Every once in a while we see an ebike that breaks the mold. Imagine instead of investing in a small pick up truck, you bought an ebike large enough and powerful enough to carry a descent amount of cargo, and do so on pennies a charge.
Bill Stites is a former chiropractor turned talented designer and metal worker that is working on a new creation in one of the most creative ebike meccas in the world: Portland Oregon. Portland is a combination of eco minded people, one of the best bike infrastructures in the country, and a hilly terrain that begs to go electric. In fact Portland has been called “the ebike capitol of the country“. Portland is especially known for its electric cargo bikes.
Bill found a new nitch in taking the cargo bike to a new level with an electric cargo bike large enough to make deliveries of large and heavy products. Bill thinks of it as one of the most efficient electric bikes imaginable. The Truck Trike can carry up to 600 pounds and is designed with commercial enterprises in mind that want to reduce their eco foot print and at the same time save massive money on gas and parking cost.
Read how an ebike can save you money.
Rugged Frame Lovingly Built
Each frame is hand built by hand in Bill’s Portland Shop. It is built of steel to be extra strong and rigid. This is the 3rd version of the frame, and each one has gotten a bit better, stiffer and stronger. If you wonder why this ebike is so expensive, you could start with an intricate steel frame that is made in America by expert craftsman.
Propulsion system
The Truck Trike uses one of the highest quality (and expensive) hub motors available which is the v2 BMC (read our review). You can choose for your Truck Trike to have a one or two wheel powered drive. With 2 BMC hub motors, one in each rear wheel, there is a $2000 up-charge. Then you get double the torque and double the power, and double the battery.
The Truck Trike can come with one 48v 20ah battery, or 2 batteries if you go with the 2 motor system giving you a total of 40amp hours.
For the single motor system, the price is $7,850 and for the dual motor system you are looking at $9850
Unfortunately the Truck Trike comes stock with heavy lead acid batteries, but for a price you can upgrade to a lithium ion All Cell pack which I would recommend for battery longevity and weight savings. On a trike that is so heavy to begin with, forget lugging this thing up stairs etc, so running lead acid isn’t as much of a deal killer as it would be on a standard electric bike.
I would expect with 2 BMC motors you could expect a top speed of over 20mph on level ground, and can could climb just about any hill. I would expect a 20-40 mile range with the dual battery/motor system, depending on what you are hauling and how hilly the terrain.
Creative Human Input
Also, the modular design – where the front and rear frames bolt together – was facilitated by this separation of drive systems.
Motorcycle Brakes
The Truck Trike isn’t like anything that has come before in the bike world. While it is a “hybrid” relative to its power sources [human + electric], it also can be described as a hybrid in its overall configuration.
The front end is easily recognizable as a bike. But the rear end – with its 600+ lb. capacity – is more like a truck. While Bill tried to stay on the level of bicycle components for ease of availability and maintenance, it became clear that there were no bicycle brakes – even downhill hydraulics – that were up to the task of stopping upwards of 1/2 ton of mass [vehicle+driver+payload].
Thus, motorcycle-level hydraulic brakes were specced for the rear section. Such technology is well-proven, and readily available. Even though they are heavier than regular brakes, on the huge Truck Trike a few extra pounds equates to almost nothing. The motorcycle brakes provides full confidence in the ability to stop a fully loaded Truck Trike even when trucking down steep downgrades.
The photo below shows identical wheels with a bicycle rotor on the left, and the new motorcycle rotor on the right. Bill designed and machined a custom adapter to mount the monster rotor on a bike hub’s standard 6-bolt pattern.
Who Would Buy One?
The Trike Truck costs $9850 in its awd configuration.
The Truck Trike would be awesome to own for anyone except for three huge factors #1 the cost. #2 the space it takes to park it. #3 275 pounds makes it one of the heaviest ebikes on the planet.
The Truck Trike was designed with the business owner in mind who can actually save money by owning this trike. Also, it is possible that someone could base a new start up business around this Trike, for example a bicycle messenger who can deliver refrigerators, or an electric-powered pedal cab driver, or an electric lawn care business that carts their electric lawn mowers on a Truck Trike, or a high tech newspaper deliveryman who has a helper in the back throwing out the papers while he Trike Trucks down the road. The Trike Truck is Safe, heavy duty, and clean looking, and would attract a lot of positive attention to any business.
Fact Sheet
•Truck Trike is 48″ wide x 113″ long
•Rear Flat Bed = 48″ wide x 58″ long
•275 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight
•600 lbs. Payload capacity
•Highly Efficient: note that Payload Capacity is greater than Vehicle
•Formidable Vehicle: 275 + 600 + 150 [driver] = 1,025 lbs. = 1/2 ton
•Saves money by eliminating fossil fuel, and requires low maintenance.
•Simple design eliminates key parts – no transmission, no differential, no
cross-axle. Wheels are independently powered – human to the front, electric
•Intended for Business and Institutional Use, including warehouse and
•Designed for increasingly dense urban environments.
•Active Transportation = Health benefits, and healthcare savings.
•Human Power input is signficant at this scale.
•Street Legal, and still qualifies as an electric bicycle under Federal and
Oregon laws, thus no license, nor registration, nor insurance is required.
•$7,850. for Standard Version [single motor].
•$9,850. for Heavy Duty Version [dual motors].
•Designed and Built in Portland, Oregon.
•Intended to contribute to Climate Change solutions and Peak Oil adaptations in particular, and the Green Economy in general.
For more information visit the Truck Trike Website.
