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Enclosed pedal-powered recumbent in production

November 22, 2023 — BarryK

I hunted around, trying to find any enclosed (with canopy) recumbent three or four-wheel pedal-powered vehicles, with electric assist and maybe solar panel, in production. There are lots of projects that never made it into production, and some that were briefly in production but no more.

I found one that is, apparently, in limited production, the "pedilio":

https://www.pedilio.de/news-english/about-pedilio/

img1

...in Germany. Cannot find a price. Very nice specifications, full suspension, solar panel.

The pedilio looks like it would be legal in Australia, except that it is a quad. Oh, and 870mm wide, so not legal in WA. In Western Australia, the definition of a bicycle is 2 or 3 wheels:

https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/former/regs.nsf/(DownloadFiles)/Road+Traffic+(Bicycles)+Regulations+2002.pdf/$file/Road+Traffic+(Bicycles)+Regulations+2002.pdf

“bicycle” means —
(a) any 2 wheeled vehicle, not being a scooter, that is
designed to be propelled solely by human power;
(b) any 3 wheeled vehicle, intended for use on a road,
that is designed to be propelled solely by human
power; or
(c) a 2 wheeled or 3 wheeled vehicle that is a power
assisted pedal cycle;

...no mention of 4 wheels.

I'm not sure, but I think some other States define a bicycle as being "2 or more wheels". Ah yes, South Australia:

https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/23438/DPTI-Cycling-and-the-Law-Booklet.pdf

A bicycle is classified in the Australian Road Rules as being any
two or more wheeled vehicle that is built to be propelled by
human power through a belt, chain or gears (whether or not it
has an auxiliary motor) and includes a pedicab, penny-farthing,
tricycle and a Pedalec.

While hunting for bicycle definitions, stumbled upon this 2022 update to the maximum width allowed for a bicycle in WA:

https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/filestore.nsf/FileURL/mrdoc_46644.pdf/$FILE/Road%20Traffic%20(Vehicles)%20Regulations%202014%20-%20%5B01-af0-00%5D.pdf?OpenElement

406.
Dimension requirements for bicycles and their loads
The overall width of any equipment or load carried on a bicycle
must not exceed 800 mm.
[Regulation 406 amended: SL 2022/130 r. 5.]

...the wording is weird. Doesn't say the bicycle itself can be 800mm wide. But the "660" limit has been removed, so 800 must also mean the bicycle itself, not just load/equipment.

So, can update this blog post:

https://bkhome.org/news/202311/updated-maximum-width-of-bicycletricycle-in-wa.html 

EDIT:
Rick sent me a link to the "Veemo" enclosed trike, apparently starting production in Canada:

https://envodrive.com/products/veemo

img2

...not a recumbent, so quite tall; not leaning either, so the thought occurs it might be a worry when cornering. Can't find a width specification.    

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