Why don't you walk, ride a bike, or build a cheap EV?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by some_other_dave

Bike? Love to. The Boss won't let me. She says that it's far too dangerous (I tentatively agree if the bike is powered, but I feel that a bicycle is safe enough) around here unless you have a lot of metal around you.

I suppose it depends on where you have to ride: almost all of my commute was on either a dedicated bike path or the employer's private road. (Though I did come close to hitting deer a couple of times, coming down the hill at dusk.) But I never had any close calls even in the other biking I did around there. Can't say the same for driving, though :-)

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Only if it's not designed properly for cold weather use - like the 3 cheap car EV's on this site. (And the CitiCars too.)

I know of people who drive EV's year round in Ottawa and Montreal, with insulated (and optionally heated) battery boxes. An EV that's used as a commuter - ie daily - will retain heat from charging/discharging to keep the pack comfortably warm in properly designed boxes.

One of my neighbors has a Bug E. I should go talk to him about it.

[Christ]

I'd build a cheap EV - but it wouldn't be cheap enough right now. I'm in the paper-logistics stage though.

I'd ride a bike - but everything is at least a 10 minute drive, and it's all country. And cold.

I'd walk, and I do - to the post office, or the store across the street. - See above. And it's cold.

[bennelson]

Guess I fall into category 3!

Actually, the whole EV thing has been working out pretty well.

I used the car to go to and from work 3 days last week. The one day I went from home to work to home to work, in VERY cold weather and it just started looking like the pack was running low.

So even paying the cold penalty, the vehicle still did what I needed it to do!

[bikin' Ed]

I bike to my first job as often as I can. The two reasons that I don't bike all of the time are:
Time--ending first job at 2:OO, cummuting 13 miles and being presentable by 3:00 is tough. If I don't have a 3:00 appointment, I ride.

Ice-- As is the case with a lot of you, ice on the road is a real danger, especially on 2 wheels. I'm really hoping to have a 3 wheel hpv built by next winter.

[i_am_socket]

Why I don't ride/walk/EV:
1) distance - I'm in the "not a good fit" category @ ~23 miles each way
2) cost - even taking public transit is 2x cost of driving
3) safety - you wanna bike through Newark, NJ? And that doesn't include the roads!

I'd telecommute, but it's a dangerous economy to be heard and not seen. If I had my fiance's 3-4 mile commute, I'd bike it.

[MazdaMatt]

Sell me a civic conversion kit for $1000 that won't need new batteries in a year and i'll stop burning gas to get to work. Till then, time and money keep me driving. I would be curious to see if the "cost" of those cheap ev's is what is stated, or if that is just the value of the parts on the car. Ie - stories of destroyed couplers, burned out electronics... do those go in the budget?

[RobertSmalls]

I don't own a more efficient car because I'm poor. My 13 year old car costs me about $1000/yr in fuel, mantainence, and depreciation. I doubt that an EV could outperform those figures. Even if it could save me money, I probably lack the capital to do the conversion.

I'd like to buy a (P)HEV, but I can't justify the expense right now.

[gascort]

When I lived in a college town (Columbia, MO - where AndrewJ lives now) I rode my bike to school/work every day, in all types of weather. Basically everywhere in town I needed to get to was within 2.5 miles and not too many small hills. I was broken in when I was doing an engine swap in my mustang and my other car had electrical trouble for 6 months, and I liked it so much from that period that I kept doing it.
Like FrankLee said, it's good for your body. I lost 50 pounds.

[Frank Lee]

I do find it easy to let the various conditions others may have to contend with slip my mind. My home is on the flatlands; I can bike for miles and my biggest enemy is wind and cold. Just came in from a bike ride on the West coast and wow- I get more winded in 1/10th of a mile going up the many steep grades here than I do after miles on the flat back home. Also, brake failure- on a bike or a car- back home wouldn't be that big of a deal- I'd drive it home anyway and make repairs there. I could never do that here. Good strong brakes are a MUST. This hilly warm place is perfect for hybrids and there are a lot of them out here! Back home, hybrids really don't make much sense.