows how little he actually knows about the topic. There's a stack of real home-built and converted beauties over at the V is for Voltage community ( http://visforvoltage.org/ ). I'm sure there's many other communities online as well who would refute that all EV's are ugly. Most conversions I've seen look just like the motorcycles they're built on.

This bike is cool. One of the great things about pedal powered electric-assisted vehicles is that in Australia, the vehicles don't need to be registered or insured, and you don't need a license to drive 'em. That makes them incredibly cheap to operate, even compared to other Electric Vehicles.

[sonicwind Posted Aug 2nd 2008 10:20AM]

what's the extra disc brake for?

[Twitchy Posted Aug 3rd 2008 5:59AM]

As someone else has mentioned - it is probably a dual front brake setup, which makes sense considering that you do around 70% of your braking on the front wheel.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 11:54AM]

How about we just suck it up and ride a regular old bike?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 11:58AM]

How can you have 4 wheel disk brakes on a tricycle?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 1:17PM]

just like on a motorcycle. im willing to bet the front wheel has two discs. one on each side.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 1:09PM]

Okay....enough with the 4 disk brake stuff...we get it we get it....I think with the situation we are in for inexpensive travel options we should be open to ALL new ideas. kudos

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 2:00PM]

I want a cheap electric car. Period.

[Gabe Posted Aug 2nd 2008 2:10PM]

that's a big pen1s

[janbeckman Posted Aug 2nd 2008 2:44PM]

Four wheel disk brakes on a trike! That is quite a feat!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 2nd 2008 5:30PM]

Pink dildo wouldn't be a bad color either.

[Arty Marty Posted Aug 2nd 2008 7:08PM]

Cool.. Mke it low in the dark blue, and we can play TRON....

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 4th 2008 3:56PM]

uh... anybody remember how the Ambiguously Gay Duo's car looked? Well, this is the version you would have to compensate for.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 4th 2008 11:26PM]

When I look at this I think of Jimmy Durate and Barbara Streisand though I am not sure why.