has nayone tried this? It offers lithium

[sin85]

http://www.trekinetic.com/GTE.php

[ex-Gooserider]

Cute, even if it does remind me of a baby's car seat...

I will give them credit for an "out of the box" design, though I don't know how well it would work in the real world.

Opinions based on just looking at the website - NO HANDS ON, so take it for what it's worth...

Specs don't say anything about power, battery size, speed, range, etc... Given that the wheels look like the typical "power assist" style, I'd not expect much. The battery box doesn't look like it has room for much in the way of cells, so I'd guess 4mph and 10-20 mile "estimated range" with reality being a lot worse...

I'd want to know what sort of lithium chemistry they are using - there is the obvious issue of fire hazard if using LiPO in something you can't bail out of, but the box doesn't look big enough to hold much in the way of a LiFePO4 pack. Also what are they using for charging?

The rear wheel sticking out the back as far as it does makes the chair look rather long, (about 40") and it seems wide as well, but the corners are well rounded, which takes some of the curse off it...

The big wheels should give pretty decent rough terrain ability, though they are skinny looking, and they seem to be doing at least some effort at suspension. Only thing that looks marginal that way is the ground clearance on the footboard.

They make a deal about putting it in any car, which is better than one can do with most power chairs, but the pix shows it loaded in the back of the car... It doesn't seem to have an answer for how one is supposed to get from the back of the car to the driver's seat. They seem to be on the assumption that either the user can stand and walk enough for that, or that he will have an attendant. Not unreasonable, but limiting for those of us that can't do the walking thing... (no idea if it's possible to do a drive from the chair option in a van or not)

Not something that I need, but that bucket seat looks like it might have some nice advantages for users that need a lot of side support and / or custom seating (I thought of Rachi very quickiy when I saw it, perhaps Lenny could comment on what he thinks of it as an option for someone like her...)

Still, it is one of the few commercial chairs that I'd be tempted to take out for a spin...

ex-Gooserider

[Burgerman]

Battery way too small. 36lb all up weight? Even wth brushless motors that's not enough for the battery alone. I knew this was the way manufacturers would go with lithium. We will see short problematic battery life, no range gains or other advantages. Because small Ah = cheap.

[rollingcowboy]

who is it for?
for the manual version;
harder to transfer into
heavy
long
going down hill would be scary when you need brakes (which is always) - ??
didn't see arm rests?

[Burgerman]

The whole point, and advantage of Lithium batteries is that it allows more Ah in a given space. The bugbear of huge heavy fat weak lead batteries.

And more C rate (given the correct cells) meaning larger voltages can be used and "free" added speed or efficiency can be had with zero torque or range penalty.

To miss out on the expected advantages, renders lithium's completely pointless... Other than marketing kudos. Other than for portability (weight) and cost reasons.

[Alexlebrit]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread but I thought I'd reanimate this one as it's the closest to the chair my wife would want. She's an Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and ME sufferer which means she can walk but tires very quickly, it does however mean she can walk from the boot of the car to the driver's seat.

We've not managed to get our hands on the powered version but did have a spin in the self-propelled version at the Science Museum.

Firstly it was great to see someone thinking out of the box a bit. There's technologies here that just don't seem to be found in wheelchairs. That's not to say they're far out and freaky. There's nothing that can't be found in bicycles or human powered vehicles. It was nice to see them being used in chair design.

Secondly it was light, very light. Light enough that even my wife could pick it up. But it's also incredibly solid feeling totally unlike my wife's 65lb powerchair which is heavy yet flimsy.

Thirdly it's comfortable. I'm not certain you'd want to be static at a desk in it because the seating position is wrong but as a going out chair it was very comfortable.

Now as I've said I've not seen the powered version but the self-propelled seemed like a good place to start. The big wheels would surely help with everyday obstacles, with enough momentum they'd mount a kerb easily, if bumpily so could get you out of that "oh oh I thought this was a dropped kerb but it's not and there's a bus coming" moments. The seat comfort is based on good ergonomic design, not the usual "rip a seat out of an old Morris Marina and thickly pad it" theory.

My wife is hoping to get her hands on the powered version soon as her condition seems to be suited to this chair. When we do I'll report back.

[Sully]

I like the seat, I used one somewhat similar in a dirt track stock car years ago. It was comfortable during the longer feature races on hot days and evenings. There are a ton of questions that might be asked about this design. I would not disparage a real trial of such a designed chair.

One of course is the amount of stored power that can be achieved in such a skeleton design.

But the large diameter tires and with the angle, at which they are shown, should provide with a pretty stable ride off the beaten path. The brushless motors are used on a plethora of electric bicycles and work well in that application. The batteries on those vehicles are not overly large, but there is a great difference between powering one rear wheel, and two parallel wheels, that may be used in opposite directions from each other, at the same time, as in turning in a circle. So the amount of A/H's required to operate such a design are difficult to judge.

There is just not enough information on that web site, to get all hot and bothered about this chair. But it is very intriguing all the same. It would also be good to try to contact the current users, that provided testimonials, what their feelings are now. Pro & Con

[Ramblin Granny]

Reminds me of my recumbant:
TRIKE-a Bigwheel with a Bionx 36 volt Li-Ion system- 27 speeds.
http://www.trimuter.com/

Yes, two big wheel in front and slightly smaller in back is a stable design. Had disc brakes. Went 47 mph on open road. Bike shops will build them to any specs you want. Love to see the innovation, the merging of e-trike tech with WC. Many early MS and other slow processes would find this design useful. What is condition is ME?

[Irving]

Reminds me of my recumbant:
TRIKE-a Bigwheel with a Bionx 36 volt Li-Ion system- 27 speeds.
http://www.trimuter.com/

Yes, two big wheel in front and slightly smaller in back is a stable design. Had disc brakes. Went 47 mph on open road. Bike shops will build them to any specs you want. Love to see the innovation, the merging of e-trike tech with WC. Many early MS and other slow processes would find this design useful. What is condition is ME?

link doesn't work

[Burgerman]

http://www.rqriley.com/tm.html

?

[Ramblin Granny]

Might be http://www.ebikesofne.com/TrikeRecumbents-s/1821.htm now. Websites come and go. Did a google search on recumbant e-trikes. Jerome Hedinger built it for me.