Electrifying a Christiania cargo trike

[danfoto]

I know that the makers are allegedly "working on" an electric version, but I have a feeling that if they are, it'll be to some cosmic timescale of their own.

Meanwhile, I keep looking at ours and reading up on t'interweb about electric bikes and thinking "it has to be possible, the only question is which way would be best".

So ... has anybody heard of an electrified Christiania?

BTW, if you don't know what one is, see Christiania Bikes DK - hjemmeside

 

[Mussels]

You'd need to power the rear wheel and you have hub gears so I expect something along the lines of a Cyclone kit would do the job well.
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[danfoto]

Thanks for that link Mussels. Crikey, what a lash-up those mounting brackets are!

Seems to me that on the face of it there are two ways forward for me - see if I can get hold of a Panasonic unit as used on the Kalkhoff Pro-Connect then do some major alterations to the frame, or get a motor and control gear from Taiwan then sort out a decent installation from scratch which doesn't involve such primitive clamps and loads of washers.

Luckily I have an engineering background and will hopefully have the time to get into this next year. Meanwhile I need to keep up to speed on this forum and by the look of things do some serious research!

 

[jbond]

Switch to derailleur gears and fit a rear hub motor kit. Done.

 

[danfoto]

Switch to derailleur gears and fit a rear hub motor kit. Done.

That's actually one option that's already occurred to me, but it's nice to know that it's occurred to somebody else too

 

[jbond]

The big potential gotcha is the rear drop out width. If it's a standard 135mm then a rear hub motor should be easy. Fitting a derailleur might be hard but it's usually possible even if there aren't the normal mounting points.

I have a feeling Mechaniker knows these things so may be able to help. Look at the bottom of Elektrofahrrad, pedelec zubehör

 

[flecc]

The Panasonic option could prove extremely expensive, the unit 500 euros in France recently. On top of that then the handlebar controller and wiring harness but I don't know how much for that. Finally the battery, the sizes from 8 to 18 Ah being around £400 to £500 at present.

So near £1000 the lot, plus the cost of frame alteration.

The rear wheel motor Heinzmann kit with freewheel would be a simpler option at that sort of money, very high quality with high torque versions available.

A bit cheaper but also good quality and powerful the eZee rear motor kit.
.

 

[danfoto]

Oh cheers chaps, that's all really useful stuff. Actually it's set me wondering if anybody over the Channel's cracked this.

A rear wheel motor does seem to be the most elegant solution, but apart from having to convert to derailleur gears, I'd also have to come up with a way of fitting an effective rear brake (at present it's a roller brake on the back).

At least it won't be a problem finding somewhere for the battery!

 

[jac]

hin this might give you some help

B.C. Cargo trike

jim

 

[danfoto]

hin this might give you some help

B.C. Cargo trike

jim

Oy vey! And I'm not even Jewish ...

 

[Aronde]

You might be interested in my blog where I detailed how I went about converting a Christiania to use an zee hub motor kit. Had to convert to a derailleur, add a rear rim brake etc. Go to the posts from about November 2009 and work your way up for all the info. Happy to answer any questions you may have!

 

[pvb123]

Maybe try these guys in Holland?

V-Fiets