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Forum » Electric Vehicles (EV) Forums » TWIKE

Got one!

Author	Message
Written on: 20. 09. 07 [21:19]
childress Topic creator registered since: 14.08.2007 Posts: 81	Ok, so I've had my (used) Twike for about three weeks now, commuting back and forth to work and around town on a daily basis. So I've been blogging my expereinces at website (english) here: www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike M@ Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it! http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike
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Written on: 02. 10. 07 [13:46]
ecoadmin Administrator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 387	Congratulations childress! I hope you have a lot of positive experiences with your TWIKE. BTW: Also interesting website you've got ! I like it. Cheers, ecoadmin ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network Community for sustainable transport
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Written on: 04. 10. 07 [17:15]
Franko30 Moderator registered since: 08.09.2007 Posts: 65	Hey there, welcome to the Twike community. And - according to yout website - it's really difficult to join the Twike community in the US... When I bought my Twike 808 in Germany we just took the papers provided by the manufacturer Fine Mobile to our local admission office and they did what they're supposed to do: put my Twike on the road legally. Well, it really helped, that Fine Mobiles's papers showed the clerks what to enter where in their screen form Insurance wasn't quite that easy, but mainly because I wanted to find a cheap one - no one said they weren't going to insure it, only the rates were too high. But now I'm with the Zurich insurance and pay about 90 EUR per year for liabilty and another 90 EUR per year for comprehensive & damages by deer, third parties etc. (with a 300 EUR deductible). I'm glad we don'd have your NADA system... Here's a picture of my Twike: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Red_twike_active_01.JPG I look forward to updates of your TWlog - especially once Winter starts. You do have Winter, don't you? Cheers Frank TW 808 / 20 AH LiIon-Akkus seit 03/2008 / Höchste Reichweite bisher: 140 km. Verbrauch 6,3 kWh/100 km (372 US-miles per Gallon)
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Written on: 05. 10. 07 [02:58]
childress Topic creator registered since: 14.08.2007 Posts: 81	That's so awesome Franko30!!! I've been on the waiting list for a new Twike in the US for going on 2 years or so now, and yours is exactly the one I want. Mind you, I've completely fallen in love with 433, but she's definately a fixer-upper, which is good because I can learn more about Twikes in general. I have dreams of one day having a Mid-West (middle of the US, near Chicago) Twike dealership and sell to the students/staff of the big University's like where I work. Anyway, 808 is just absolutely gorgeous! The problems in the US are numerous and vary from State-to-State. But the hardest part is just getting one, so when i had a chance to buy 433 for half the cost of a new Twike from someone I knew and trusted, I jumped at it. I'm somewhat under the radar (slang for 'undiscovered') by the Licensing division. I'm in a state of limbo, with a temporary license affixed and waiting for my solid metal plate (personallized to read 'EEE GO 1') The State law is clearly on my side (but I've discovered that the people in charge can be quite ignorant of what is actually on the books -- it took them 3 hours to figure out what to do to give me my 3-wheeled Motorcycle license). I've yet to be stopped by the local police (Margaret, the former owner has an entry in her log of 'Arrested', which she learned french as a child and she told me it just means 'stopped' in French, while in US English it means, stopped and handcuffed and thrown in jail). Anyway, I need to have a printout of the pertaining laws and carry it with me as I have my girls in the Twike with me and if they wanted to make a stink about it they could really put me over a barrel! The laws in the US/Illinois are so weird! Since the Twike is a motorcycle it does not technically have to have seatbelts. Since it does not have to have seatbelts, children do not have to be in carseats (or booster seats). In fact there are no laws restricting children as passengers on motorcycles. But the Twike looks closer to a car, so... And of COURSE I wear my seatbelt and have my youngest in a child seat!!! But the law doesn't require me to. Luckily a nation-wide car insurance company's national headquarters is less-than an hour's drive away. Not a Twike-able distance (that's an hour at 65-75 miles per hour on a freeway), but easily put on a trailer and hauled there behind a gas-guzzling Prius I'm working through channels right now to figure out who to contact to work with them to get full insurance (I was able to get liability -- if I damage someone else -- for the small sum of US$75 a year) If my house burns down or my Twike is damaged by someone else without insurance (bicyclist, or someone just being mean) I'm outta luck Could you post a picture of what the inside and rear lights look like? I'm working on changing mine to LED-based brake/ turn / reversse / signals on the back and would love to see what a new one looks like! Matt Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it! http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike
