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The TWIKE - Eco-Car with a future?
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Written on: 23 April 2009 [17:17]
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childress
Administrator
registered since: 14.08.2007
Posts: 140
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Indeed, there is a long way to go, but that does not necessarily equate to a long time to get there... we've done similar with CFC's refrigerants and the hole in the ozone layer of the atmosphere. A counter arguement to the reduction side, many people LOVE small cars -- the Mazda Miata, the Volkswagon Karmann Ghia Convertible... Yes, the Twike does not go 80 mph, but with the top down, 25-35mph FEELS like 50mph. Plus, cornering at 20-25mph is just plain fun  Not that I do that everyday...In the US, it is fairly typical for a man who is "getting old" to buy a toy vehicle to offset his "midlife crisis" -- usually this is a very nice motorcycle -- a Harley Davidson or a Honda Goldwing. But for most of the USA, due to the spring, fall & winter weather, you can only drive those US$30-60,000 vehicles about half the year (or less). The MAJOR thing preventing adoption that I'm seeing is availability (and to a lesser extent, cost). Both of these things are very easily changed -- note what happened with the Toyota Prius: GM, Ford & Chrysler poo-poo'd the idea back in '98 as being too expensive, and then the surge in oil prices came along... I see a very similar possibility with the Twike. Getting folks out of their SUV's and into a Twike is quite easy when gas prices are approaching US$4 a gallon (and I realize that this is CHEAP for the rest of the world -- I'm not complaining, I wish it were more expensive in the US). The hardest thing about getting someone into the Twike is telling them "you're gonna love it, and then I'm gonna tell you they're expensive, and once you say, 'Ok, I'll save up' then I'm gonna tell you 'Good Luck Getting one' and oh yes, in the US you'll need to be able to fix it yourself (or find an EV/Motorcycle/Bicycle/Airplane mechanic)" And still, people want them... Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it!
http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike |
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