3-Wheeler EV Build

Do It Yourself (DIY)
1

Hello all, I am looking to build a small reverse trike. I also attached a quick schematic for the basic idea of how I plan for it to look.

I need some help with the electrical engineering of the motors and batteries. My knowledge base is not very good (even after tearing apart this website) so if I could get some educated feedback it would be greatly appreciated! All comments are definitely appreciated as well!

So this is the deal:

I purchased 5, 24v motors off of craigslist, up to about 220 watts at the maximum 27 volts and 8.2 amps. I am planning to affix gears to each of these motors and connect them to a single drive-train. This is the problem I am thinking about though. I know I can run the motors either in series or in parrelel from the battery but doing so would either result in a voltage drop across the motors in series or a significant amperage consumption in parallel. Is it more efficient to run these motors in series or parallel?

Next question, I am planning on getting a small controller for the batteries, probably 30amp or so (but I guess this depends on how I wire the motor), will the controller work effectively if I run the motors in parallel? Also if I don’t use a controller, what will the effect of that be?

Other aspects that might have potential problems: I plan on using a potentiometer for the throttle as well as 2, 12v lead-acid batteries for the batteries.

Let me know what you guys think and thanks in advance!

2

I think you should put the power in the back. Down put the gears on the front, its like a spinning chain waiting to split your leg open. And make it a two seater, thatd be awesome! but overall, I like your design

3

The power was always going to be in the back, sorry for the confusion. The picture in the top right is just to show you how the seat and wheels will be set up mostly, the motors and batteries should be below the seat, so there should be almost no driver risk if something was to fail. I definitely have more design work to do on it though so your input is surely helpful, I did not really think of it like that.

4

why use all at the motors once? it be surely over kill . why not just get a hub motor , it be lighter, less wasted space , more efficient.
other then that nice project and good luck