Electric Velomobiles: as Fast and Comfortable as Automobiles, but 80 times more Efficient
solar.lowtechmagazine.com
About a quarter of the existent wind turbines would suffice to power as many electric velomobiles as there are people.
  • kamenLady.@lemmy.world
    19·
    2 months ago

    Both the velomobile and the electric bicycle increase the limited range of the cyclist – the former optimises aerodynamics and ergonomics, while the latter assists muscle power with an electric motor fuelled by a battery.

    The electric velomobile combines both approaches, and so maximises the range of the cyclist – so much so that it is able to replace most, if not all, automobile trips.

    Why aren’t we all driving around in these things?

    • ÚwÙ-Passwort@lemmy.world
      191·
      2 months ago

      Because both Cars i own were cheaper than buying one of those, atleast where iam. I quite literally can’t afford one.

      • django@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        7·
        2 months ago

        I wished we would just tax the environment destroying vehicles to subsidize these velomobils. Another idea would be to include them in car-sharing offerings. I don’t need to own one, but I would love to rent it once in a while.

      • kamenLady.@lemmy.world
        6·
        2 months ago

        I didn’t check the price before … Yeah here in germany you’d get, a pedal only version, for around 12.000 Euros ( + 250 Euros delivery )

          • Skua@kbin.earth
            13·
            2 months ago

            €6,000 is, unfortunately, well into the territory of competing with used cars. It absolutely needs to be cheaper than that to gain mass adoption. I’m sure it can be since this looks like a high-end product aimed at a very specialist market just now, but right now that is a major obstacle.

    • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
      14·
      2 months ago

      I looked into getting one of those. Turns out it was cheaper to buy several used cars than getting a second hand bike like this. I’m not spending €9900 on a banana moped when you can get a Citroën Ami for not that much more.

      These velomobiles are unwieldy to ship and produced in small quantities, often by specialist companies. They’re also difficult to see in traffic, even for other bikes; for visibility, velomobiles are required to have a little flag at eye height on them, but the people spending 10k on these things don’t seem to care much about this law.

      They’re not fast enough to join main roads at normal speeds, but dangerously fast for bike paths. The people in them have to either pull dangerous manoeuvres to overtake people, or constantly brake and accelerate. I don’t think you get regenerative breaking for those things. They also can’t take sharp corners that you’ll find in some bike paths.

      I’m not opposed to them, but they need to gain popularity to drive down the price before they’ll work, and even then they require infrastructure changes.

      • Epzillon@lemmy.ml
        7·
        2 months ago

        In Sweden people generally dont drive around in dinosaur-sized car, but they have been increasing lately. Yesterday I had my first personal experience of how much of an issue they are. I was in line for a left-turn in a crossing and noticed that the last car from the opposite side was also gonna turn left. The 2 cars in front of me already crossed the road and head left, i drive forward just a moment later than the huge RAM from the other side and notice a Nissan Micra that is heading straight towards me instead of turning. It was completely hidden behind the monster car and neither me nor the drivers in front of me in my lane had noticed it. Cars of that size not only endanger pedestrians by not seeing them but also obscure general traffic scenarios. They should not be allowed on the street tbh…