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Written on: 05. 10. 07 [02:59]
childress Topic creator registered since: 14.08.2007 Posts: 81	Oh yes, and we do have winter. Last winter there was quite a bit of snow -- nothing like New York or Chicago as they're next to bodies of water, but it gets quite Windy here. My daily commute is only between 4-5 miles each way, but 433 will be stored outside while at work. She has a Mecaplex canopy, so I'll need to cover her up so it doesn't frost/ice as I can't use an ice-scraper on it. m@ Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it! http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike
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Written on: 23. 10. 07 [12:23]
ecoadmin Administrator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 387	Hello Matt, I've just been on a trip to continental Europe and visited the TWIKE manufacturer in Germany. More about it in a few days when I have time to write a summary. What I wonder is: How many TWIKEs are currently on the road in the US? Do you guys have contact with eachother (maintenance, help, club). It seems rather hard work to get one in the US and to put it on the road. And each state has different laws which makes it even more complicated! I also wonder how easy or difficult it is to find a recharging station for EV owners in the US. Are you mainly recharging at home? Are there already a few public charging stations? Are private households happy to help out if you need some power from their socket? Thanks for your answers and happy twiking. ecoadmin Stefan ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network Community for sustainable transport
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Written on: 11. 02. 08 [22:04]
childress Topic creator registered since: 14.08.2007 Posts: 81	Hi -- sorry I've been off the forum for quite a while... had 433 down for some repairs/improvements -- one of the two plastic hangers/hooks that keeps the underneath fairing/plastic that covers the motor and rear axle failed while in motion, and so the fairing was ripped off and the car behind it drove over it (breaking off several peices). The plastic hangers are now replaced with aluminum ones, and the holes reinforced and the peices of the fairing glued and reinforced with fiberglass cloth/fiberglass repair gel. While I had it down for those repairs, I replaced the old trailer lights that were being used for brake/running lights and the separate turn-signal lights with circular LED lights... looks much better. I still need to purchase a rounded driver's side mirror (the motorcycle mirror they placed on it in the states meets the federal vehicle requirements, but actually obstructs the view behind it!) Still need to add in a reverse-light, but it is legal and driveable/safe without it for now. At some point I need to send in the drivers' side board to Germany to get it repaired (blew out a MOSFET or two) and also hopefully can get the software upgraded to trigger the brake lights when the regenerative brakes are used (very helpful in snow/ice, as they don't tend to lockup, and the manual ones -- the ones on the pedals -- tend to lock very quickly/easily) I also figured out a way to connect my youngest daugheter's old car safety seat into the boot of the Twike (I'd seen a previous Twike Klub member attach one by taking off the pedals on the passenger side -- my way is a lot easier to do, though his may be safer), so that I can take both girls at one time to the babysitters, then to school, then to work. When she gets older I will need to investigate how to make/add two passenger seats. I did a better analysis in another note string, but there are approximately 20 Twikes in the US, and somewhere between 10-15 of them in what I would consider to be road worthy condition. As far as a Twike Klub-style support system, alas, no. The closest thing to it was the previous English Twike forum, which got overrun by spam and closed down. It was a real shame, as it had some really good information on it. If you own a Twike in the US, you're on your own as far as finding a mechanic (or do-it-yourself). With this forum, however, I have contacts with folks who know GERMAN !!! So they alert me to cool things happening on the Twike Klub, mainly improvements to the vehicles made by the owners (fogging is a real problem for me). Maintenance is pretty much handled via e-mail to Fine Mobile and then up to the Twike owner themselves to either do-it-yourself or find a mechanic willing to deal with the 3-400Volts. A US Twike club would be a very good thing; I may try to 'rally the troops' by tracking down their e-mail addresses and aksing them to monitor/notifying them of this board. I primarily charge at home (my work plus pickup/dropoff to the babysitters is about 8 miles each way), but do have an emergency semi-public charging station lined up -- the University YMCA (www.universityymca.org). It's semi-public because I own one of the two lightweight EV's in town, and parking for the 'charging station' is their front lawn. Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it! http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike
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Written on: 20. 02. 08 [17:54]
