It’s getting more and more common these days for someone wanting to quit their oil and gas job, leave their life, sell their car and take off on an eco-powered adventure. More often than not the contraption they build is a hideous monstrosity that needs an over-size load vehicle running ahead of it and isn’t fit for purpose. This isn’t the case with Peter’s recumbent trike or life. I think that he’s nearly got it right. He’s used a well priced recumbent trike from Greenspeed and had us put on a Bafang mid-drive motor up front. A large capacity 48V 17.5Ah battery was located on the frame in front of the seat for a nice centre of gravity. The solar power system includes a 180W panel that feeds directly into the electric bike battery through a $50 multi-voltage solar controller. It’s still a work in progress and various test rides are necessary before he takes on the Nullarbor but it’s a comfy and functional system that allows some long-distance eco-touring. With this system alone Peter is able to do about 200km with a battery charge supplemented with solar. He’d have to allow for a few hours of sunshine at the end of the day to reach the goal of being energy neutral by the time the sun sets but he’s not too far off with this simple system.