5 ms·

It's crazy that basically no "fast Velomobile" is in the market. Something shaped like a velomobile (goes 100 km/h downhill by gravity alone), but some what big

by fho 3y ago

It's crazy that basically no "fast Velomobile" is in the market. Something shaped like a velomobile (goes 100 km/h downhill by gravity alone), but some what bigger, with a motor and more safety features.

93po 3y ago
https://aptera.us/ https://aptera.us/ There have been and continue to be efforts to get something like this to market. There are a lot of hurdles.
ptman 3y ago
Where are the tens of alternatives to https://www.podbike.com/ https://www.podbike.com/ . There should be lots of competition in this area
- fho 3y ago
  Except that basically every velocar is vaporware atm. Here in Germany regulations are unnecessarily complex and your best option is to get 10-20 year old Velomobiles that can legally be driven as S-Pedelecs (up to 45 km/h) because they were at some point certified for that speed. But getting a new velomobile, that you can easily drive faster than 45 km/h by muscle power alone, certified to be powered electrically is apparently near impossible (i.e. not financially feasible).
  - wink 3y ago
    Except that most cyclists I know (me included) would be too scared to use one.
    - fho 3y ago
      https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37036224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37036224
      - wink 3y ago
        Yeah I've seen comment that but I am not convinced. It's expensive, it hardly has more space to bring stuff than a normal bike, and the rain doesn't really bother me most of the time. I am not claiming to be rational here, but for me personally I hardly see any upside besides "arrive a bit quicker and dryer (if buying a closed model)" Not even sure where I'd park it, maybe my building's small motorcycle parking lot has some space.
        fho 3y ago
        > It's expensive Definitely... The market is too small and everything is built by hand. You can get reasonable used ones for 4000-6000€, but you probably know that. Otoh you save gasoline which pays for itself after a while (3 years in my case, not counting insurance or maintenance). > it hardly has more space to bring stuff than a normal bike It's a bit more and it's safe from the elements. Some 4-wheel models have an actual trunk. > the rain Doesn't bother me either, riding bicycles in the rain is surprisingly ok. > I am not claiming to be rational here Maybe try one out. I was convinced of the concept when I could easily keep up with my SO who was doing 45 km/h in a e-VM during a test ride. That said: I don't own a VM either because it never made sense... Either my workplace was too close or too far for a VM to make sense. But I think there is a sweetspot of around 20-40km one way, where a VM is a great alternative to normal bikes and cars.
Timshel 3y ago
With such height I would expect it to be almost invidible to cars (let's not even think of a collision). Unless more regulation like the one discussed in the article are passed to stop the suv trends, I would never even consider riding something like this.
- fho 3y ago
  > With such height I would expect it to be almost invidible to cars That's the first thing that comes up every time VMs are mentioned. It's definitely not false, but I feelel that some points should be mentioned: 1. Over all VMs are a lot safer than bicycles: 1.1. If a car touches your bicycles handbar you've lost. In a VM the handlebar is inside. 1.2. You ride feet first which increases the length of your "crumble zone" significantly. Watch this and tell me you would have survived in a normal bicycle: https://youtu.be/5aujzL__SZE https://youtu.be/5aujzL__SZE 2. Huge trucks are not as common in Europe. Everybody here is worried about SUVs getting too big here, but our SUVs are tiny compared to (some) American trucks. 3. Due to the E-Bike boom, cycling infrastructure is becoming a lot better with huge stretches of smooth, paved bicycle lanes along major roads. We are getting there. 4. Some sports cars are only slightly heigher compared to Velomobiles (e.g. Mango: 0.9m vs. Porsche 911 1.2m) and are often painted super bright colors. If a driver overlooks a VM he will probably also overlook a sports car. (To be fair, I think that there is some "this object does not participate in traffic" recognition happening in the brain that just marks VMs as unimportant. I did a test drive some time ago were we were shouted at because we "drove towards [the other guy] at high velocity" ... while we were literally waiting to pass a parked car. I assume that we just "appeared" for him and his brain decided that therefore we must have been moving at high velocity.)
  - Timshel 3y ago
    1. In city I believe that bicycle might be safer mainly due to agility at lower speed (might be wrong here never used a VM) and the ability to just leave the bike; but I expect this disappear quickly as the speed increase. 2. I know but still too big ^^ 4. I think width play an important part too, on motorcycle I had cars merge on me as if I was not there multiple times :(; easier to disappear in the blindspot. (Funny anecdote, I would have expected the reverse with people ignoring VM because they underestimate the speed :).

