Pedalectric trucks

I have been dreaming about building a Pedalecctric truck with a full Double Chain Drive.

Heavy duty motorcycle tires [2.25” wide on 16” BMX rims], 3-5000watt motor at 72volts with super low gears on a two speed reversible planetary gear set.

 

We have steep hills here in the pacific northwest [9 to 16%] so NO one is going to use a non-motorized velomobile in our town. I wore out my knees with Osteoarthritis by pedaling my heavy cycletruck without a motor for too many years, now I cannot pedal at all. And most people are not going to be able to pedal an aerodynamic velomobile even on flat land [unless the hills do not go over 5% and they are not hauling cargo].

Power assist rigs are usually too wimpy for cargo on our hills. But there are a lot of people that think they can pedal enough power to make up for being restricted to 900 watts or less (legal limit). Yet I know of only one person that has even tried. Well the politicians need to somehow become aware of the need for powerful yet slow pedalectric trucks. Oh sure, motorcycle trucks are popular in the orient, but not even allowed on the road here in the USA unless they can be driven at least 45mph.

There are good reasons to avoid any kind of vehicle that needs to travel more than 30mph. I think it would help the fuel mongers but nothing else. Pedalect vehicles are allowed to drive as fast as 30mph [not in our state of washington] 20mph is more than enough for me. I expect that eventually they will be allowed to drive along with cars [As soon as they lower the speed limit for cars to save energy]. Velo-trucks are already in service for delivery in Europe.

All we really need is a fuel crisis as bad as the Covid 19 pandemic. And it will happen with the environment, but only after it is too late to do anything about it. So I keep dreaming.

the future of city driving: