Author Topic: 30mph e-bike velomobile?  (Read 15449 times)

30mph e-bike velomobile?
« on: 15 February, 2017, 12:54:05 pm »
I can't quite see how this would be road-legal in europe
http://www.grantsinclair.com/en/e-bike/iris-extreme.html

750watt motor, advertised as having a speed of 30mph.
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Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #1 on: 15 February, 2017, 12:57:55 pm »
Maybe they're seeking type approval as a moped?

Auntie Helen

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #2 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:03:20 pm »
Yes, there is a special type approval here for up to 45km/h but it has to have a number plate (narrow green one) and is not allowed on cycle paths. People do this to trikes sometimes, HP Velotechnik have their Skorpion type appproved.
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Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #3 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:12:27 pm »
Anyway, we all know that anything transport-related with 'Sinclair' written on it is vaporware.

Doesn't seem to involve as much reinventing the wheel as usual, though, so maybe it will work.

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #4 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:18:59 pm »
Is "road legal" necessarily the same as type approval? Or just in conformity with general CUR?

In any case it looks way too much like his uncle's ideas.
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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #5 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:25:41 pm »
I think it is utterly different to the c5. As different as it is possible to be, tbh. 2 wheels at front, fully enclosed, much, much bigger, etc.

Road legal is about being legal. There is a bbc vid with one in use, and the voice over indicates that sinclair the younger thinks of these things as e-bikes and their being used on cycle networks.

If they were used on road networks, I think they have a place, as a kind of velo-moped device.
The cheaper model at £3000 with a 250W motor seems competitive with other velomobiles.
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Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #6 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:27:10 pm »
In any case it looks way too much like his uncle's ideas.

It's looking a lot more like a proven velomobile design than previous attempts.  Sinclair always seemed to design these things in a bubble where the lessons learned from building real recumbents were ignored.

Cudzoziemiec

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #7 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:28:17 pm »
It might be very different from the C5 but it looks very similar in shape.
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Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #8 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:33:21 pm »
The cheaper model at £3000 with a 250W motor seems competitive with other velomobiles.

*clicks around the site further*

There we go.  The 'Eco' model boasts "no licence required" and "no throttle required" where the 'Extreme' version doesn't, suggesting that the Extreme will be road legal as some form of motor vehicle, rather than as a pedelec.

I note that the Eco page talks about 25mph, but in the context of aerodynamics, rather than the motor (which presumably cuts out above 25kph as usual).  25mph sounds about right for a not-optimally-aerodynamic velomobile on the flat.

Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #9 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:34:55 pm »
It might be very different from the C5 but it looks very similar in shape.

It looks more like a Versatile than a C5 in shape.

There are definitely similarities in some of the styling.

Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #10 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:36:10 pm »
Perfectly useable commuter vehicle I would hope

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Auntie Helen

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #12 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:51:29 pm »
It is quite high - I would worry a bit about rolling it!
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Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #13 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:54:59 pm »
It is quite high - I would worry a bit about rolling it!

Better than the Sinclair X-1

Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #14 on: 15 February, 2017, 01:58:09 pm »
And because nobody's posted it yet, I've just discovered the BBC video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38960275

Torslanda

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #15 on: 15 February, 2017, 02:04:24 pm »
Interesting claims for range.

750w - 48v 13.5ah up to 80km.

250w - 48v 20ah up to 75km.

So 50% more capacity with 10% LESS range. So can we assume the 750w mid-drive is almost 50% more efficient? Or am I missing something blindingly obvious . . . ?
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Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #16 on: 15 February, 2017, 02:40:01 pm »
And takes 2.5hrs to recharge, whereas the other one takes one hour?

Those figures don't add up unless the batteries are of different types or something.
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Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #17 on: 15 February, 2017, 04:39:58 pm »
Occam's razor would suggest that they've got the battery specs the wrong way round.

Torslanda

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #18 on: 15 February, 2017, 08:15:08 pm »
Y'know, I'm kind of tempted . . .
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #19 on: 15 February, 2017, 08:20:45 pm »
If it's not awful, the price really isn't bad.  Sort of thing that would work for commuting.

Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #20 on: 15 February, 2017, 09:07:34 pm »
If it's not awful, the price really isn't bad.  Sort of thing that would work for commuting.


Exactly, it's much less expensive than the other velomobiles appear to be.

Building one has been a lose intention for over 40 years. I really need to win the lottery to liberate some time. Do worry about weight up here in t'Yorkshire Dales mind

Mike

Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #21 on: 15 February, 2017, 09:19:04 pm »
Weight's only really an issue when you have to lug the thing about, or if you allow the battery to run out.

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #22 on: 16 February, 2017, 03:03:16 am »
No suspension, I've heard, and the expensive version has solid tyres.  Colossal greenhouse to melt you when it's sunny and steam up when it rains.  And so on.
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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #23 on: 16 February, 2017, 08:13:14 am »
He's going to have to produce some demo models and take them to the cycle shows.
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Kim

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Re: 30mph e-bike velomobile?
« Reply #24 on: 16 February, 2017, 12:09:20 pm »
No suspension, I've heard, and the expensive version has solid tyres.  Colossal greenhouse to melt you when it's sunny and steam up when it rains.  And so on.

I was wondering about ventilation.  There's something about filters, but not fans, from which I conclude it'll be okay in the right sort of mediocre weather, as long as you let the electrickery do most of the work.  The absence of the traditional hole in the floor also makes me wonder how you're supposed to reverse it.