Well, meet the ELF, which is basically a bike with a roof, cargo space, electric assist and rearview mirrors. It weighs in at 150 pounds, has two wheels in the front,
one wheel in the back.
It seats one,
carries cargo,
and goes fifteen miles on a battery charge.
The battery can be charged two ways: by the built in solar panel, which takes about seven hours,
or by taking the battery inside and plugging it in. I'm particularly interested in whether the battery, or batteries, rechargeable by solar panels, could be used to run the house in low-energy mode during a power outage. That way, the same purchase that provides energy when the grid is down would also have ongoing use for transportation.
One of the more interesting aspects of this carcycle, or bikeamobile, is that it's made not in Detroit, or Japan, or China,
but in Durham, North Carolina. That's where I heard about it during a recent visit, and was offered a test ride. This particular unit is owned by the president of a nonprofit watershed association I founded while living down there back in the 90s. Jerry Seinfeld is an enthusiastic supporter of the technology.
Top speed is around 25mph, and you can add additional batteries for longer trips. Whether it's classified as a bicycle or something else depends on where you live. In Durham, at least, it's considered a bicycle and no license is required. Much more info at organictransit.com. One of the articles written about it can be found here. The founder, Rob Cotter, offers us his vision in a TedX presentation.
2 comments:
Legally, in New Jersey, this is a moped, and would need to be registered at the DMV. The operator must have a license, pass a test, and insurance is mandatory. Technologically, it's a slightly-modified Sinclair C5, and suffers from basically all the same issues that applied in 1985. My guess is that it would only be likely to catch on with widespread dedicated lanes, which could be shared with bicycles, personal mobility devices and Segways. Operating it on a sidewalk is illegal, and operating it in mixed traffic would be considered risky by many people.
I appreciate hearing about the Sinclair C-5, though it’s a stretch to equate it with the ELF. A little research shows that the C-5 was low to the ground, had only a 250 watt motor, no roof, less speed, less range, an unadjustable seat, and no cargo space. The ELF has a 750 watt motor, cargo space, a roof, adjustable seat, and other attributes described in detail at organictransit.com that distinguish it from a distant predecessor like the Sinclair C-5. To answer the question of how it could be integrated into New Jersey’s transportation needs will require a lot of investigation. The one thing that’s clear, and upon which we’d probably agree, is that the bloated, gas-powered vehicles that we all use, and that are currently declared legal and “safe”, are at the same time a menace to our collective future.
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