Franko30 Moderator registered since: 08.09.2007 Posts: 65	childress wrote: Could you post a picture of what the inside and rear lights look like? I'm working on changing mine to LED-based brake/ turn / reversse / signals on the back and would love to see what a new one looks like! Dear Matt, sorry I didn't reply - I simply forgot to turn on e-mail notification for this thread and somehow had other things on my mind... Pictures: The TW 808 is a "Twike ReDesign" which might become the standard design in the near future, see: http://elweb.info/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=twike_redesign (unfortunately in German - but maybe Google's translation feature might help). Official photos here: http://www.twike.info/bilder.3.de.html Some more: http://elweb.info/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=twike_umbauten (Twike changes done by Twike pilots) Concerning the LED lights: As the TWIKE is classified as a car in Germany (not in Switzerland) we can't use LED lights at the moment because the legal requirements are much stricter for cars. And LEDs for fossile fuel cars that might fit the TWIKE are still rare. The "car" classification also leads to a heavy windshield made of security glass - but at least we can use the ice-scraper. childress wrote: With this forum, however, I have contacts with folks who know GERMAN !!! So they alert me to cool things happening on the Twike Klub, mainly improvements to the vehicles made by the owners (fogging is a real problem for me). Here's a link to my "self-made-with-TWIKE-dealer's-help" solution against fogging: http://elweb.info/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=scheibenlueftung_twike_808 It's in German, but has enough pictures to be understandable. And you get a look at TW 808's interior. The ventilator goes into the standard 12 V socket (which you might not have) and I use a switch under the driver's seat so it doesn't run all the time. Here's a link to the kind of ventilator you might need: http://www.pollin.de/shop/detail.php?pg=OA==&a=MzU4OTc2OTk=&w=OTkzOTk4&ts=40 We take in the air in front of the motor to have a little "pre heating" from the motor's "waste heat". Putting the ventilator on top of the motor is even better. That's how the pilot of TW 806 has done this - and this system was originally his idea. The ventilation system is great for humid and very cold days - but also for cooling on sunny early spring days when it gets hot in the TWIKE but the air is still too cold for opening the canopy (is this the correct term for the "folding top"?). Last - but not least - a link to the general "TWIKE ventilation" page of the elweb wiki (just in case Google's translation renders usable results): http://elweb.info/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=twike_scheibenlueftung Cheers Franko30 P.S.: On Monday/Tuesday I get my Li-Ion batteries - finally twice the range: 150 km (and maybe more). TW 808 / 20 AH LiIon-Akkus seit 03/2008 / Höchste Reichweite bisher: 140 km. Verbrauch 6,3 kWh/100 km (372 US-miles per Gallon)
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Written on: 25. 02. 08 [23:40]
childress Topic creator registered since: 14.08.2007 Posts: 81	Thank you so much for the informative links and the translations when ya'll have the time. I'll try to take some pictures of the taillight work on 433 and post 'em. One thing that piqued my interest were the pages that describe (in German) how to liquefy the Luran S to use it for patching holes left over from the light swaping Wow! 93 miles per charge (150km). You'll have to let us know how it fares in real life. One thing that I'm really interested in is the self-discharge: Folks always ask me how many miles I get per charge, and with the NiCads it is very dependent on how long it sits between uses as to how far you go per charge (and how comfortable you are at getting close to 280V/Empty)... if I charge it up for a full charge overnight and then roll out the door fairly quickly after it hits the 'Trickle Charge' phase, then I can get pretty close to 400V and 40 miles -- but only if I drive a solid 40 miles without letting it sit, which almost never happens. To give you an idea of the self-discharge rate I've experienced, in the summer I can make 2.5 trips to work and back home (a distance of 25 miles/40km) on a full charge -- that includes sitting overnight twice and during the day and pushing pretty close to 310V under full acceleration (for those unfamiliar, 310 is the somewhat 'default' setting for the red 'getting close to Empthy' warning light to come on). With the NiCad battery chemistry, there is a sharp drop-off at the end of a charge (in gasoline tank terminology, near empty), and from my experience once you get below 310V things get pretty weird power-wise very quickly (from those used to driving a gasoline machine) -- ie, the sharp drop off. Things don't happen linearly at that point: you could go for quite a while at 5-10 mph, but you can't get over 20mph and you proceed to 280V very quickly (completely dead). I could perhaps make it home and make it a full 3 trips (30 miles, close to the 35-38 miles initially registered) but that'd take a lot of pedaling and risk not being able to move at top speed, and I have to cross/drive on at least two roads with 35mph speed limits (56kph) which means in the US cars are actually moving at 40-45mph (64-72kph), and struggling on the pedals at 10-15mph while the rest of traffic is whizzing around you at 40mph isn't safe and it's not the image of an electric car I want the other drivers to be left with. Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it! http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike
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