Replace cars with velomobiles
Speed record of a velomobile: 144 km/h https://www.aerovelo.com/eta-speedbike [https://www.aerovelo.com/eta-speedbike] We don’t need any knew infrastructure, we just need to get cars out of the way [https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/10/cars-out-of-the-way/]
Both the velomobile and the electric bicycle increase the limited range of the cyclist – the former optimises aerodynamics and ergonomics, while the latter assists muscle power with an electric motor fuelled by a battery.
The electric velomobile combines both approaches, and so maximises the range of the cyclist – so much so that it is able to replace most, if not all, automobile trips.
Why aren’t we all driving around in these things?
the biomass powered motor, also known as the driver
okay that’s funny
I feel there’s probably some reasons they haven’t become popular.
Don’t turn as nimbly as a bike
Can’t put them on your shoulder and carry them indoors, onto a train, etc. like as a bike
Don’t climb hills as well as a bike (source)
20× the cost of a bike, maybe that could be brought down by economies of scale if they were more popular
I could imagine a velomobile being preferable if you’re commuting from a satellite town to the city, and the journey consists of a long straight road.
I’d definitely say they’re worse for getting around the city, and their comparative advantages are bought at the price of significant extra overhead.
You should discount all impairments caused by oil industry lawfare against velomobiles.
Pedal-electric cars are crippled by law, have been for decades. This was likely not an accident. The laws seem to have been engineered and lobbied by the car industry to sabotage their most potential competitor: medium speed tiny ultra light electric car for short commutes. This type of conspirac...
If you make a city hostile to cars first, people will still have their cars and their commutes, it will just double the time it takes for them to get anywhere. You will lose support for any further changes.
If you replace the cars first, such that no one’s daily schedules are significantly altered, and then condense the cities, then the change might be less jarring for those who can’t weather dramatic changes in their lifestyle.
If you replace the cars first, such that no one’s daily schedules are significantly altered,
Is that going to happen if you replace cars with another vehicle that still requires car infrastructure?
Someone versed in urban ecosystems could chime in better, because there’s gotta be proper terms for city to city transport, city to neighborhood, neighborhood to street, street to home.
Bikes or some kind of personal vehicle are still probably necessary to get you from city to home, because they can’t put train stations next to every house (unless they figure out how to shoot us through tubes or something).
Electric cargo bike manufacturer VOK is intending to implement real change for the rapid growth of cargo bikes through their innovative looking quadracycles, as they become true sustainable and economically viable alternatives for many van trips.
Kinda. There’s a subreddit with people making fiberglass shells to strap to their off- the- shelf recumbent bikes. Converting a recumbent into an ebike is well documented online.
Adaik there isnt a 1 stop comprehensive plan to build a velomobile.
They also have e-scooters now that can do like 80 mph / 130 km/h .
This wiki page on Efficiency of transport is really well done. But if you sort by km / MJ, e-scooters and bikes are the most efficient forms of transport.
Few people find the bicycle useful for distances longer than 5 km (3 miles). In the USA, for instance, 85% of bicycle trips involve a trip of less than 5 km. Even in the Netherlands, the most bicycle-friendly country in the western world, 77% of bike trips are less than 5 km. Only 1% of Dutch bicycle trips are more than 15 km (9 miles).
This is extremely disingenuous. For reference, over half of all car trips in the US are also less than 5km. The reason people don’t use bicycles in the US for longer trips is not because “few people find the bicycle useful”, but because most of the roads here are designed for cars. Going far on a bike is a death trap in the US. There’s also the fact that if an area is bikeable, you usually don’t need to bike far because you don’t live in suburban hell. This does not make the bike less useful. In fact, it’s more useful because it doesn’t take as long to get to your destination if it’s nearby.
In contrast, the average car trip amounts to 15.5 km in the USA and 16.5 km in the Netherlands, with the average trip to work being 19.5 km in the USA and 22 km in the Netherlands.
Again, disingenuous. In the Netherlands, what fraction of those 22km trips are taken by train or bus?
The electric motor can be used to reach a destination faster, or with less effort, but the cyclist remains unprotected from the weather.
Or, more importantly, the cyclist remains unprotected from cagers (i.e., car drivers).
Overall, this article was frustrating in that it was trying to sell some “alternative to bikes” but the author didn’t really seem to understand the advantages/problems bikes have.
separation of bikes and cars are rare in my city/country.
and the main reason i say these look unsafe is that they look way less maneuverable. the nimbleness my bike has helped me avoid pretty gnarly accidents a couple of times before
We don’t need any knew infrastructure, we just need to get cars out of the way.
That article speaks to my soul!
Just this past weekend, I rode about 70km each way to see my folks, across 6 or 7 municipalities.
I made it there in about 2.5 hours, across some pretty sketch “not high speed roads, but cars were going high speed anyway”, with much of that having no cycling infrastructure (or shoulders).
What frustrated me most wasn’t the asshole who punished passed me (pickup truck, of course), or the BMW driver who stopped on a raised, protected bike lane to pick up a passenger, but the amount of time I spent at red lights. Over 40 minutes each way!
Had there been a highway for bikes, or even just priority bike intersections, this trip would have taken no time.
Cars suck for everyone!
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