12 ms·

Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

90 points by dustinmoris 7y ago

aasasd 7y ago
Afaik most microcars are pretty much bikes or electric mobility scooters with bodies. Plenty of fun can be had by googling for ‘microcar.’ Even some beefier things like KTM X-Bow or Polaris Slingshot, which are racing cars for all practical purposes, are registered as bikes due to having no safety features.
- m-i-l 7y ago
  One of the "selling points" of the Sinclair C5 was that its electric motor was built by Hoover and would be serviced at the existing network of vacuum cleaner service centres[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5
gcthomas 7y ago
Also odd, the driver is barefoot while he is stood on the motorway hard shoulder.
- NietTim 7y ago
  Quite in line with the eccentric vehicle :)
- robk 7y ago
  I'd almost expect that to be honest
  - C1sc0cat 7y ago
    or Socks with Sandals
- thecatspaw 7y ago
  is it legal in the uk to drive barefoot?
  - Theodores 7y ago
    Barefoot is quite common, particularly amongst those that wear high heels when out of the vehicle. So long as you can push the pedals safely all is fine. The Highway Code does have a few words about wearing appropriate footwear, the biggest thing is insurance though. If you are driving in high heels and it all goes wrong then your insurance isn't going to necessarily help.
  - jmkni 7y ago
    Yep - https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/road-safety/driving-without-shoes-is-it-illegal/ https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/road-safety/driving-witho...
    - robocat 7y ago
      It's also legal in New Zealand to drive barefoot (or even ride a motorbike barefoot): https://i.stuff.co.nz/motoring/99992891/silly-question-24-can-we-drive-in-jandals-or-barefoot https://i.stuff.co.nz/motoring/99992891/silly-question-24-ca...
  - isoprophlex 7y ago
    Is it illegal anywhere? That's good to know as I often drive barefooted, like... Once every ten trips or so?
    - klingonopera 7y ago
      Yes, in Germany it is illegal. AFAIK, the law states something along the lines of having "proper shoework" in order to operate the vehicle. EDIT: Whoops, no, it's actually legal [1][2] (in fact, it's perfectly legal to drive a car naked in Germany in public - though you shouldn't leave your car then, because being naked in public is not actually legal, the fine-print is that your car's interior is considered your private space), but you may get into trouble with insurance. While searching, I think I may have read that it actually is illegal in Switzerland, but don't take my word for it... [1]: https://www.focus.de/auto/praxistipps/barfuss-autofahren-ist-das-erlaubt_id_7577614.html https://www.focus.de/auto/praxistipps/barfuss-autofahren-ist... [2]: https://anwaltauskunft.de/magazin/mobilitaet/auto/ist-es-erlaubt-barfuss-auto-zu-fahren https://anwaltauskunft.de/magazin/mobilitaet/auto/ist-es-erl...
- codeulike 7y ago
  I swear I know that guy
adrianN 7y ago
IMHO the future of personal transportation is vehicles like that. We don't have the space in cities to support 2-3 tons of steel per traveler, and plain bicycles are uncomfortable in bad weather, or when you are physically impaired. But small (electric?) velomobiles with three or four wheels are perfect for city commutes when cycling is not an option. They also don't need 15-20kWh/100km like an electric car would.
- VBprogrammer 7y ago
  I've expressed the same sentiment before. The problem is that even talking about electric cars gets people's knickers in a twist; they need to be able to drive for 1000 miles straight while towing an apartment on wheels behind them and any vehicle which can't do that just isn't good enough. They'd rather be dead than have to drive one of these.
  - adwww 7y ago
    See also "we can't have bike lanes because I'm a scaffolding contractor and need to deliver 40 tonnes of steel poles on my truck"
  - bananapear 7y ago
    I’d love an electric car but I also like my caravan (nice cheap (£20 a night) walking holidays in the countryside). I had to settle for a small diesel instead. Towing isn’t something a lot of electric cars seem to be homologated for. I think the only current exception is the Tesla Model X. Unfortunately the post-1997 EU licence restrictions (in the UK) mean that lots of people are restricted to a total gross weight of 3500kg for the car and trailer, so towing even a small caravan with a car that has batteries would need the driver to do another driving test.
    - chrisseaton 7y ago
      Towing should be a strong point of electric vehicles, with all that torque, shouldn't it?
jansan 7y ago
Hmm, no mentioning of his dog Gromit. I hope he is doing well.
goatinaboat 7y ago
Far from the shonkiest vehicle I have ever seen on the M25.
