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Comments on: Interbike Expo - eBikes http://blog.ezipusa.com/2008/10/interbike-expo-ebikes/ IZIP Hybrid Electric Bike and EZIP Scooters Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:44:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: g394 http://blog.ezipusa.com/2008/10/interbike-expo-ebikes/#comment-27 g394 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:05:42 +0000 http://blog.ezipusa.com/?p=250#comment-27 Ebikes exist because they fill practical transportation needs. For example... I'm a telecoms geek who usually telecommutes but occasionally has to drive to client sites to add or move telephones (etc.). Normally I use a minivan (which gets 20 miles per galllon in normal usage, or up to 28 on the freeway at 50 - 55 mph.). However, many of those sites are within a 10-mile radius of my home base. A conventional bicycle doesn't have the carrying capacity for my toolboxes, laptop bags (two of them, Mac and Windows), and so on. Frankly I'm not in the kind of shape it would take to do my field rounds purely by pedaling (years ago I tried, using a bike trailer). However, I just ran across the iZip Tricruiser. Bingo! Solution! In its stock incarnation, the rear basket could be replaced with a platform of some kind that would make it easier to tie down my gear with elastic straps. However, more interesting would be to add a full enclosure built from aluminum electrical conduit and sheet aluminum. The result would look like an odd home-made Tuk-Tuk, with one side door for entry/exit and a rear hatch to access the cargo space in back. The doors would be locking, to discourage thieves. To bike purists this would be a heretical contraption, but for urban tradesman applications it would be perfect. Since it would be fully enclosed it would also be all-weather. Speed and range might be reduced slightly, but could be made up via an additional battery pack. Vehicles of this type would also be useful for urban delivery applications such as pharmacy, grocery, and restaurant (pizza etc.), for municipal services such as street sweepers' carts and park grounds keepers' carts, and for industrial plant applications such as security patrols and carrying supervisors between points on assembly lines. At this point in history, anything we can do to reduce ecological impacts and particularly carbon emissions, is a good thing. Moving niche transport applications into lower-impact vehicle types is a necessary part of the overall solution, even if the results are what regular bike enthusiasts think of as heretical contraptions. Ebikes exist because they fill practical transportation needs. For example…

I’m a telecoms geek who usually telecommutes but occasionally has to drive to client sites to add or move telephones (etc.). Normally I use a minivan (which gets 20 miles per galllon in normal usage, or up to 28 on the freeway at 50 - 55 mph.). However, many of those sites are within a 10-mile radius of my home base. A conventional bicycle doesn’t have the carrying capacity for my toolboxes, laptop bags (two of them, Mac and Windows), and so on. Frankly I’m not in the kind of shape it would take to do my field rounds purely by pedaling (years ago I tried, using a bike trailer). However, I just ran across the iZip Tricruiser. Bingo! Solution!

In its stock incarnation, the rear basket could be replaced with a platform of some kind that would make it easier to tie down my gear with elastic straps.

However, more interesting would be to add a full enclosure built from aluminum electrical conduit and sheet aluminum. The result would look like an odd home-made Tuk-Tuk, with one side door for entry/exit and a rear hatch to access the cargo space in back. The doors would be locking, to discourage thieves. To bike purists this would be a heretical contraption, but for urban tradesman applications it would be perfect. Since it would be fully enclosed it would also be all-weather. Speed and range might be reduced slightly, but could be made up via an additional battery pack.

Vehicles of this type would also be useful for urban delivery applications such as pharmacy, grocery, and restaurant (pizza etc.), for municipal services such as street sweepers’ carts and park grounds keepers’ carts, and for industrial plant applications such as security patrols and carrying supervisors between points on assembly lines.

At this point in history, anything we can do to reduce ecological impacts and particularly carbon emissions, is a good thing. Moving niche transport applications into lower-impact vehicle types is a necessary part of the overall solution, even if the results are what regular bike enthusiasts think of as heretical contraptions.

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