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micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility @lemmy.world

Fried_out_Kombi @lemmy.world

1y ago

What do y'all think of this open-source, solar-roof e-bike thingy?

https://vhelio.org/

I personally think it could be a great alternative to cars and bikes for those who need to take a whole family somewhere or a decent amount of stuff.

Only modifications I would make would be ride-by-wire and an extra set of pedals (so you can have two people pedalling without the annoyance of normal tandem bikes having to pedal at the same rate), and a more powerful motor (only 250W is legal in France, where this was designed, whereas 500W is legal here in Canada)

Solarpunk technology @slrpnk.net

Fried_out_Kombi @lemmy.world

1y ago

What do y'all think of this open-source, solar-roof e-bike thingy?

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25 comments

This looks like a death trap tbh
Most micro mobility stuff does, but this looks more dangerous than usual. Being strapped into it could actually decrease safety and the lack of any kind of crumple zone means any crash is going to be broken limbs at best, fatal at worst
- In a collision with a car, definitely. But if we're considering dedicated bike trails or dedicated golf cart trails (a man can dream), this thing is just an e-bike at heart, so it can only go e-bike speeds. And e-bike speeds aren't going to be fatal unless a fast-moving car is involved.
  
  At the same time though, I wouldn’t want to see this in a bike lane, because as a biker, it would hurt a helluva lot more to get in a collision with. Might even be too wide for the lane. But I wouldn’t want it in the street, either, as it would be too slow and much smaller than cars, i.e. more vulnerable. I feel like this would only really work if there was extremely widespread adoption
  
  Yeah, definitely, and I think that's (unfortunately) why we haven't seen anything like this make it mainstream. Imo, they're most compelling as a wholesale replacement for private cars, especially in dense urban neighborhoods. Instead of 2-ton chunks of steel hurtling by at 50 km/h, have a 100-kg (?) glorified tricycles cruising at 25 km/h. The lower top speeds would not only be great for general safety, but it would also discourage them becoming too dominant (like cars have), as they'd be too slow to allow for super long commutes from all the way out in the sprawling suburbs; instead, people would use them for shorter trips and use rapid transit for longer trips.
  But with current bike lanes and car-dominated streets, I don't think we're likely to ever see something like this take off. It would definitely take a very forward-thinking and committed city council to build the infrastructure to make these viable.
  The closest existing thing I'm aware of is Peachtree City, GA, aka the city of golf carts: https://youtu.be/pcVGqtmd2wM?si=6mqxbwk98vj6ItJo
  
  I don't think we're likely to ever see something like this take off
  This has already taken off, just not with people: https://www.google.com/search?q=lastenrad+paketzustellung&tbm=isch
  https://cargo.mubea-umobility.com/
  And yes, they are a bit of an issue, but way less than ordinary delivery vehicles parking on bike lanes and sidewalks.
  
  Most of the places these make sense it would make even more sense to have a good public transit system. What is left if camp grounds, flee markets, golf courses...
- Death trap, oh come on...
  Apart from this here obviously being some prototype/DIY/research project, it's pretty much the same as a delivery bike, e.g.: https://cargo.mubea-umobility.com/
  Are those death traps? How many people have died in there? How many people have been killed by them?
  Even fully loaded and at top speed, which is commonly limited at 25km/h in the EU, it maybe has 5 times the kinetic energy of a "normal bike".
  A car at 50 km/h easily has 100 times the kinetic energy of a bike.
  Yes, if you run that thing into a pedestrian, that probably wouldn't go well. But those accidents, even in countries with lots of cargo bikes, are extremely rare, all things considered.

25 comments