Scaredy, the classes for ebikes are more complicated than that.
Class I: No throttle, speed limit 20 MPH
Class II: Throttle ok, speed limit 20 MPH
Class III: No throttle, Speed limit 28 MPH
All above motors cannot exceed 750w
Class IV: Speed >28 MPH, motor >750w- these have to be registered as a moped.
Seriously convoluted, and I can assure you NO police officer understands these very well.
My vehicle doesn’t fit into ANY of these categories except the class IV. I tried to get a Japanese plate on it, and City Hall here in Chatan was very accommodating. However, when I went to the vehicle registration office on base they refused to give me the necessary paperwork, stating “it has to comply with the manufacturer’s specifications”. I replied “I’m the manufacturer, it meets my specifications”. They didn’t want to hear that, so I’m riding it somewhat illegally, which is why I backed the power down. Japan puts the power max at 250w, but unless you put a tester on the battery I can just say it’s a 36v battery and a 10 amp controller. This will also apply to San Diego cops, as nobody knows enough about these things, and I can tell them whatever I want.
Xbox, there are no welds. One of the things I want to do when I get back to San Diego is learn to weld aluminum. It would make everything so much easier, and I can make NavyTrike Mk II much lighter and simpler. As for off the shelf parts, the wheels are for a Rubbermaid dump cart, just changed to Go-cart bearings, and the brakes are standard 160 mm mountain bike hydraulic brakes/rotors. Took a lot of modification to get the brake discs mounted on the wheels. Also it took me 6 different steering designs to get one I liked. The only machine tools I used to build this was a chop saw with an aluminum blade, and a bench top drill press (both from Harbor Freight). Larger machine tools would be nice, but I COULD have done the whole thing with a hacksaw and a hand drill.
For the design configuration it has a 72v battery which can deliver 60 amps, and a controller that can put out 100 amps. So the power is effectively 4320w. I have it powered down to about 1500w, and as long as I don’t get too crazy with the speed, I can fly under the radar.
My ultimate plan is to build a body around it and make a velomobile, but I don’t have anywhere in Okinawa I can work with the fiberglass. I also have a solar panel to incorporate into the hood, so it will charge itself. Works quite well. I too am very intrigued by minimalist electric vehicles. It’s just funny that something like this, which CAN effectively replace a car is totally illegal right now.
