Introducing... the Twike

[phantom power]

Kind of a cool design. A two-seater electric/human powered tricycle. It can be configured with varying numbers of battery packs, and with or without pedals.

Aside from their issues with DOT compliance, I predict they will have marketing trouble in the US just because of the name. Sounds like a kid lisping. It will play perfectly to American's hangups about appearing wimpy or geeky.

http://www.twike.com/

[formerrepuke]

1. It looks OK for city streets, but not on main roads & highways..

anyway, the name is unfortunate. How about "Motor-Trike"?

[Ian David]

11. Here's some name ideas

CyborgCar
Bio-Hybrid
CycleCar

I won't call it a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) for fear of confusing it with a sexually transmitted disease.

[Ian David]

2. It doesn't say if it has air conditioning.

I don't like getting to work all sweaty.

It looks like the basic models cost between $13,852 and $14,1895.

Extra batteries (up to 3 per vehicle, minimum of 2) cost $2,190 each.

Hey, I want one!

[phantom power]

4. I doubt that design would support AC.

it would add too much to the battery load, and probably too much extra weight.

[kestrel91316]

19. That rules it out for use in SoCal 6-9 months out of the year.............

[NNadir]

3. Besides their marketing problem with their name, they'll have trouble

explaining their energy efficiency in comprehensible terms.

They say that their energy consumption is "4-8 kW/100 km." Hopefully they mean "kW-hours/100 km".

Gasoline contains about 140 million joules per gallon.

http://www.energyadvocate.com/fw13.htm

6 (the mid-range value) kW-hours is 21,600,000 joules. This means that to go 100 km, the twike needs the energy equivalent to 0.15 gallons of gasoline.

100 km is about 62 miles. Thus the twike gets the equivalent of 400 miles to the gallon, if in fact they meant kW-hr instead of kW. That would be very impressive, if true.

I wouldn't want to be in that thing being tailgated by some asshole in a Hummer or a Ford Expedition though.

[phantom power]

6. I noticed that little blunder too. Why do people have such a hard time

with the difference between power and energy? You'd think that if anybody would get that right, it would be a company that markets eco-mobiles.

[Ian David]

7. That's why it needs to have a smokescreen and oil slick device.

Not to mention airbags, seatbelts, and a roll cage.

Hey, anyone wanna photoshop a Hummer logo onto the Twike picture?

[NNadir]

9. What would be the fuel efficiency consequences of heat seeking missile...

mounts (rear facing) being placed on the Twike? Does DOT have any regulations about missile firings?

I hate to mention it, but experience in Iraq, ironically the place we've gone to steal oil for Hummers, has shown that for all their weight, Hummers aren't very well armoured.

On the serious side, it doesn't seem to me that a Twike is particularly more dangerous than a motorcycle. Some people justify their dumb SUV's on the grounds that they want their kids to be safer in a collision. As usual, being dumb Americans, they have very weak insight into the issue of risk analysis. For instance the danger mass differentials in collisions (Hummer vs Honda Insight) is somewhat offset by the smaller target area that the smaller car represents. As many of us know, a small car is often more forgiving of errors, and it is easier to avoid accidents in the first place. Of course, if you really want to get into overall risk, you need to include some variables not normally included, like the risk of gasoline's combustion products causing cancer, the risk of the kid you protect in a Hummer being killed in an oil inspired war or terrorist attack, the risk of the kid being killed in a global warming inspired famine, etc, etc...

[kestrel91316]

20. Well if Hummers are not well-armored ...................

all you would really need would be something like a potato cannon.

:evilgrin:

No, I do not know what they actually are, have just heard of them..........lol.

[Strelnikov_]

13. I Seem To Remember 350 mpg Equivalent Being Stated

in other marketing literature.

I also remember the statement "at 12,000 mi/yr., same energy consumption as a refrigerator".

I would be more than willing to test the above if I could afford to buy one.

[bloom]

5. It's cute... eom

[One_Life_To_Give]

8. Airbags? Energy absorbing bumpers?

Can't wait to see the Insurance Institutes Offset Crash results.

