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Old 11-09-2017, 08:28 AM   #34 (permalink)
smallscaleH2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seifrob View Post
so, basically from € 5k to € 10k for a vehicle, that does only minimal protection against elements, that does only minimal protection in case of accident, and that you need to modify heavily in order to reach legal limit for highway speeds, not to mention to cope with real traffic flow ?
I would rather buy some econobox at 7k€.
Point taken. One of the tuktuks mentioned (Terra Motors three-wheeler) is indeed quite light (300kg) and so won't offer much protection I think. The question however is whether it thus still meet safety requirements for highway use. I'm also not sure whether a regular car is much better btw; they've only been tested/are required to meet safety standards for 50 km/h accidents. So when crashing at more than 50 km/h (as is always the case on highways, as they have a 70 km/h minimum speed), it might not offer much protection neither and serious injury or death may still result. Also note that the tuktuks from the other links weigh in about 1,8 tonnes, so that's equally tough as a regular car. But as mentioned, I doubt that at high speeds it will make much difference.

I actually think that the low weight will also make road traffic a lot safer. If you hit a pedestrian or bicycle rider with a 300 kg vehicle, injuries should be 6x less than with a 1800 kg vehicle. In addition, the 300 kg vehicle will have a shorter braking distance, so some accidents could be avoided even.

As for the price: yes 10k is the upper limit I set, but if you look at the short tuktuks, these come at just 1,5 to 2k€, so way less than an econobox. The long tuktuks are a lot more expensive (if bought new). 2nd hand, they should be much more affordable. Also, you're not taking into account the insurance costs, taxes, road permits, ... which should be way lower with a 600 -or less- cc tuktuk. Heavy modification to attain the minimum or top highway speed (depending on the tuktuk chosen) isn't necessairy; just adding a plastic covering that shields the otherwise open parts of the cabin should do.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant-53 View Post
The question becomes how fast is fast enough? An e-bike might do 30 mph and the e-velos do 45 mph. The seating could be inline or offset. How many people travel solo versus two or more passengers? Would an e-bike carried on board a bus or train for 25 plus mile trips be more efficient?
You're referring to the bike/velomobile which would always be a single-seater. It's used for home-work trips for one person, and electric propulsion is even only needed for longer trips (else, regular pedaling will do). Speed (30 or 45 mph) here is of little to no importance, if you reach 45 km/h, that's sufficient (bicycle lanes only allow a max speed of 45 km/h anyway).
The combo mini-e-bike + train/bus is also besides the point as most people just don't use a bus/train because they need to adjust their timing to it (and trains/buses don't always come on time either so you need to be present well before they are expected to arrive and wait at least 5 to 10 minutes). Another issue is that the bus or train doesn't drop you off exactly where you need to be (but this could indeed be solved using a mini-e-bike, downside however is that you need to carry it along and deploy/undeploy it every time).

Last edited by smallscaleH2; 11-12-2017 at 11:57 AM..
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