Bicycles

65-mph recumbent e-trike claims record 300 mile range

65-mph recumbent e-trike claims record 300 mile range
Odyssey Trikes have updated their Mark 5 Super so that it now achieves a claimed 300 miles (480 km) on a single charge while also boasting a top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h)
Odyssey Trikes have updated their Mark 5 Super so that it now achieves a claimed 300 miles (480 km) on a single charge while also boasting a top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h)
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The new 88v Li-Mn Blue Line battery used in the Mark 5 Super
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The new 88v Li-Mn Blue Line battery used in the Mark 5 Super
The Mark 5 Super has a claimed top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h)
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The Mark 5 Super has a claimed top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h)
Unlike a car, the Mark 5 Super can also travel on most cycleways
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Unlike a car, the Mark 5 Super can also travel on most cycleways
The Mark 5 Super comes with a free helmet
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The Mark 5 Super comes with a free helmet
A pair of Mark 5 Super trikes
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A pair of Mark 5 Super trikes
Odyssey Trikes have updated their Mark 5 Super so that it now achieves a claimed 300 miles (480 km) on a single charge while also boasting a top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h)
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Odyssey Trikes have updated their Mark 5 Super so that it now achieves a claimed 300 miles (480 km) on a single charge while also boasting a top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h)
With a claimed top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h), the Mark 5 Super would easily be able to keep up with suburban motor traffic
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With a claimed top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h), the Mark 5 Super would easily be able to keep up with suburban motor traffic
Standard with an array of accessories Mark 5 super comes with a frame mounted battery, a headlight and taillight package, an APM display cycle computer, a charger and a rear rack with a Topeak rack bag included
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Standard with an array of accessories Mark 5 super comes with a frame mounted battery, a headlight and taillight package, an APM display cycle computer, a charger and a rear rack with a Topeak rack bag included
Not only road-speed capable, the Mark 5 Super can also go almost anywhere a bicycle can
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Not only road-speed capable, the Mark 5 Super can also go almost anywhere a bicycle can
The creators pose with their creations
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The creators pose with their creations
Motivation is via a wheel hub motor driving a 24in (609mm) single speed wheel out back
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Motivation is via a wheel hub motor driving a 24in (609mm) single speed wheel out back
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They may look ungainly, but the aerodynamic advantages of recumbent bikes and trikes give them an edge – especially if you throw a 4 kW wheel hub motor into the mix. Case in point is the Mark 5 Super from Odyssey Trikes, which boasts a top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h) and a range of 300 miles (480 km) on a single charge.

Using a range of lightweight, 3D-printed parts manufactured in-house, Wisconsin-based Odyssey Trikes asserts that its Mark 5 Super comes with the most comprehensive and extreme electronics and mechanics packages possible to build into an electric trike. With a 750 watt maximum power limit factory set on the controller, this can be tweaked by the owner to deliver maximum power of up to 4 kW and speeds of up to 60 mph (96 km/h). Add an extra cost an auxiliary battery pack, and up to another 105 miles (168 km) of additional range is possible up to the claimed maximum 300 miles (480 km). At lower speeds you can also cover extra distance by using the pedals.

Carrying on from the previous iteration of the Mark 5, (and despite an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign), the Mark 5 Super sees the 80 V lithium-iron-phosphate battery replaced by a 88 V lithium-manganese pack from Blue Line Batteries.

Unlike a car, the Mark 5 Super can also travel on most cycleways
Unlike a car, the Mark 5 Super can also travel on most cycleways

Motivation is via a 4 kW wheel hub motor driving a 24-in single speed wheel out back, powered by batteries mounted on the frame. The two front wheels are both 16-in with disc brakes.

Standard with an array of accessories, the Mark 5 Super comes with a frame mounted battery, a headlight and taillight package, an APM display cycle computer, a charger and a rear rack with a Topeak rack bag, and a helmet.

Motivation is via a wheel hub motor driving a 24in (609mm) single speed wheel out back
Motivation is via a wheel hub motor driving a 24in (609mm) single speed wheel out back

With a top-end speed and power output now much higher than other electric recumbent offerings, such as Outrider's Horizon off-road machine or the HP Velotechnik, the manufacturers claim the top-of-the-range Super model is also the most affordable, high-performance alternative vehicle currently available.

"We spent years designing, prototyping and perfecting our trike design ... We got to this level of performance through a variety of new manufacturing techniques, but the most important among them is 3D-printing," said Dustin Herte and Ryan Bass, co-founders of Odyssey Trikes. "All our trikes have around a dozen 3D-printed parts, and this gives us unique engineering abilities and the option to keep the cost a lot lower than our competitors. We are innovators in this sector and are currently developing new 3D-printing technologies that we will share with the world, once they're ready."

Model prices in the 2016 Odyssey range start at US$4,499, with the souped-up Super selling for $9,899 ... with this caveat: "Change this power setting at your own risk! Study and abide by your local law!"

The manufacturers say to expect 45 days between payment and shipping in the continental US, with free freight anywhere in that area.

