Electric vehicles are everywhere now. Even though battery technology hasn’t had the breakthrough that we need to get everyone out driving an electric car, the price for batteries has dropped enough that almost anything else is possible. The hoverboard was proof of this: an inexpensive electric vehicle of sorts that anyone who was anyone in 2015 had. Taking his cue from there, [Harris] used off-the-shelf parts normally used for hoverboards to build his own battery-powered trike.
The trike is homemade from the ground up, too. The H-frame was bolted together using steel and lots and lots of bolts. Propulsion comes from a set of hub motors that are integrated into the wheels like a hoverboard or electric bicycle would have. Commonly available plug-and-play lithium batteries make up the power unit and are notably small. In fact, the entire build looks like little more than a frame and a seat, thanks to the inconspicuous batteries and hub motors.
Steering is accomplished by spinning the wheels at different rates, similar to how a tracked vehicle like a tank would steer. Each battery controls one of the drive wheels, and are both connected to a homemade controller. Be sure to check out the video below which shows him riding it all around his neighborhood at a respectable speed for a vehicle built out of hoverboard parts. Plans for an improved electric trike include switching out the front wheel for caster wheels which would be easier to steer.
If you need to scratch that electric vehicle itch, an electric longboard isn’t a bad idea but you could also modify hoverboards in other interesting ways.
Filed under: misc hacks
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