I call them bike path superhighways. I lived in D.C. in 1995 (the late nineteenth century) and they had 4-lane divided bike paths - a slow lane and fast lane for each direction. The divide was only paint but I picture a physical divide for safety. I think they have these huge bike paths in SoCal too. So don't think of bike paths as we know them.
It's good to keep in mind that a change like this will not and cannot happen all at once overnight. But if enough people agree that this is a direction worth heading towards then we can figure out details as we transition. As far as whether cyclists will accept larger vehicles I don't know but if you ask me whether I will accept climate change and business as usual I definitely have a strong opinion on that. I really don't think replacing ICE with EV and still having a 5,000 lb steel cage for every person is going to be enough. Time has run out - it's called "Climate ChangeD" now. I just got back from a long trip across Canada and was happy to see that the bike infrastructure (and climate awareness) was way ahead of the U.S. There is someone running for office in Ottawa that is saying that they will add 25 years of bike infrastructure in a matter of a year or two if elected. This is possible when you look at the billion$ spent for an extra interstate lane or new overpass and the associated externalities, especially when it's been proven over and over again that it contributes to the problem instead of solving it (driven by Big Auto and Big Oil). So the battery resources for microlight EV's is much more realistic and sustainable (reduced by an order of magnitude), the energy required to charge them is reduced by an order of magnitude, and the infrastructure costs are reduced by probably much more than that and can be done much quicker while having a much greater impact. A microlight EV can use a standard 120 VAC outlet so the charging network infrastructure gets a lot simpler and cheaper. Another benefit is that these vehicles are simple and can be locally manufactured by small shops sharing open source designs. I've built a lot of ebikes, emotorcycles and EV cars and trucks. The complexity goes way up with size, speed and power. I worked on an ELF (by Organic Transit) and it's wonderfully simple. The PEBL goes a step further by being totally enclosed, and Shift EV around the corner from me has been doing great work and recently installed a $500 A/C unit in a conversion that seems to work well. As we know heat is simple to add. So fully-enclosed bike-like EV's with heat and A/C are not a technical challenge for small local shops to build, especially with shared designs. This can flip the economic model upside down - instead of mega factories shipping big complex EV's all around the world local shops can build simple vehicles for local transportation. I appreciate what Elon has done (I bash billionaires for not paying their fair share in taxes but I really think it took a dedicated billionaire to kick down the door and get EV's in the room) but I'd rather see the profits stay local in mom and pop shops rather than see profits go to making the next wealthiest person in the world. So this approach has benefits in resources, energy, safety, economy, education and climate. Looking forward to going to the Micromobility America conference next week! Anybody else going? Gary On Fri, Sep 9, 2022 at 8:41 PM Peri Hartman via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > I'll speak up here, as an avid urban bike rider. > > Already bike lanes are used by multiple kinds of vehicles: bikes, of > course, but also e-bikes, electric scooters, hover boards, segways, > skate boards, and just about any personal mobility device you can > imagine. > > So, the question isn't really whether bike riders would comfortably > share bike paths with various electric vehicles. I think two factors are > important > 1. speed > 2. size > > On speed, in Seattle, e-bikes are limited to 20mph (you can go faster, > but not with assist). That's amply fast and, so far, seems to be ok. My > personal opinion is that other forms of EVs could use bike paths if they > are limited to 20 mph. But that only works if the density is low. > Imagine if you have a child riding, who hasn't yet developed good > situational awareness. A moderately heavy object at 20 mph is enough to > kill the child. So, I don't really have a good answer on speed. > > On size, it gets more argumentative. Bikes are relatively narrow, and > can pass or be passed without too much extra space. Same for scooters, > skate boards, etc. If we get small, enclosed EVs that are 3-4' wide they > may literally fit in a bike lane but completely hog it. I can see that > being strongly looked down on. On the other hand, if someone were to > design a wind and weather shell which was no wider than the handle bars > of a road bike, it might be ok. > > And, like for any subject, there are as many opinions as people. I don't > know how others would react. All I know is that the current sharing > situation seems to be ok with most people. > > Peri > > << Annoyed by leaf blowers ? https://quietcleanseattle.org/ >> > > ------ Original Message ------ > From: "EV List Lackey via EV" <ev@lists.evdl.org> > To: "Electric Vehicle Discussion List" <ev@lists.evdl.org> > Cc: "EV List Lackey" <evp...@drmm.net> > Sent: 09-Sep-22 14:14:34 > Subject: Re: [EVDL] opinion: smaller evs ? > > >On 9 Sep 2022 at 14:21, Gary Krysztopik via EV wrote: > > > >> If we could greatly expand protected bike paths we could introduce all > kinds > >> of micro EVTMs like the ELF, PEBL, Twike, Podride and so many more for > simple > >> efficient local transportation. > > > >Do you think that bike riders would accept without a fuss opening bike > paths > >to small enclosed or partly enclosed EVs, especially ones with no pedals? > > > >That isn't a rhetorical question. Although I ride an E-bike, I'm not a > part > >of that community, so I have no clue. I do seem to recall having read > years > >ago that some of the more purist pedalers looked askance at e-bikes and > >their owners. > > > >David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey > > > >To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my > >offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt > > > >= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > Some people ask, "Why?" Others ask, "Why not?" > > Then later they say, "Oh." > > > > -- Found on the Net > >= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org > >No other addresses in TO and CC fields > >HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20220910/bf730a64/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
