Amazing Recumbent Electric Trike with Solar Trailer

Hi guys, I recently visited my friend Rob (rawB in the EBR forums) who shared his custom Azub T-Tris 26 recumbent trike outfitted with a 750 watt 48 volt Bafang mid-drive motor. This thing is efficient, stable, and has a utility trailer with SunPower solar panel installed on top to charge the battery pack inside.

[Brandon_Neil]

Probably my favorite content I've seen from you so far. That build is so inspiring

[flytandemdotcom]

Wow. Nice to see I wasnt alone. I put together a catrike villager 2 years ago with a bbshd mid drive and a 170w solar panel overhead that doubles as a sunshade. Same genasun boost controller. I tow two kayaks to the lake and have another kiddie trailer for groceries. My next upgrade is to use the 10' kayak trailer (remove the kayaks) for 2 additional 170w panels so with 500watts total it could in theory go 140 miles a day average on a cross country trip.

[animistchannel]

That's awesome! It's almost exactly what I'm hoping to build, except I want to work in a solar sunshade over the driver as well. Personally, I've decided/discovered that trailers are so cheap and handy, it's a better solution than weighing down the main bike with lots of bags. I'd rather dedicate my load weight to more battery/range, or even put bonus batteries in the trailer. Then the limiting handling factor is basically brakes rather than the main suspension.

Thank you for bringing us such a wide variety of reviews on different kinds of bikes and solutions. You have helped inspire my plans and refine choices & options that may let me get back to mobility like a "normal" person in spite of having a progressive disability that keeps me from driving motor vehicles or walking for miles as I once did. E-bikes represent a hope for the future in a lot of ways for a great many people.

[allangarratt]

That was something different and not for me personally but really enjoyed it .... thanks to both

[sageoz]

Wow this is very much like a project I'm well invested into turning my terratrike into a solar/e velomobile with a aero camping trailer. I've six 50w12v panels that I'm mating to two 14ah 48v batteries and a Bafang Ultra mid drive. Two panels cover my legs like a hood and the other four form a roof that slides 22" reaward to allow entry/exit; I'm planning to get 5-6 more panels to drape on the trailer too. The coroplast body is about 2/3 done and I expect I should be finished with both it and it's matching micro "aerostream" style trailer (it's just over 6" inside for camping) by springtime :)
Court, I'll send you pics soon and if you think it's worthy I'd be happy to do a vid and/or article for your forum. This was a great vid btw, it's inspiring me to keep those late nights working on it in my living room lol
Thank you both for sharing!

[alanhold]

Cool. Always good to see custom builds. You should make a regular segment

[shadowdance]

Nice montage at the end. I haven’t been to Portland in 2 decades

[christill]

I really want to try one. Still lots of types of bikes I haven’t ridden yet. Recumbents are probably the most interesting of those.

[Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

Very nice trike. I am slowly working on something similar built on a ICE Adventure HD. Congratz.

[davidj.jorgensen]

Nice Trike, to some it may seem like a lot BUT, if it is a car replacement, just think abt how much you can save every month. Gas, insurance, tags, parking etc. Where I live there are all sorts of available plug ins for power on the go.

[kalmankiss]

A végén nem a látképre voltam kíváncsi! Hanem a járgányt látni, hogy megy!

[Newspeak.]

Oh cool ya came to Portland it’s a great cycling town for sure. I get by here with my blix vika+ as my main form of transport here and I’ve barely used transit since I’ve had it.

[markfeldman]

inspiring but complicated and expensive build. great to see ingenious things being done!

[gammaraygem]

nice one !


a charge controller that boosts voltage..never heard of it, gonna check that out...

[bubblesky]

Solar is awesome but Portland doesn’t have the best sun situation. How much power does it average during the fall/winter? How do you/components stay dry during rainy season? I just bought a velomobile with the hopes of being able to continue to commute to work. I got rid of my car and I live in Marin County, SF Bay Area.

[clayguinard]

Does Rob have a YouTube channel if so what is it

[StartledPancake]

Perhaps we could have heard more from the owner...

[patrickmckowen]

Nice rig. Portland, home of the ELF. For that much money I would have gone with the ELF or the PEBL to get a better all weather ride. Especially so when you are making it your main transportation! ☺
Cheers

[tmonster]

Would be cool if trailer had its own propulsion...perhaps hub motors with regenerative braking..

[fmc]

25% efficient, solar has come a long way.