Rumperuu 7y ago
Reminds me of the Czechoslovakian Velorex, which had three wheels, a motorcycle engine and a leather body[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velorex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velorex
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- aivisol 7y ago
  Or soviet "invalidka": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMZ_cyclecar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMZ_cyclecar. (4 wheels though)
zik 7y ago
It's a velomobile. They're somewhat unusual but surely not so unusual that they're worthy of a newspaper article? There are quite a few manufacturers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile#Velomobile_manufacturers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile#Velomobile_manufact...
- arethuza 7y ago
  I think the news story is also that it was spotted on the M25 which is the orbital motorway round London that is quite busy and that it is, in fact, perfectly legal. Edit: Also it is the BBC which has a track record of regarding unusual vehicles as entertaining: https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/top-gear-technology-centre/p45 https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/top-gear-technology-cent... From the 'review': "Against: The crash protection is a bit fleshy"
  - Digit-Al 7y ago
    M25 not M24
  - adwww 7y ago
    Also it's mildy amusing that the police stopped it because OBVIOUSLY that's not road legal, but it turns out that actually there was nothing they could cite it for - unlike a good number of cars on the road.
    - vanderZwan 7y ago
      To be fair to the police in this situation: most velomobiles would be more like electric bikes and therefore not be legal on motor highways, wouldn't they? It probably wouldn't be the first time someone eccentric created something cool in their garage and not go through the motions of getting it properly registered.
      - arethuza 7y ago
        Yeah - it seems pretty sensible to me that the police stop and check that vehicle.
senthilnayagam 7y ago
it rear side resembles like a small boat
buffaloo 7y ago
In the UK can traffic police stop motorists for no reason? No probable cause required?
- sgjohnson 7y ago
  Yup. In the UK police can also stop and search you at their liberty. Airstrip One.
  - ntzm 7y ago
    They have to have probable cause, but like in most other countries they'll just make something up like they smell drugs or whatever
    - jmkni 7y ago
      In the UK they don't have to have probable cause.
- conjectures 7y ago
  Yup (or at least, some reason could always be found). But they don't shoot you as much. So it's swings and roundabouts really.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- overtlypensive 7y ago
  Edit: never mind; I should read my sources.
- nodejsblogger7 7y ago
  To be honest I would say seeing this on the road is enough to pull it over and ask for registration MOT etc. From reading the article it sounds like it was all very peaceful and went without incident.
- collyw 7y ago
  Pedal bikes aren't allowed on the motorways in the UK, so I assume this falls under some similar sort of rule.
Reason077 7y ago
As reported on Twitter, this is Cedric Lynch's vehicle: https://greentransportation.info/videos/history/cedric-lynch/evmotorcycle-interview.html https://greentransportation.info/videos/history/cedric-lynch... http://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2009/06/15/electric_motor_feature.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2009/06/15/e... He is something of an electric vehicle innovator, inventing the Lynch motor in the 1970s/80s: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor
dlub 7y ago
Driver of the vehicle also invented and built the motor which powers it - The Lynch Motor - an axial-flux permanent magnet electric motor. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor Video of Cedric talking about the 'thingymobile' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnqoH0YaCsE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnqoH0YaCsE
johnbatch 7y ago
From Twitter [1] It's Cedric Lynch's car. There is a YouTube video [2] of him showing it off and saying it goes 55mph and gets 150-200 miles on a charge of its Lithium batteries. And another picture of him with it (and also barefoot) [3] 1. https://twitter.com/mikel01/status/1163709573984899072?s=21 https://twitter.com/mikel01/status/1163709573984899072?s=21 2. https://youtu.be/KnqoH0YaCsE https://youtu.be/KnqoH0YaCsE 3. http://www.bikeweb.com/node/2601 http://www.bikeweb.com/node/2601
- Jazgot 7y ago
  This is truly amazing, thank you for the links!
faissaloo 7y ago
I'd love to build my own custom vehicle, I wonder what it would involve in terms of making it road legal

