Understanding the Role of Aerodynamics in Enhancing Trike Efficiency

Aerodynamics makes a huge difference to the performance of any vehicle, even electric trikes to some extent. In this article, we will discuss the basics of aerodynamics, how important it is to a vehicle's performance, and how it specifically affects electric trikes. By understanding aerodynamics, you can learn a lot about improving the efficiency performance of your trike.

Definition Of Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is the study of how air interacts with moving objects. When it comes to vehicles, it involves analyzing how air flows around the body and how it affects speed, efficiency, and stability. 

Importance Of Vehicle Performance

You may be surprised to learn how much aerodynamics impacts vehicle performance, even electric trikes. When an electric trike is made more aerodynamic, you will notice a significant improvement in speed and efficiency. This efficiency will improve the range of your electric trike, allowing you to make longer rides. On the other hand, a less aerodynamic trike will have a reduced range and be more challenging to ride.

Aerodynamic Principles

When it comes to aerodynamics, there are three key elements you need to understand. The first is drag, which is the resistance encountered by an object moving through air. You can feel drag when you put your hand out of the window of a fast-moving car. When you reduce a vehicle's drag, you enhance its speed and efficiency.

The next principle of aerodynamics is lift. Lift is what an airplane's wing uses to get it off the ground. For land-based vehicles, lift causes them to rise or become unstable, but an electric trike will never go fast enough to worry the rider.

Downforce is another element of aerodynamics that won't affect an electric trike too much. This is the force that presses a vehicle to the ground, improving traction and stability. High-performance cars have large wings fitted to them to push the wheels into the ground using downforce.

So, the role of aerodynamics in electric trike performance lies mainly in drag. Designing electric trikes with minimal drag can result in performance improvements. An aerodynamic design makes electric trikes more energy efficient and improves overall performance. When it comes to speed, you generally won't notice much difference between an aerodynamically optimized trike and one with more drag during day-to-day riding. However, you may see a significant increase in speed when freewheeling down hills as fast as you dare.

Design Considerations

Let's imagine we want to make the most aerodynamic electric trike in the world. There are specific things we would need to do to make this trike into the Formula One car of three-wheeled electric vehicles.

Firstly, we would need our trike to be as slippery through the air as possible. We would do this by giving it a streamlined shape to reduce air resistance. Imagine our trike looking like a missile with smooth and curved surfaces to pierce the air. We could also manipulate the air around the trike using fairings to reduce drag around the wheels and body.

In addition to all this, we wouldn't want our electric trike to take off or lose stability at a high speed. Therefore, we could fit spoilers to manage airflow and reduce lift.

Examples of Aerodynamic Trikes

Although rare, these aerodynamic trikes exist. For example, the Velomobile has a low-profile body with enclosed wheels to reduce drag as much as possible. There are many different velomobile designs, and they are usually one-offs as they are often built by enthusiasts. Therefore, owners can custom-build them to optimize trike performance factors. Some are two-seaters, and others adopt the riding position of recumbent bicycles or pedal go-karts. While most velomobiles are human-powered,  some have motors and batteries fitted to assist peddling. The role of aerodynamics in electric trike performance is evident in these designs, showcasing how thoughtful engineering can lead to better trike performance factors.

Performance Benefits

Aerodynamics can significantly impact how fast an electric trike can go. By reducing drag, a trike can go much faster with less effort. This would benefit anyone who needs to ride their trike long distances, as efficiency is key. Less drag means the motor doesn't have to work as hard, conserving battery power and extending the range of the electric trike. Efficient aerodynamics can lead to a notable improvement in battery life, making it a critical factor in trike performance.

Case Studies

According to sciencedirect.com, the resistive force of aerodynamic drag on a cyclist is up to 90% when traveling on a level road at about 40 km an hour. Significant research has been done on aerodynamics in cycling, and hambini.com has extensively looked into how aerodynamics affects a cyclist. Engineers compared wind tunnel testing and real-world effects of aerodynamics and concluded that there are significant differences when analyzing aerodynamics in both situations.

The problem with wind tunnel testing is that the wind is consistent, whereas, in the real world, the oncoming airflow is random and haphazard. Also, in the real world, the rider can choose their own cadence at any given moment and change direction by turning the handlebars. These are not things that happen when a cyclist is testing in a wind tunnel.

With all this in mind, developing any kind of bicycle or tricycle with a wind tunnel alone may not be the best way to improve performance. Manufacturers improve their products by examining other factors, such as the quality of drivetrains, motors, and batteries, and mechanically reducing resistance. 

 

Conclusion

Understanding the role of aerodynamics in electric trike performance can improve efficiency and speed. However, in the real world, most people who ride an electric trike won't be looking for incremental performance improvements. Instead, they will be more interested in range, load-carrying capacity, and user-friendliness.

However, if you are looking into increasing the efficiency of your electric trike to extend its range, you will benefit from understanding that aerodynamics is one of the key trike performance factors. Aerodynamics should be used in conjunction with other range-extending methods, such as using larger-capacity batteries, riding with correct tire pressures, and riding smoothly and efficiently.