Twike AG
Gelterkinden in Switzerland from 1995 on
The Twike is a three-wheeled light electric vehicle for two people at first built in Gelterkinden in Switzerland.
History
The Twike emerged from a study by students, including ETH Zurich. Originally it was designed as a pure bike. In 1986, it won a prize for ergonomics during the Vancouver World Expo on the occasion of the Innovative Vehicle Design Competition (IVDC) and first prize in the category of everyday vehicles during the Human Powered Vehicle World Championships The original producer of the Twike, the Twike AG based in Gelterkinden in Switzerland, and the company S-Lem merged in 1999 to Swiss LEM based in Hochdorf (Switzerland). Swiss LEM went bankrupt in the summer of 2002. The Twike today called Twike 3, was bought by the German FINE Mobile GmbH, which now continues to produce the Twike in Rosenthal. The Swiss LEM development called Twike. Me did not go into production.
Since 1995, the Twike 3 has been approved for road traffic. In the meantime, just over 1,000 vehicles have been sold, with around 450 each delivered to Switzerland and Germany (as of February 2013). The other vehicles spread to other countries like the Netherlands, Korea, China, Denmark, Austria, Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, Norway, Italy, Spain, France, Morocco and the United States. To develop a successor model since 2009, the Twike 4 was developed and tested as a prototype. As a successor model since 2015, the Twike 5 is developed; it can be reserved as a priority by participating in fundraising. Subordinated are non-binding reservations without down payment.
For the propulsion of the TWIKE 3 as provides three-phase - electric motor with a rated output of 3 kW (peak power of 7 kW, with "Racing Software" and 25 A driving current up to 8 kW) and optionally a pedal drive for driver and passenger. Thus, the Twike reaches a speed of 85 km / h in the plane. The Twike is made of an aluminium tube frame, which is covered with a plastic cover (Luran S).
The powertrain of the under development Twike 5 will come due to license classes in a version up to 15 kW and possibly also in a version with more than 15 kW on the market. With the drive up to 15 kW and three batteries, speeds of up to 190 km / h are achieved. Driving supports a pedal generator (300 watts, standard driver side, option on the passenger side) and optionally a roof solar panel.
The Twike is steered by a joystick between the two drivers, with which at the same time acceleration and braking is carried out. A recuperation brake feeds power back into the batteries when braking. The entry is made possible by the opening of the hood, which is supported by a gas spring. The hood carries the laminated glass or a lighter Plexiglas and the removable convertible or Targa top.
The energy is stored since the model year 2008 in Li-ion batteries with a nominal voltage of 353 volts. Currently (2014) the manufacturer offers rechargeable batteries with 9.0 Ah (two to seven of them are selectable). The smallest equipment, with only one 9-Ah battery offers a range of 40-80 km, at least 2 such batteries are recommended; the maximum equipment with 7 x 9 Ah batteries offers a range of> 500 km. These 7 modules weigh a total of 133 kg. The full traction current of 25A is only reached from 4 modules. 3 modules offer only 20A and 1-2 modules only 16A - the latter is not enough for steep mountain rides.
Before that, NiCd batteries with a rated voltage of 336 volts and a capacity of 3 to 5 Ah per battery pack were used, in which 280 round cells each were installed. The NiCd version has a maximum of two battery packs with a total of 6 to 10 Ah, which at 10 Ah allows a range of max. 50-70 km corresponds.
As an alternative, on the occasion of the Twike Challenge 05 in 2005, the Black Sea NiMH batteries were tested with capacity doubled compared to the nickel-cadmium batteries (18 Ah). Stages up to 130 km without charge were reached with these cells. FINE Mobile, delivers these because of technical problems (too short life) with the cells since mid-2007, but no longer. The range is - depending on the battery - between 40 and 500 km with a consumption of about 4 to 8 kWh / 100 km. This corresponds to 14.4 28.8 megajoules / 100-man economical gasoline car with a fuel consumption of 5 Liters of gasoline or 4.33 L diesel / 100 km (x 32.5 MJ / L gasoline or 37.4 MJ / L diesel =) corresponding to 162 MJ / 100 km thus consumes well 5.5 to 11 times as much energy. Such low energy consumption is due to the much higher efficiency of the electric drive, the aerodynamically favourable shape with a small cross-sectional area and the lightweight construction (aluminium, plastic). The moderate maximum speed and the (depending on the height profile of the route) brake energy recovery have a favourable effect on consumption.