by fho 3y ago

93po 3y ago

https://aptera.us/ https://aptera.us/ There have been and continue to be efforts to get something like this to market. There are a lot of hurdles.

ptman 3y ago

Where are the tens of alternatives to https://www.podbike.com/ https://www.podbike.com/ . There should be lots of competition in this area

fho 3y ago
Except that basically every velocar is vaporware atm. Here in Germany regulations are unnecessarily complex and your best option is to get 10-20 year old Velomobiles that can legally be driven as S-Pedelecs (up to 45 km/h) because they were at some point certified for that speed. But getting a new velomobile, that you can easily drive faster than 45 km/h by muscle power alone, certified to be powered electrically is apparently near impossible (i.e. not financially feasible).
- wink 3y ago
  Except that most cyclists I know (me included) would be too scared to use one.
  - fho 3y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37036224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37036224
    - wink 3y ago
      Yeah I've seen comment that but I am not convinced. It's expensive, it hardly has more space to bring stuff than a normal bike, and the rain doesn't really bother me most of the time. I am not claiming to be rational here, but for me personally I hardly see any upside besides "arrive a bit quicker and dryer (if buying a closed model)" Not even sure where I'd park it, maybe my building's small motorcycle parking lot has some space.
      - fho 3y ago
        > It's expensive Definitely... The market is too small and everything is built by hand. You can get reasonable used ones for 4000-6000€, but you probably know that. Otoh you save gasoline which pays for itself after a while (3 years in my case, not counting insurance or maintenance). > it hardly has more space to bring stuff than a normal bike It's a bit more and it's safe from the elements. Some 4-wheel models have an actual trunk. > the rain Doesn't bother me either, riding bicycles in the rain is surprisingly ok. > I am not claiming to be rational here Maybe try one out. I was convinced of the concept when I could easily keep up with my SO who was doing 45 km/h in a e-VM during a test ride. That said: I don't own a VM either because it never made sense... Either my workplace was too close or too far for a VM to make sense. But I think there is a sweetspot of around 20-40km one way, where a VM is a great alternative to normal bikes and cars.

Timshel 3y ago

With such height I would expect it to be almost invidible to cars (let's not even think of a collision). Unless more regulation like the one discussed in the article are passed to stop the suv trends, I would never even consider riding something like this.

fho 3y ago
> With such height I would expect it to be almost invidible to cars That's the first thing that comes up every time VMs are mentioned. It's definitely not false, but I feelel that some points should be mentioned: 1. Over all VMs are a lot safer than bicycles: 1.1. If a car touches your bicycles handbar you've lost. In a VM the handlebar is inside. 1.2. You ride feet first which increases the length of your "crumble zone" significantly. Watch this and tell me you would have survived in a normal bicycle: https://youtu.be/5aujzL__SZE https://youtu.be/5aujzL__SZE 2. Huge trucks are not as common in Europe. Everybody here is worried about SUVs getting too big here, but our SUVs are tiny compared to (some) American trucks. 3. Due to the E-Bike boom, cycling infrastructure is becoming a lot better with huge stretches of smooth, paved bicycle lanes along major roads. We are getting there. 4. Some sports cars are only slightly heigher compared to Velomobiles (e.g. Mango: 0.9m vs. Porsche 911 1.2m) and are often painted super bright colors. If a driver overlooks a VM he will probably also overlook a sports car. (To be fair, I think that there is some "this object does not participate in traffic" recognition happening in the brain that just marks VMs as unimportant. I did a test drive some time ago were we were shouted at because we "drove towards [the other guy] at high velocity" ... while we were literally waiting to pass a parked car. I assume that we just "appeared" for him and his brain decided that therefore we must have been moving at high velocity.)
- Timshel 3y ago
  1. In city I believe that bicycle might be safer mainly due to agility at lower speed (might be wrong here never used a VM) and the ability to just leave the bike; but I expect this disappear quickly as the speed increase. 2. I know but still too big ^^ 4. I think width play an important part too, on motorcycle I had cars merge on me as if I was not there multiple times :(; easier to disappear in the blindspot. (Funny anecdote, I would have expected the reverse with people ignoring VM because they underestimate the speed :).