4 ms·
In multiple countries, a lot of these vehicles cannot go on 40 MpH speed limited roads. That makes it hugely problematic for getting from A to B, even if you ar
by Someone1234 7y ago
In multiple countries, a lot of these vehicles cannot go on 40 MpH speed limited roads. That makes it hugely problematic for getting from A to B, even if you are willing to accept the low maximum speed or will just be on those roads momentarily. I'm not even talking about freeway/motorway driving, but even a lot of towns and cities have modestly fast roads running through them.
- azinman2 7y ago“ The top speed is 45 km/h (28 mph).” Not a problem re: 40mph roads. I’d love to have one for SF.
- ajmurmann 7y agoThat is such an annoying maximum speed. It's just shy of the speed limits of many residential areas. In Germany on towns it's generally 50kmh. On the US many roads have 30 or 35mph. This is just slow enough to be annoying to be behind and fast enough to make it not trivial to overtake. I say this as someone who wants a commuter vehicle similar to this. It's fine for me if it cannot go on the freeway, but it must be able to not hold up traffic everywhere else. Edit: I also prefer the shape of the Toyota iRoad. While that thing can go 37mph I think 50mph or at least 45 is the minimum to not be a nuisance.
- londons_explore 7y agoIf it were ever sold in the US, the top speed would likely be different, since it's determined by local laws rather than the tech. I'm always surprised rich parents don't buy these for teenagers since you can drive them at any age - no need to wait till you have a driving license, and significantly more practical than a bicycle and more independance/cheaper than an uber.
- kingbirdy 7y agoPeachtree City, Georgia has an expansive golf cart road network, and is useable by teenagers. Tom Scott did a good video on the city: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcVGqtmd2wM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcVGqtmd2wM
- leetcrew 7y agoI don't think parents in the US actually want their <16yo children to be that independent. drive themselves to/from school and sports? sure. be able to travel an arbitrarily long distance in a day? probably not.
- valzam 7y agoTotally agree. While living in Berlin I used to rent Coup (now defunct) e-scooters quite a bit. They would go up to 48-50km/h. Considering that most cars drive just a hair over 50 it was right in the annoying spot you described.
- de_watcher 7y ago45 km/h is the speed limit of the AM license that you can get while being 14 years old.
- ajmurmann 7y agoYeah, it is and I remember being annoyed by that when I lived in Germany. Who thought it was a good idea to put vehicles on the road that are forced to go just 5kmh below the speed limit?!
- jacquesm 7y agoThat's a legally mandated top speed to fit into that class of vehicle. "Brommobiel" we call them here.
- myself248 7y agoIn the US, we call them NEVs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle
- azinman2 7y agoThose look like golf carts. The Citroen doesn’t so much.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y agoBuy yourself an NEV. Those are the North American equivalent. They've been around for 20+ years.
- azinman2 7y agoThis one doesn’t look quite so golf cart-like.
- asdff 7y agoAre there not 35mph roads in SF? Every artery in LA is 35mph and between 8pm-4am and 11am-2pm you are expected to be going 45mph lest you be aggressively tailgated and immediately cut off by some asshole in a Bellinger jersey.
- azinman2 7y agoMost of SF is 25. They’re very different city driving experiences.