I feel like sharing an idea I´ve had for years:
I got inspired after riding a
Peraves Ecomobile almost 20 years ago. I later started to build my own FF-bike with electric motor and the intention of adding an aerodynamic body but never reached that point. I had however a well functioning rolling chassi that was wonderful to ride. I got about 45 kilometers from four standard size car batteries and a cruising speed of aprox 40 km/h. I used my electric FF-bike for one summer only but have kept dreaming of a more evolved vehicle since then.
I have no motorcycle licence but love to find ways to slip through traffic laws. Here in Sweden/Europe a symmetrical 3-wheeler below 300kg is defined as a motorcycle but can be legaly driven on an ordinary car license. The cabin scooters of the 1950´s fall into this category and I have a tiny Heinkel Kabine that I love but I think a three-wheeler could be made much more interesting.
The Piaggio MP3, a modern open scooter, is an interesting concept since it has two narrow-spaced front wheels but looks like an ordinary scooter except from this bizzarre feature. The reason for two front wheels is officially to improve riding comfort and safety but it´s obvious that the MP3 is a successful slip between traffic laws since it´s allowed to be driven with a car license. -It´s a symmetrically built 3-wheeler and the laws say nothing about appearance and handling being similar to an ordinary 2-wheeler.
A Peraves Ecomobile is more of a tradidional MC since it has one wheel in the front and one in the rear, but it also have two tiny stabilizer wheels mounted on electrically controlled arms so the Ecomobile can be both static and driven at low speed without the driver needing to put down the feet to the ground. The Ecomobile is therefore a 4-wheeler below a certain speed but a romboid one, not at all similar to a car. It is considered as a normal MC by law and must be driven with an MC license.
My third source of inspiration is a hybrid concept with electric motor(-s) giving just enough power for a little bit more than city traffic and a diesel engine with a direct drive (single gear) to reach highway speed. The diesel is equipped with an alternator capable of deliviering the power needed for the electric motorns. This concept should weigh less than a "full-sized" serial hybrid and also have smaller losses at higher speed. Almost no weight is spended on a traditional gearbox for the diesel and the electric components can be a lot smaller than needed for highway speed. On the other hand must some extra weight be added to be able to mechanically shift between electric and diesel power. Some sort of custom built gearbox is therefor needed. -Or is it realy?
Take a look at the Peraves Ecomobile again! Put the city traffic electric motors inside the stabilizer wheels and let the "real" rearwheel be directly driven by the diesel with no clutch or gearbox at all! The stabilisers need to be a bit stronger to be able to lift the rear of the entire vehicle. While standing still or driving slowly the diesel rearwheel may be spinning at highway pace a bit above the ground. A nice benefit is that the forward view may be improved for city traffic when the vehicle is lifted up in the rear.
Since the rearwheel is constantly connected to the diesel it may be a perfect base for a lightweight but efficient alternator! Just add some strong magnets to the rim and a bunch of coils at the swing-arm and it´s done!
My concept vehicle is both a 2-wheeler and a 3-wheeler and that may be impossible to get approved by the laws but with the diesel-driven rearwheel/alternator hidden in the bodywork and the stabilisers just a bit above the ground I guess it will be difficult for the law enforcers along the road to tell the difference. My vehicle must most likely be approved as a fixed 3-wheeler.
How about passengers then? The concept is offcourse well suited for a single person vehicle but why not add a passenger seat. With the passenger located behind the driver not much length must be added. But how about two passengers or perhaps even more? When put in a row with the legs on each side of the person in front each passenger takes up very little room but with several passengers the resulting vehicle will look like a space rocket and be a sad story to handle in city traffick and be difficult to park.
My solution to the passenger problem is to divide the body shell in a front and a rear part on a chassi that can be extended when extra space is needed. The gap between the fiberglass shells is then covered by a canvas section. At low speed and nice weather the vehicle may be driven extended without this canvas secition. An extendable chassi will offcourse add extra weight but not som much compared to a fixed structure capable of carrying four or five persons. It is also easy to design the concept as a modular system based on a front and end section and a number of different "payload modules" that can be installed at home in the garage. It may even be possible to design an extra wide cargo module (like a square box) that gives a lot of extra cargo volume at city speed on three wheels only.
I have no drawings of the concept, except from what´s in my head. I have been playing with something like this for over ten years and this is by far the most interesting development I have shared here. Please feel free to critisise as well as stealing the concept! (as long as I get to see the result)
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