[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Subjectivist', 'I')f the government really wanted GM to keep building Volts all they have to do is order 25,000 units every year for replacements of existing government sedans.

[KaiserJeep]

That's simply not much of a loss. The Volt was a halfway decent PHEV, but sales never were strong and got even worse when the Bolt (a real BEV without a fuel tank) entered production. Not to mention, GM has some real competition. But unless you live in California or Europe, you don't see many Hybrids or EVs, you would not appreciate that the Volt had failed in the marketplace.

[KaiserJeep]

Well, the marketplace is fickle, and people do love those big climate-controlled SUVs, pickup trucks, and luxury cars with ground-pounding stereos and digital toys galore. GM cannot be blamed for building what people like to buy.

Then, after we go over that Seneca Cliff, they get to sell people EVs to replace those gas guzzlers. Win/win.

[KaiserJeep]

I have been hinting to the wife that I want to drop $3k on one of these after we move to the island permanently:

https://electricbikereview.com/sun-seeker/fat-tad-electric-trike/

...because Nantucket has no traffic lights, it is gridlocked on crowded roads in the Summer, and my place is on an unpaved road and is 1/2 mile from the pavement and the paved bike path which is NEVER gridlocked.

Truth be told, I had a Senior Moment (otherwise known as a mini-stroke) a decade ago, and I have fallen off my conventional bike twice in the past year due to compromised balance. So the tadpole design makes sense, and the balloon tires make sense because the first and the last half mile of every trip will be on the dirt road without even gravel. My bones and joints are getting steadily compromised by RA, I need daily low intensity exercise. "Pedal assist mode" is just that, with 20 mile range and 20+ mph, this is a nice ride. The actual road test starts at 19 minutes in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t--JGQhvvlo&t=698s

This trike is rated for 40 lbs of groceries in rear paniers, and the grocery store on Nantucket is a 3-mile round trip, with the first and last half mile on dirt. Plus you can ride this on the beach.

Best of all, no fuel other than pennies for electricity, no insurance needed, no need to wait on foolish tourists in cars who don't know how to use a Rotary at every road intersection.

I mean talk about the right vehicle for the right application, this is it. Plus some solar PV to charge it, of course.

[KaiserJeep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'P')retty cool, a cross-country recumbent! But I see no battery. Or motor.

[KaiserJeep]

Well, that is the problem, the wife might see it as a toy. But it's totally ridiculous to make a round trip to a store that is 2+ hours long with traffic, or 15 minutes on the bike path. So there is justification.

OTOH, if it rains, there is no canopy and no fenders even. And the first and last 1/2 mile on a dirt road.

[KaiserJeep]

The motor has 5 programmable power levels, (or six if you count "0"). as you advance the power settings the motor assist increases, along with the power being drawn from the battery, decreasing range. This IS a heavy duty offroad trike, but it also has pedal assist. In a low enough gear, pedalling with the motor engaged, you should be able to climb quite handily.

As for the range, it is 10 miles or so with the 9AH or 10AH batteries, at rated 300lb capacity, or 20 miles with the bigger 20AH battery pack. These are pluggable units, you would parallel connect as many as you wish for added range (if you can solder), or even simpler, swap the battery with a spare using the existing Molex connector hardware. The motor controller is also programmable for custom batteries via the touch screen. If you wanted to fab a larger 48v battery and battery box for under the seat, easily done. Keep in mind that under the seat would reduce the seating capacity below 300lbs by whatever weight you mount under the seat, and adding more batteries to the rear rack would reduce the 40lbs rear wheel cargo capacity by the battery weight. Important not to exceed these limits offroad, don't want to break the frame (although you can buy all the parts individually including the assorted frame pieces).

More importantly, if you don't have balance issues like me, there are many fine new e-bikes built for offroad. I have not mountain biked many trails, but this tricycle is wider than any bike, and weighs 84 lbs so you won't be carrying it very far. So think about where you would ride. The island of Nantucket has a 230ft maximum elevation, and the bike paths are dead level, so the 10AH hard case battery will take me anywhere and back again.

[asg70]

Another thread derailed. Even a used Volt with 50% of its original battery range is 10x the utility of a battery-powered trike. That the Volt struggles in the market is simply more evidence that BAU continues apace, putting off the necessity of dropping down to a penalty vehicle like a battery-powered trike or NEV.

[KaiserJeep]

You forgot to add that a BEV with 1/10th the cost of a used Volt could be sold in at least 10X the volume of an unsuccessful Chevy Volt.

When the main problem is perceived value, the bottom line matters. On Nantucket Island, cars are fairly useless under the Summer traffic conditions, whereas bicycles, tricycles, and their electric brethren are still usable, and anything with a 10 mile range gets you there and back again on an island that is 7 miles long and 3 wide.

Actual usable and perceived utility is why people are not buying $100,000 Tesla's. Which is why they are still buying $50,000 SUVs and pickup trucks, which won't have much actual use when gas surpasses $10/gallon and filling the tank is $250, and fuel costs a buck a mile.

[asg70]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', 'a') BEV with 1/10th the cost of a used Volt could be sold in at least 10X the volume of an unsuccessful Chevy Volt.

[KaiserJeep]

By the standards of the major automakers, the Volt splatted face down on the road, in a major debacle. Recall that there are ZERO EVs or Hybrids in the most popular fifty vehicles. The only year that PHEVs and BEVs even exceeded 3% of sales was 2013.

Think about it. 97% of the vehicles sold cannot do anything except burn petroleum fuels. Then most of the 3% remainder are hybrids that burn petroleum for most miles, then electricity for some miles.

There's just nothing there to save us, other than the knowledge gained by building such EV designs. That will shorten the runway to widespread BEV manufacturing, if and when that ever happens.

[asg70]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', '
')there are ZERO EVs or Hybrids in the most popular fifty vehicles. The only year that PHEVs and BEVs even exceeded 3% of sales was 2013.

[KaiserJeep]

Plug-in cars of all varieties have averaged less than 2% of vehicles sold for the last few years. When that figure reaches 25% or so, we'll have something to discuss. When it reaches 98% or more for several years, the age of oil is over.

I'm not holding my breath for that, I expect I'll be dead by then.

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Subjectivist', 'I')f the government really wanted GM to keep building Volts all they have to do is order 25,000 units every year for replacements of existing government sedans.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Subjectivist', 'G')overnment RFP can specify whatever details they want. In this case the government could specify they desire to purchase 25,000 sedans that are PHEV's and then purchase those offered by the marketplace. If GM Volt just happens to perfectl fit the details of the RFP put forth well those things happen.