by Beery1 » Sun 08 Dec 2013, 08:30:53
At 150 lbs, it's at least 100 lbs too heavy for what it does. That means the ELF is too difficult to pedal, meaning that it's going to require power assist a lot of the time. The weight also means it requires too much power to run. Also, it is expected to recharge at least optionally from outlets that get their power mainly from coal-powered power plants. That means it's not truly "green".
Then we have the fact that, at $5000, it's ridiculously expensive, especially considering that really all it is is an extremely heavy electrically-assisted faired recumbent tricycle. To pretend it's a new kind of hybrid car-bike is ludicrous except in terms of a marketing ploy.
Why not just buy a bicycle - a bike keeps the owner fitter, and it's far cheaper, "greener" and far more efficient.
While I agree that the future of the car (if it has any future at all) will have to look something like the ELF, I just don't see a 150 lb behemoth like this being a useful tool to get motorists to change their thinking about how to move around. At some point, something like this may have some part in the solution, but I think it will need to wait until gasoline costs a lot more than $3.50/gallon - and even then, why not just use a regular bicycle? To me, the ELF looks a lot more like a toy for hipsters and yuppies than a real solution for today's transportation problems.
@ Plantagenet: Amsterdam is a special case. Most countries allow cyclists to use the general traffic lane whenever they like. Very few countries mandate bike lane/path use, but the Netherlands is one of them (which is a big part of why I argue that NL is far from a cycling paradise). In the UK and most of the US, vehicles like the ELF would use the general traffic lane.
Also @ Plantagenet: the idea that the general traffic lane is for faster vehicles shows a fundamental misunderstanding of transportation law. Unless a road has a mandatory minimum speed limit (in which case, slower vehicles are not allowed on that road), there is no right to a certain speed on any road. Your maximum lawful speed is determined by the vehicle immediately in front of you, or by the speed limit, whichever is slower. If the vehicle in front is a bicycle, you must yield and you are required by law to slow to the cyclist's speed and wait until it's safe to overtake.
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