[Ecky]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Basalt is equal to carbon-fiber or Kevlar. One would hang subframes on a monocoque. Titanium performance could be equaled at lower cost by foamed steel or aluminum extruded through a 3D printer.

3-wheel steering 3-wheel drive with something similar to the Copenhagen wheel.

edit:
Stone Cold Crazy: A Ducati Monster Wrapped in Basalt | Bike EXIF

My velo uses a geared hub motor. It's capable of ~5000RPM before gear reduction (approx 5:1) and very reliably produces ~3000w or 4HP for short bursts, probably half of that continuous without any cooling.




Geared hub motors can't do regen because the planetary gearset allows them to freewheel, but tend to be more efficient than direct drive motors because they don't need ridiculously large (and heavy) windings to operate efficiently in the RPM range wheels typically spin at. Above maybe 3-4HP, cooling them is problematic though.