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Written on: 11 August 2009 [22:51]
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ecoadmin
Administrator
registered since: 20.07.2007
Posts: 505
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a2b.sustainably wrote:
In a perfect world, if everyone had a twike, no one would be fat, and crash worthy wouldn't be an issue since all vehicles would be the same and slow. We'd also have smaller families, be more flexible with dress codes at work, provide shower facilities, live closer to work, and be in less of a rush.....
Why doesn't twike market to India or China where people would love protection from the rain and most still ride bikes (sometimes 3 to a bike)? I guess it will be hard to beat the price of the Tata Nano. Build an Indian version of the twike with Indian labor costs, and it may be possible...They could turn India and China into the transport Utopia twikers dream about.
Hi iamian & a2b...
Thanks for all your good points. I just want to add this:
True, if all would ride a Twike or similar vehicle we would live in a better world. Yes, we sometimes dream about this ideal world, but who doesn't? Not only Twikers  . By driving one I just want to be a little closer to this dream. Even if it is only a tiny bit, it just makes me feel great taking some action myself. Twike-like vehicles are visionary (not sure if it is the right word to describe a vision?) vehicles. It should be the ultimate goal of car makers and buyers and it demonstrates how little 'car' is necessary to go from A to B respectively it shows how much oversized and supersized everything is nowadays. A little downsizing, a little of 'less-is-more'would do the trick and solve many of todays issues.
But honestly I am not worried anymore whether we will wake up to it or not. The question is, are we doing enough to mitigate the consequences of our wasteful lifestyle. Sooner or later we will be forced to change and there are many examples where restrictions are becoming reality. The earlier we do something about it, the less the impact will be and that also applies to our driving habits.
Twike and China/India
This thought crosses my mind quite often. And you're right, such a vehicle would suit the needs of many people in this area of the world. The production of the vehicle body and the mechanical parts would be for sure much lower but the problem lies with the battery packs. At the moment there is not a big drop in battery prices forcasted and this renders the prices too high for the average Chinese/Indian. On the other side many people in this area do not need a range of 100 miles or more (actually we also do not really need it - debate goes on.. ), since they usually fill in gas for only a few dollars each time today...
What we will drive in the not-so-distant future relies largely on the oil price. Everywehre.
ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network
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Written on: 12 August 2009 [02:25]
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iamian
registered since: 23.02.2009
Posts: 105
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a2b.sustainably wrote:
For a highway speed car, I'll stick to putting my bike in the back of my ideal EV when I want it, and leaving it out when I don't want it, so as to save weight and keep the usage of the vehicle flexible. This covers all my bases, including exercise.
Excellent plan 
I've only yet gotten to the bicycle to work in nice weather ... and drive my car when it isn't... so far I've been able to reduce my gasoline consumption to a total of ~30 Gallons per year... eventually when I finish my PHEV modifications I hope to get that down to ~20 gallons per year.... but I'm not there yet... one step at a time... I don't expect to be able to get much bellow ~20 gallons for a few decades... those longer road trips always eat some gas no matter how many MPG I get.
a2b.sustainably wrote:
Why doesn't twike market to India or China where people would love protection from the rain and most still ride bikes (sometimes 3 to a bike)? I guess it will be hard to beat the price of the Tata Nano. Build an Indian version of the twike with Indian labor costs, and it may be possible...They could turn India and China into the transport Utopia twikers dream about.
maybe... but remember they look to the rest of the 1st world 'rich' countries as the role model of how nice it is to have stuff... so they want the same kind of things we want... they just have less money to spend on it... it is those in the 'richer' countries that have the additional disposable income in order to set the standards... and currently we just demonstrate very different priorities... so we each live our own way and set our own examples.
ecoadmin wrote:
What we will drive in the not-so-distant future relies largely on the oil price. Everywehre.
I mostly agree.
The one loop hole ... is ... as more and more people begin to see for themselves the benefits of EV transportation the word will spread... and the price of oil by itself will not be by itself anymore... this starts with the PHEVs like the Volts... and will expand as word spreads... the only yet un-known is the time factor of how long that will take... it might turn out to take as long as ~20 years ... or it might happen as fast as ~5 ... we will have to wait and see... how well the public takes to the PHEVs in the next 2 to 3 years will be the forecasting event.
2000 MT Honda Insight
MIMA & FAS equipped ... PHEV in progress.
Franken E-Bike 36V NiMH 600W Hub-Motor.
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