7 ms·
I think the key is to make a class of light-weight EVs with smaller, lighter batteries for life around town. Most of us rarely drive more than a few dozen miles
by xhkkffbf 2y ago
I think the key is to make a class of light-weight EVs with smaller, lighter batteries for life around town. Most of us rarely drive more than a few dozen miles a day.
But then there are those weekend trips.
- Ericson2314 2y agoThose are called e-bikes
- t-3 2y agoE-bikes are unusable at this time of year. It needs to stand stably on it's own to not kill me the instant some ice appears (so, four wheels) and have an enclosed cabin to stop frostbite.
- krn1p4n1c 2y agoI’ve biked to work in -15C. Get studded tires.
- ghaff 2y agoThe vast majority of the population is simply not going to do that if they bike at all.
- Ericson2314 2y agoSee what happens in other countries. Are they just tougher?
- ravetcofx 2y agoDress warm, studded tires. People are so averse to any non ideal weather for cycling. Texas, Arizona and Nevada people say it's too hot, West coasters say too much rain, other places say snow and ice. All excuses that can be solved by better personal preparation mixed with safer better maintained cycling infrastructure. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU
- Dylan16807 2y agoInfrastructure and prep can do a lot for cold and ice. But unless we're installing locker rooms everywhere, it's less helpful for rain and not at all helpful for sweating in the heat.
- t-3 2y agoYou do you, I personally would never bike on roads I would hesitate to drive on, which is what we have here in the winter, especially not an ebike that is going as fast as a car but without any of the protections, in traffic with cars and trucks that will run right over me if I wipe out on some ice.
- ravetcofx 2y agoExactly, which is why we advocate for safe, separated, regularly shoveled bike lanes.
- ajmurmann 2y agoWhat stops me from biking is cars. I simply don't feel safe on a bike next to a giant pickup truck where I gotta pray the driver sees me, isn't on the phone or otherwise distracted.
- digdugdirk 2y agoThat's a great idea. And since it'll be limited to in town use, something narrower might be useful - maybe give it two wheels instead of four? That'd be huge for reducing weight and increasing range. And for suitable geographic areas, it might even be possible to make one light enough that it could be powered by the rider, no external power source required! Then, with the reduction in width required for these futuristic two wheeled eco-machines, we could utilize some of the road space freed up for an even more efficient way to move people around a semi densely populated area. If only we could invent a way to allow multiple people traveling on similar routes to share a common vehicle, then we'd be able to split the capital and ongoing usage costs among many different people, reducing costs for everyone. It's a shame, really. If only we had the technology...
- amazingamazing 2y agoYou show me one of these that can be ridden [comfortably] in 2 degrees Fahrenheit with snow and ice everywhere and you have my money!
- jazzyjackson 2y agohttps://www.utahtrikes.com/PROD-11617955.html https://www.utahtrikes.com/PROD-11617955.html
- nullstyle 2y agoThat still wouldn't be comfortable
- jazzyjackson 2y agoPedaling warms you right up :)
- nullstyle 2y agoWarm is not the same as comfortable. Listen, I'm from alaska and have several family members who routinely ride bicycles to work and around town in the winter. Except when it's storming. Except when their hip hurts. Except when it's breakup. Except when they need to get groceries or run an errand across town at the end of a workday. Except ad nauseam. You still have to own a car to make life in alaska livable in the winter, and snide remarks by able-bodied dipshits about just using the trike referenced above deserve derision.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y agoFor the weekend trips you could put in an engine with a power splitter Oh what's this, turns out the ideal car was already invented twenty years ago, it's the Toyota Prius Casually gets 50 mpg city and highway Small, lightweight battery Not a super expensive status symbol The plugin models use very little gas for the daily commute, but you can always drive it like a pure ice car if you need to flee the country on zero notice
- fortran77 2y agoThe Volt was a much better idea. It could be an all electric car—at any speed—for 50 miles or so.
- rnikander 2y agoAgree, the Volt seemed like a good idea. I don’t know the inside story of GM discontinuing that car. I imagined it was corporate dysfunction.
- fortran77 2y agoI owned two of them. They were great. Worked flawlessly.
- progman32 2y agoMy first generation bmw i3 is exactly this. Later models got much bigger battery packs.
- kjkjadksj 2y agoPrius is just doing what a 90s civic did but with more onerous maintenance due to complex powerplant over dead simple 4 banger and manual transmission.
- ajmurmann 2y agoI'd love one of these as an electric commuter vehicle: https://pressroom.toyota.com/album/toyota-i-road/ https://pressroom.toyota.com/album/toyota-i-road/ Unfortunately it seems to have gone nowhere
- ghaff 2y agoA fair number of people do own bikes. But almost certainly the majority of people don't want to own a second vehicle--focused on transportation, rather than recreation--when they need/want a primary, probably ICE, vehicle anyway.
- carlosjobim 2y agoThere's billions of motorcycles in the world.
- ajmurmann 2y agoOn a motorcycle, I need to wear special clothes and a helmet and it's still rather unsafe. This thing I just can get in and out like with a car. I can throw my normal backpack in there. I don't need to worry about rain. Very importantly, I at least have some material around me if someone hits me.