[swordtart]

This discussion wasn't really whether you would want to put 30 fuel cells in a Trike, but whether you legally could.

This conversation started as I proposed a small cycle plant with extra power cells as an alternative to multiple laser batteries.

With respect to your road trip, I think you were lucky to get only a single encounter in 3 days. You should have been facing the same threat as the ground vehicles. If air travel is so much safer and quicker, why aren't all the couriers using microplanes? The game isn't about that so rather than assume it would be easier you should assume it would be harder. You should be playing against the game environment not the GM, if you are going to try something the game environment isn't geared up for the GM needs to do more prep work.

Not everything needs to be combat (but don't underestimate the number of groundlings that will fire at you just for the hell of it - the Goodyear airship supposedly picks up 50 bullet holes year in a supposedly benign environment). Weather is probably your biggest challenge, particularly wind speed and direction.