90 points by dustinmoris 7y ago

Afaik most microcars are pretty much bikes or electric mobility scooters with bodies. Plenty of fun can be had by googling for ‘microcar.’ Even some beefier things like KTM X-Bow or Polaris Slingshot, which are racing cars for all practical purposes, are registered as bikes due to having no safety features.

m-i-l 7y ago
One of the "selling points" of the Sinclair C5 was that its electric motor was built by Hoover and would be serviced at the existing network of vacuum cleaner service centres[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5

gcthomas 7y ago

Also odd, the driver is barefoot while he is stood on the motorway hard shoulder.

NietTim 7y ago
Quite in line with the eccentric vehicle :)
robk 7y ago
I'd almost expect that to be honest
- C1sc0cat 7y ago
  or Socks with Sandals
thecatspaw 7y ago
is it legal in the uk to drive barefoot?
- Theodores 7y ago
  Barefoot is quite common, particularly amongst those that wear high heels when out of the vehicle. So long as you can push the pedals safely all is fine. The Highway Code does have a few words about wearing appropriate footwear, the biggest thing is insurance though. If you are driving in high heels and it all goes wrong then your insurance isn't going to necessarily help.
- jmkni 7y ago
  Yep - https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/road-safety/driving-without-shoes-is-it-illegal/ https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/road-safety/driving-witho...
  - robocat 7y ago
    It's also legal in New Zealand to drive barefoot (or even ride a motorbike barefoot): https://i.stuff.co.nz/motoring/99992891/silly-question-24-can-we-drive-in-jandals-or-barefoot https://i.stuff.co.nz/motoring/99992891/silly-question-24-ca...
- isoprophlex 7y ago
  Is it illegal anywhere? That's good to know as I often drive barefooted, like... Once every ten trips or so?
  - klingonopera 7y ago
    Yes, in Germany it is illegal. AFAIK, the law states something along the lines of having "proper shoework" in order to operate the vehicle. EDIT: Whoops, no, it's actually legal [1][2] (in fact, it's perfectly legal to drive a car naked in Germany in public - though you shouldn't leave your car then, because being naked in public is not actually legal, the fine-print is that your car's interior is considered your private space), but you may get into trouble with insurance. While searching, I think I may have read that it actually is illegal in Switzerland, but don't take my word for it... [1]: https://www.focus.de/auto/praxistipps/barfuss-autofahren-ist-das-erlaubt_id_7577614.html https://www.focus.de/auto/praxistipps/barfuss-autofahren-ist... [2]: https://anwaltauskunft.de/magazin/mobilitaet/auto/ist-es-erlaubt-barfuss-auto-zu-fahren https://anwaltauskunft.de/magazin/mobilitaet/auto/ist-es-erl...
codeulike 7y ago
I swear I know that guy

adrianN 7y ago

IMHO the future of personal transportation is vehicles like that. We don't have the space in cities to support 2-3 tons of steel per traveler, and plain bicycles are uncomfortable in bad weather, or when you are physically impaired. But small (electric?) velomobiles with three or four wheels are perfect for city commutes when cycling is not an option. They also don't need 15-20kWh/100km like an electric car would.

VBprogrammer 7y ago
I've expressed the same sentiment before. The problem is that even talking about electric cars gets people's knickers in a twist; they need to be able to drive for 1000 miles straight while towing an apartment on wheels behind them and any vehicle which can't do that just isn't good enough. They'd rather be dead than have to drive one of these.
- adwww 7y ago
  See also "we can't have bike lanes because I'm a scaffolding contractor and need to deliver 40 tonnes of steel poles on my truck"
- bananapear 7y ago
  I’d love an electric car but I also like my caravan (nice cheap (£20 a night) walking holidays in the countryside). I had to settle for a small diesel instead. Towing isn’t something a lot of electric cars seem to be homologated for. I think the only current exception is the Tesla Model X. Unfortunately the post-1997 EU licence restrictions (in the UK) mean that lots of people are restricted to a total gross weight of 3500kg for the car and trailer, so towing even a small caravan with a car that has batteries would need the driver to do another driving test.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    Towing should be a strong point of electric vehicles, with all that torque, shouldn't it?

jansan 7y ago

Hmm, no mentioning of his dog Gromit. I hope he is doing well.

goatinaboat 7y ago

Far from the shonkiest vehicle I have ever seen on the M25.