Source: Odyssey Trikes

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10 comments
10 comments
Chizzy
study the law in your area? In mine, you just register it as a motorcycle, take your test in it, and get you and it licensed accordingly. I imagine its a wild experience, both so low, and so fast. Biker leathers required!
JoshLoomis
These are seriously the best trikes on the market at half the price... No Brainer
unklmurray
I have just got to have one.......I'm ordering mine today......I Wish!!.....I'll have to get a loan,do some Gigolo,work although that is getting harder as I'm not a youngster anymore,and the ''Old rich girls are my age'' and are harder to find!! since I've been out of the loop my clientele has diminished.....I have a Leather craft shop,I'll just have to make some restraint / Hobbles Etc.......If you need some leather crafted stuff Email me .......unklmurray@gmail.com.....LOL :-)
CzechsterMarek
Damn I want one. Now that has all the features I like. Kick butt.
Grunchy
I have a tadpole trike (non-motorized) and the design has some inherent problems with speed... Because it's light-weight, it doesn't have any suspension and the frame is quite flexible. It's good for providing bump-absorbing compliance... bad for steering and handling. The tadpole trike design has its contact patches arranged in a triangle shape, which is therefore a triple-track vehicle. So it's even harder to avoid road-bumps. Let's say 3x the tracks of a single-track bicycle. The front wheels are bike wheels, but two-wheel bikes always lean into corners, and have negligible side-loading. I mean, they take side-loads, but always in proportion to the lean angle. Anyway, the trike corners "flat" so the wheels encounter plenty of side-loading. As I said, they are lightweight bike wheels with standard spokes. They aren't really made for this type of loading. I think you are liable to roll the tire right off the rim... The front brakes are disc-type, but (as I have found out) that's the only possible type that will work. Because the wheels encounter side loading, and they are lightweight, they deflect a lot. Conventional rim brakes would be dragging all the time! Therefore, hub-mounted discs are the only possible brakes. This will all be obvious the first time you ride a tadpole. Lastly, emergency braking... this is a doozy. If you come along at a relatively slow speed (let's say 10-20 km/hr, within the legal pathway limit) and you need to simultaneously brake & dodge.... you're gonna have a header. The trike is going to flip right over. Any substantial speed - well, I just hope you never have to perform an emergency maneuver. 65 mph on a tadpole, in the real world, doesn't seem very sensible.
StWils
Far too low to the ground to not get run over. Those little flags are adorable but not visible enough to be safe. Beyond that, this trike looks great.
TimothyQuintin
"Far too low to the ground to not get run over. Those little flags are adorable but not visible enough to be safe. Beyond that, this trike looks great."
I suppose that means you run over every squirrel that crosses you path. How do you stay in your lane? That paint on the asphalt (which is at ground level too! how do you stay on the road?) is at ground level.
What an ignorant comment. And by ignorant, I mean the dictionary definition of not having the facts.
I have been riding a trike for years. No one has ever come close to hitting me for "being far too low to the ground."
Stop spreading FUD.
TimothyQuintin
Grunchy, your comments are based entirely on speculation from what you see in a picture. Many trikes have full front and rear suspensions. Yes, avoiding bumps and holes in the road is a bit more difficult, but with a minimum of practice and driving skills, it is really quite easy.
No, trikes are not unstable in cornering. No more than a diamond frame upright two-wheeler. I take that back. I have never fallen, received a concussion, broken a limb while piloting a tadpole trike. I have many injuries racked up on a UCI approved bicycles. As with any wheeled conveyance, one must exercise caution and not exceed the limitation of the vehicle. I have dumped bicycles, I have seen motorcycles wind up in trees. I have watched automobiles flip over. I have heard of tricyles being flipped while cornering. Always it has been pilot error ... traveling too fast in the 30 mph range while cornering or failing to lean into the corner (many new riders will try to lean out)
No trike I have ever driven has "lightweight bike wheels with standard spokes" that most upright bikes have. Such side stresses are taken into account at the design level. Nearly every trike I have ever driven also uses disk brakes, not rim brakes because the speeds one encounters on trikes make those rim brakes a poor substitute for safety. Emergency braking has never, ever been an issue. Not once have I taken a header. I have had the rear wheel lift off the ground but in only one extreme case, the front boom stopped the trike from flipping over. Can't say as much for my Mountain bike. Emergency braking has indeed sent me into a header.
You have a lot of speculation in your post that bears little semblance to experience. I think you may have done a walk around, made some faulty assumptions and decided, no thank you.
Study up. Stop spreading FUD. Everything you say is misinformation, disinformation, error, and ignorance borne out of an uninformed opinion.
Would I want to take one of mine out at 65 MPH? No way! Would I want to take any bicycles out at 65 MPH? No chance in ever.
unklmurray
Years ago I built my first Trike.It was a ''Rungu" style trike long B4 that style was even a style.......Mine had a wheel base of 36inches W, x , 69inches L, now that I know ''How to ride it ,I would love to ride at 60+ mph.......when I say ''How to ride it ,...I mean a trike ,be it a Tad'Pole or one like mine ,When cornering,you don't take the inside of the corner like a car or 2 wheeled machine whereby you just lean N2 the corner but more like a sailboat ....you go around the ''outside of the turn,the inside tire raises off the groung and can continue upto a 45 degree angle B4 it tips over,Once you learn "How to ride'' speeds of upto 60-90mph become easy and safe,And a lot of fun!!!.........LOL :-)
shopoutlet
I don't know if I believe speed claim and range. Would not want to be going 65 mph on that thing if it is possible. Very low would be afraid of getting ran over.