What Is an Electric Tricycle？
Electric tricycle (electric trike) are three-wheeled battery-powered vehicles used for transporting goods or passengers.
Tricycles are very popular in China and countries across Southeast Asia and Africa. Many businesses use them for commercial purposes, and individual owners use them for household chores. For example, in China, most courier companies distribute packages, letters, and other deliveries on electric trikes. In Southeast Asia, people rely on electronic tricycles for daily transportation.
What Are the Advantages of Electric Tricycles?
Electric tricycles offer flexible mobility, simple maintenance, and affordability. They fit on narrow roads to make motorized access possible in tight spaces. In addition, electric tricycles can move in reverse, making them a fantastic option for neighborhood deliveries in large cities or locations that are hard to reach.
They are an ideal solution for short-distance transportation needs for families, small businesses, factories, mines, and logistics companies. The diverse applications of electric tricycles makes them a great option for people who need reliable transportation in both rural and urban settings.
Electric Tricycle Manufacturing: 4 Primary Components
Electric tricycle manufacturing involves four core processes. They are:
- Stamping
- Welding
- Painting
- Assembly
The Tricycle Stamping Process
Stamping is the first step in the manufacturing process. First, raw steel is cut to size on a cutting machine. The sheets are then punched and trimmed. Each tricycle part has a specific mold that attaches to a press machine that then stamps out the correct shapes. The quality of the molds is critical to manufacturing strong and durable parts.
Advanced Stamping Technology in the Electric Tricycle Manufacturing Industry
According to statistics, 60%-70% of the parts on tricycles are made using stamping technology. Therefore, stamping technology has an important impact on product quality, production efficiency, and production costs.
Characteristics of stamping process and classification of stamping process
Stamping is a metal processing method based on metal plastic deformation. It uses die and stamping equipment to apply pressure to metal sheets that produce parts with a certain shape, size, and performance (pressed parts). The stamping process can be divided into two major types: separation process and forming process.
Separation Process: Punching, trimming, cutting, etc.
Forming Process: Stretching, edging, shaping, hole turning, bending
Here’s a closer look at the stamping process:
Punching: The stamping process separates parts from the original metal sheet (this includes punching, dropping, trimming, cutting, etc.).
Bending: Stamping transforms the metal sheet into precise angles and shapes along bend lines for easy separation.
Stretching: Stamping also changes a flat sheet into various open-front parts or further changes the shape and size of the original piece.
Partial Forming: The press forming process molds the metal into custom parts (this includes flanging, expanding, leveling, and shaping).
The Tricycle Welding Process
The stamped body parts are heated and pressed together during body assembly. Spot welding is the most common type of welding used in electric tricycle manufacturing because it improves the quality and strength of the tricycle body.
Tricycle bodies are composed of thin plates that are assembled and welded together after stamping and forming. High-quality welding is the key to forming a sturdy tricycle body. Assembly and welding are the foundation of the tricycle body manufacturing process.
The tricycle body shell is a complex piece made up of dozens of thin plate stampings joined by welding, riveting, mechanical linkage and bonding. Since most of the materials used for tricycle body stamping are low carbon steel with good welding properties, welding is the most widely used joining method in modern vehicle body manufacturing.
The Tricycle Painting Process
Painting serves two important purposes; the first is to prevent corrosion, and the second is to increase aesthetics. The painting process is complex and technically demanding because it prevents rust and ensures good long-term performance.
The main process includes: pre-treatment, primer, painting, and drying. The whole process requires a large amount of chemical reagent treatment and precise quality control. Specialized equipment and premium paints are necessary to guarantee the best finished products.
Why Is Painting the Tricycle Body Necessary?
The Tricycle Assembly Process
The assembly process is divided into four work sections:
- Chassis Assembly
Chassis assembly builds the entire vehicle wiring harness, including power lines, control lines, light lines, instrument lines, electronic control systems, tires, and the shock absorption system.
- Tricycle Body Assembly
During body assembly, workers build the main body, cabin, multimedia system, cushion back, seat belt, led lights, rear view mirror, and other accessories.
- Trim Assembly
Trim assembly includes any trim parts, the dashboard, radio, fan, and other interior cabin features.
- Adjustment and testing
Each finished electric tricycle is inspected and tested before commissioning. Testing includes a road test, hill climbing tests, and electronics tests to ensure full functionality as the final step in the assembly process.
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