Rumperuu 7y ago

Reminds me of the Czechoslovakian Velorex, which had three wheels, a motorcycle engine and a leather body[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velorex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velorex

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
aivisol 7y ago
Or soviet "invalidka": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMZ_cyclecar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMZ_cyclecar. (4 wheels though)

zik 7y ago

It's a velomobile. They're somewhat unusual but surely not so unusual that they're worthy of a newspaper article? There are quite a few manufacturers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile#Velomobile_manufacturers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile#Velomobile_manufact...

arethuza 7y ago
I think the news story is also that it was spotted on the M25 which is the orbital motorway round London that is quite busy and that it is, in fact, perfectly legal. Edit: Also it is the BBC which has a track record of regarding unusual vehicles as entertaining: https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/top-gear-technology-centre/p45 https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/top-gear-technology-cent... From the 'review': "Against: The crash protection is a bit fleshy"
- Digit-Al 7y ago
  M25 not M24
- adwww 7y ago
  Also it's mildy amusing that the police stopped it because OBVIOUSLY that's not road legal, but it turns out that actually there was nothing they could cite it for - unlike a good number of cars on the road.
  - vanderZwan 7y ago
    To be fair to the police in this situation: most velomobiles would be more like electric bikes and therefore not be legal on motor highways, wouldn't they? It probably wouldn't be the first time someone eccentric created something cool in their garage and not go through the motions of getting it properly registered.
    - arethuza 7y ago
      Yeah - it seems pretty sensible to me that the police stop and check that vehicle.

senthilnayagam 7y ago

it rear side resembles like a small boat

buffaloo 7y ago

In the UK can traffic police stop motorists for no reason? No probable cause required?

sgjohnson 7y ago
Yup. In the UK police can also stop and search you at their liberty. Airstrip One.
- ntzm 7y ago
  They have to have probable cause, but like in most other countries they'll just make something up like they smell drugs or whatever
  - jmkni 7y ago
    In the UK they don't have to have probable cause.
conjectures 7y ago
Yup (or at least, some reason could always be found). But they don't shoot you as much. So it's swings and roundabouts really.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
overtlypensive 7y ago
Edit: never mind; I should read my sources.
nodejsblogger7 7y ago
To be honest I would say seeing this on the road is enough to pull it over and ask for registration MOT etc. From reading the article it sounds like it was all very peaceful and went without incident.
collyw 7y ago
Pedal bikes aren't allowed on the motorways in the UK, so I assume this falls under some similar sort of rule.

Reason077 7y ago

As reported on Twitter, this is Cedric Lynch's vehicle: https://greentransportation.info/videos/history/cedric-lynch/evmotorcycle-interview.html https://greentransportation.info/videos/history/cedric-lynch... http://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2009/06/15/electric_motor_feature.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2009/06/15/e... He is something of an electric vehicle innovator, inventing the Lynch motor in the 1970s/80s: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor

dlub 7y ago

Driver of the vehicle also invented and built the motor which powers it - The Lynch Motor - an axial-flux permanent magnet electric motor. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor Video of Cedric talking about the 'thingymobile' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnqoH0YaCsE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnqoH0YaCsE

johnbatch 7y ago

From Twitter [1] It's Cedric Lynch's car. There is a YouTube video [2] of him showing it off and saying it goes 55mph and gets 150-200 miles on a charge of its Lithium batteries. And another picture of him with it (and also barefoot) [3] 1. https://twitter.com/mikel01/status/1163709573984899072?s=21 https://twitter.com/mikel01/status/1163709573984899072?s=21 2. https://youtu.be/KnqoH0YaCsE https://youtu.be/KnqoH0YaCsE 3. http://www.bikeweb.com/node/2601 http://www.bikeweb.com/node/2601

Jazgot 7y ago
This is truly amazing, thank you for the links!

faissaloo 7y ago

I'd love to build my own custom vehicle, I wonder what it would involve in terms of making it road legal