As the saying goes … “What will they think of next?” … E-Pedals!
Britt Pedals are an invention of a British man named Stephen Britt. Although not a very powerful motor nor a very long lasting battery power these are a quick and rather inexpensive means of motorizing a bicycle or in our case a tricycle. Costing about $300 it is just a matter of removing the existing pedals and installing these in their place. I don’t know much about them and apparently not much is being said as to just how they work. An engineer I am not, but it would seem to me that this is not a very efficient way to go about motorizing a bike. For sure it is truly pedal assist. There is no denying that.
They are not yet in production and available to purchase. They have come a ways though from their beginning as you can see in this picture of what they looked like in their early development.
Here is a video of Stephen Britt talking about his invention. As you can see the name was orginally Fast Forward.
Here is the company statement about the product:
“These replace your standard pedals and provide you with assistance to get you up hills, or carry heavy loads. Each pedal incorporates a motor, gearbox, Li-po batteries and a control board. As you pedal the sensors detect your effort and provide assistance. To pedal without assistance, simply flip the pedals over. They unclip and slot into a charger for charging, much like with a power tool. When fully developed they will provide a range of 10 miles and peak power of 200W. They will retail for around £200 (approximately $300).”
And there have been several articles written about these. The following are just a few of them:
http://electricbikereview.com/community/threads/the-britt-pedal-very-different.341/
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/news/stephen-britt-talks-pedelecs-electric-pedal-invention/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/25/fast-forward-electric-pedals-could-make-your-bike-power-itself/
http://www.greenoptimistic.com/fast-forward-powered-pedals-20100720/#.VVNIdVTd9kX
http://www.electric-bicycle-guide.com/FastForward.html
Obviously they offer no protection for the concern of leg suck so using these on a tadpole trike could be risky. And I don’t see any simple solution to this concern.
With only a ten mile range it is good that the pedals can be flipped over so that the battery power can be saved for when you really need it. 200 Watts is considered to be an entry level motor (not very powerful) so I would not expect them to climb much of a hill. I could be wrong and hope that I am. Maybe these would surprise me. I have no experience with electric motors on bikes. I am only going by what I have read. But hey, if these do make it into production and they offer enough assistance they might very well be just the ticket for some to …
ENJOY THE RIDE!
Tadpole Rider 
Doesn’t seem to make any kind of sense.. maybe the pedals may spin but don’t see the way it could help…