Organic Transit Elf - pedal/electric/solar Velomobile

[NeilBlanchard]

It is great to see this sort of vehicle coming onto the market. It is a reverse trike model called the Elf and it is built by Organic Transit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqWeYsrfNK8

They also have a larger fully enclosed utility trike model called the TruckIt.

They are pretty serious on the production methods!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQogddZNIHY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtW_MWFMZ7w

Organic Transit is now shipping the Elf to their Kickstarter investors, which is great! They ended up raising over $223,000 which is way over their target. Here are some new concept computer models of future Elf's, including a tandem 2 seat design:

Here is an article that shows (what I think is) the production Elf:

ELF: Hybrid Solar / Pedal Vehicle by Organic Transit | Ubergizmo

ELF-Organic-Transit-01photo fromELF: Hybrid Solar / Pedal Vehicle by Organic Transit - Ubergizmo

So, about 30 miles of range, and it can be pedaled on the flats. It can charge itself in 7-8 hours sitting in the sunshine, and it doesn't require insurance or a license - and it only costs about $4,000. And you will get in shape and lose weight, too.

Awesome!

 

[JoeS]

Love it! Neil, thank you for posting.

 

[Don]

Those are neat!

Not sure I'd care to ride/drive one out in real world traffic though. A motorcycle is dangerous enough for me. At least with the great visibility, handling, acceleration and braking abilities you have with a bike, you can pretty much stay out of the way of cars driven by drivers with their heads elsewhere - I'd feel like a sitting duck in an Elf . . . . or a Sparrow, for that matter. I guess they could be *reasonably* safe if you only operated them on city streets with 25 MPH or lower speed limits - Anything else seems incredibly risky

We had a guy on a road legal farm tractor (moving it from one field to another) killed near here yesterday when someone hit him from behind going about five times as fast as he was - It destroyed the car and put the driver in the hospital, but it killed the guy on the tractor

Sad to say, but when your vehicle is much smaller and/or slower than the rest of them, you're kinda at their mercy and that's not a good feeling. I could never be comfortable in something so flimsy knowing an errant driver going much faster could hit me from behind . . . . your odds are much better if you're in a car . . . . WITH headrests! ;-)

Don

 

[Llecentaur]

It does look great but I fully agree with Don's warnings. It is not nimble enough nor high enough like an eBikes to give you a chance.

What it needs is a pro-active massive airbag that would deploy before there is a crash and surround the vehicule, de facto surrounding the whole Véhicules which would then bounce off like a ball but give a chance to the driver although he would probably throw up :lol:

 

[NeilBlanchard]

These are more safe than any bicycle - you can't fall over, and there is some structure around you to absorb/deflect the impact. It looks like a car, with headlights, taillights, brakelights, turn signals and it has a horn. It is small for a car, but bigger than you think:

I would wear a bicycle helmet, I think, as I would on a bicycle. And, it might be wise to attach a torso belt, similar to what Volvo used in 1958, or a shoulder or X harness.