Rapid EBIKES
Powerful 1000W internal gear hub motor, wide 4-inch knobby motorcycle tires, +40km range and top speed close to 50km/h, ability to ride on snow and sand, easily climbing steep hills – sounds like fast, powerful electric fatbike – couldn’t be more wrong, we are talking about electric wheelchair.
The electric wheelchair attachment was made by our friend from Poland – Arek. The concept was simple – the electric drive must be better and cheaper than already existing solutions.
Arek has tested 5th wheel eletric conversions but non of them were good enough:
- extremely expensive – price starts at 1,500 euro
- slow – up to 20km/h
- low range – 10-20km
- fragile and poorly made
The project took almost 6 months to complete. The main problem was money – Arek has to maintain his household and 2 kids. Thanks to his family, friends and our team he managed to gather all the parts to start.
Electric Wheelchair Custom Design
First was the frame:
- main part made out of thick stainless steel Ø 50 mm
- connecting parts also made out of stainless steel Ø 30 mm
All parts were manufactured by Arek and his brother in their workshop. Thanks to kindness of Arek’s friend Robert from RaaW Drift, where he got front fork dedicated for drift trikes – suits this build perfectly; high strength, designed to fit wide fatbike hubs and tires.
Drive-train and power was provided by our friends for ebikers.eu and batteryguru.eu
- 48V 22A controller with waterproof wiring
- 1000W geared fatbike hub motor
- 12,5Ah 48V 673Wh battery
Motor was laced into 20-inch fatbike rim 67mm wide, knobby motorcycle tire 20×3,25’’.
The battery and controller enclosure was designed and 3D printed, the steel sheet was added to make it more rigid and durable.
The battery placement is crucial for the traction, without an extra weight on a front axle there would be problem to ride on a loose terrain.
From factory Arek’s wheelchair has smooth, low profile tires for low resistance rolling. The purpose of this build is so to the Arek can ride anywhere in every condition so the original tires had to be changed for more off-roadish ones – Schwalbe LAND CRUISER 24×2″ tires.
After all the modifications wheelchair has top speed of 48km/h and has 40km range.
Special thanks from Arek to Kamil, Konrad, Przemysław, Kajetan, Nikodem i Krystian.
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