Urban Commuter Electric Vehicles
I have every confidence that the next decade will see the introduction of numerous kinds of urban commuter electric vehicles that shatter the paradigm of the automobile as we know it now. For obvious reasons, the auto companies – and to an even larger extent, the oil companies – are in no real rush to make this happen, as the current paradigm is quite profitable. Having said that, here’s a rendering of something that Toyota is working on.
At $10,000 MSRP, it’s hard to know how this will be received. That’s why I’m such a fan of the EmCycle, a product that will be available for a fraction – probably one quarter – of that. The EmCycle may not have all the bells and whistles, but for a vehicle in this category, I don’t think that’s an issue.
From the Toyota link, it appears that several of the features are only for introducing concepts and probably would not be practical in an actual car. For example, a door that opens when the driver moves towards it could hit another car or a wall. Displays ABOVE the windshield would be less easy to see and could expose the driver’s eyes to excessive light. Some of the features would unnecessarily distract the driver; drivers already have too many distractions.
The top speed of 60 kmph would limit where it could be used. Many city streets have speed limits of 45 mph (73 kmph) and when traffic is moderately heavy, the low top speed could be annoying to other drivers. Even so, the car could be practical in some situations.
The design features are variable according to ones particular taste at the time.
The speed is a bone of contention to everyone. The present neighborhood electric vehicles are specifically restricted to 25mph so that they are not a rival to a ‘real’ (expensive?) car and are illegal on roads signposted above 30 mph.
The pedelec bike is legally restricted to 15 or 20 mph despite the fact that a lot of bikes with young riders can get up to 30mph without electrical assistance. And i remember mopeds in France driven by wild eyed youths as fast as they would go (30-40mph?) with no licensing or restrictions.
Where is the sense in all this? I have no idea, but it sure would be nice to have some sensible speed laws sometime.
We have already had a car like this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicar
Top speed was claimed to be 40MPH but everybody that I have talked to that owns one says that is a really scary experience. There is a guy near me that has one of these and he has asked me to fix it but I haven’t had the time. Both of the roads he would have to take it on to get out of his parking lot have speed limits of 45MPH and no passing lane.
I will say that if a car can’t get on the highway it just won’t sell. It must do 75MPH at least. Even in Philadelphia there are highways that you must get on if you want to get around. It would be suicide to get on the belt parkway or the BQE in NY without being able to do that speed. The same with I95 or the schukyll expressway or the blue route or large parts of US1 in Philadelphia.
I think an electric version of the smart car might do really well if they do it right as that has the advantage of easier parking.
We already have one person vehicles and there are street legal highway speed versions of them already. They are called motorcycles. A typical motorcycle (gas) gets better than 40 mpg and the more efficient ones get in the 60 to 70mpg range now. There are prototype and production electric versions that will go 75 miles per hour for 100 miles now. Yes, rain can be a problem, but the bigger problem is acceptance. I know people that, like me, ride because it is efficient, not because we have an image we want to project. But the typical driver sees motorcycles as a dangerous thing but don’t understand that they (the drivers) are what makes it dangerous. Can Am is in the process of developing a hybrid trike that has potential. It would be stable, even more energy efficient, and cause less damage to the roads and environment than the best micro-car.
Getting people on 2 wheeled vehicles is problematic. I’ve extolled the virtues of electric bikes for quite some time now, and ride one to work occasionally. They are excellent and efficient alternatives for fair weather, if one lives in a bicycle friendly area. I think the latter part there is key, because it is quite frightening to have cars passing with 6 inches to spare. The e-motorbikes seem to have thus far been for enthusiasts who are already motorcycle owners. Perhaps the trike idea would change that. When you own the lane just like a car does it is considerably less intimidating to be on the street.
Ever since I started driving electric cars (about 4 years now) my e-bike riding has gone way down. I tend to use my regular bike more. When the MPGe gets way up there, one tends to not care about it at all. The cost of the electricity is so low compared to gasoline that all the numbers turn into good numbers. Honda Fit and the Mitsubishi iMIEV try to differentiate themselves with their high numbers, but all those cars are so efficient (comparatively), its hard to care.