While they may be able to navigate the DOT's regulations. The courtroom could be a serious problem.

[Ian David]

10. Maybe it can be designed to "give way" rather than "give in."

So, when it's hit by a truck, the whole thing flies through the air in one piece without shattering into pieces.

I don't think I'd want to drive one on the highway.

It also needs a bunch of those big orange bicycle flags waving up in the air.

[Massacure]

17. Can't be any worse than a bicycle.

[One_Life_To_Give]

22. Would a $14K have airbags?

Probably not since I don't see them on motorcycles. But I can still see a lawsuit over faiulure to provide airbags in one of these.

[Strelnikov_]

12. Although The Price Is Currently Restrictive

I see this concept as one of the viable options for personal transport in the future.

I would hope with mass production/more competition vehicles using this concept would be <$10,000. Considering that you can buy a small IC car today for $15,000, I would hope that this price (or less) is attainable.

What I like about the Twike as a concept, over other light weight electric vehicles, is as follows:

- Aluminum space frame. Repairable by your average body shop. No fiberglass or high tech composites that will require scrapping the unit in the event of a minor accident.

- Plastic skin. Same as above.

- Lightweight, low rolling resistance design through use of 'bicycle' type components.

- Through use of 'bicycle' type components, maintenance requirements/costs should be less than an automobile, lend itself to the DIY mechanic.

- All weather design, adequate for the mobility impaired. Electric scooters/bicycles will not be as practical in a four seasons environment, such as the upper Midwest. Can be driven (ridden) by those, who due to physical impairment, could not otherwise ride a bicycle/scooter.

- Minimalist. Only the components required to move a human along with a little bit of cargo.

This concept solves the problem of providing discrete human transport to complete typical daily activities within the context of existing infrastructure in an efficient all season design. Hopefully, the price would eventually reflect the simplicity of design.

Vehicles like this could provide the personal transport required during the half-century (or more) that will be required to reconfigure/reconstruct the US urban/suburban landscape in an energy-limited world. Minimize weight, drag, and mechanical resistance, you minimize the energy required to move a human from Pt. A to B.

[phantom power]

18. Regarding price, I'd be interested in a "pedal-only" option.

Just sell the same frame, design, etc, but with no motor or batteries. Bet that would get the price way down.

[dcfirefighter]

14. Kind of reminds me of these

PRT

450 BTU / passenger-km
475 kJ / pax-km
0.62 pax-mi/465 kJ * 140,000 kJ/gallon gas = 183 mpg (but it has to recycle empty cars)

But, no parking, no pedalling, HVAC, and on a grade separated and hard-wired right of way.

Operating costs per pax-mile are said to be $0.22. Even at twice that, it's relatively competitive with automobiles in urban and dense suburban areas, where automobiles must typically pay parking charges, and where congestion is the most severe.

Of course, no municipality wants to be first.

I still favor ultralight rail trams - for the reason that the operating costs could be incorporated into location value taxes, and the tram could be operated without a farebox, at least during off peak hours.

As for the twike, it may wind up being classified as a motorcycle - though I imagine it's speed limited, and that may have an adverse affect on it being licensed in the US.

[phantom power]

15. It's top speed is 55mph.

Theoretically, that would be sufficient even on a freeway, although you wouldn't catch me trying it.

Is there a rating for "surface roads only?"

[dcfirefighter]

16. I've seen these on the streets

usually police departments, but at least one pizza delivery co. in Bloomington, IL has one.

http://www.gemcar.com /

It's also made by a german company, though you may have heard of this one: DaimlerChrysler.

[Boomer]

21. Guaranteed road kill

It's too big to ride on the sidewalk and too small to take on any road or highway dominated by SUV and semis. And find me a road that doesn't have at least 50% of traffic from SUVs.

Great idea, but America has developed such a bloated oil-hungry large-vehicle transportation system that integrating alternatives is nearly impossible.

Although, come to think of it, eventually no one will be able to afford to drive much of anything at all that needs gas, especially an SUV. When the roads are empty, THEN we can jump into our twikes (and improve our cardio health, too).