Organic Transit’s ‘ELF’ Velomobile on Kickstarter

Photo of white ELF velomobileThe ELF is a relatively large electric assist velomobile currently being developed by Organic Transit in the US.  Australian Tech Blog Gizmag recently posted an article highlighting the combined human and solar power sources utilised by the ELF, and also the proposed price of $4,000, which they compared favourably to two other North American produced velombiles, the Hornet ($5,700) and the Tripod ($7,450).

Organic Transit (OT) have adopted a somewhat different design approach to their velomobile, and that, combined with a Kickstarter campaign, is the secret to the relatively low cost.  The campaign has been very successful so far, and, with more than 3 weeks still remaining, they have raised more than 125% of the original $100,000 goal.  They have already produced several prototypes which have been used to refine the design and build process.  Their plan is to release the first 100 production units through Kickstarter.

As is customary on Kickstarter a promotional video has been produced highlighting the proposed product. This can be viewed below.  There is also a fairly extensive write up of the development process that OT has gone through to reach this stage on their Kickstarter page.  It is particularly interesting that they plan to replace a hand-laid GRP process, that takes two hours to build a body panel, with a vacuum moulded ABS process that takes a mere 12 minutes!

From the above sources and the OT FAQ several interesting facts can be gleaned.

Orgainc Transit are primarily based in Durham, North Carolina but have team members in several states.  The team behind the ELF are professional with strong connections to the US Human Powered Vehicle movement.  Perhaps the most well known is C. Michael Lewis, who will be known to some as the artist behind numerous velomobile and HPV posters, such as those for Battle Mountain and ROAM.

Photo of ELF velomobile and staff outside Organic Transit's premises While currently operating out of a former furniture store in downtown Durham, they have ambitions not only to sell the ELF, and it’s stable-mate the TruckIt, but more globally, to set up micro-factories producing the ELF in “every downtown.”  To-date they have had enquiries from many places, including Europe, and they are seriously looking into ways to supply markets further afield than the US.

OT have followed the “Keep it simple” philosophy and are quite clear that they are not intending to compete with the more established, and more aerodynamic, velomobiles such as the Quest and the Mango.  Their target is the thoroughly practical user who wants a highly visible vehicle with a large carrying capability and to whom speed is not a significant consideration.  Hence the ELF is large – 8′ x 43″ x 5′ (2.4 x 1 x 1.5 m) and heavy – 100 lbs (45 kg).

To avoid the cost and complexity of suspension, OT have opted to use the standard MTB size of 26″ on all wheels, with large diameter tyres to smooth the ride.  While simpler this does pose a concern as the front wheels will have to resist lateral forces not normally experienced by bicycle wheels and these forces are a function of the vehicle weight.  The consensus so far on successful trikes and velomobiles has been to restrict the size of these wheels to not more than 20″.

Photo of an ELF prototype parked in the streatThe purist will reject the reliance on electric assist and there has been some perhaps unfair criticism of the ELF’s weight, but this should not be an undue problem for the intended user.  However, as there is reference to options to add: doors, floor and other extras; one can see the weight rising as the design begins to bloat.  One nice feature is the integrated solar panels which allow the batteries to be trickle charged during the day, assuming access to adequate sunlight.  Otherwise the standard battery pack takes two hours to charge.

To conform to regulations, allowing the ELF to be classified as a bike, assisted top-speed is limited to 20 mph (32 km/h), but there is no reason why the rider can’t push the vehicle faster if they have the strength or gravity on their side.  The following video is taken from an ELF driver’s eye view, about mid way through you hear a conversation between the ELF’s rider and a truck-driver about the potential speeds.

While the debate about “fast cycles” continues to rumble on, the current regulations, particularly those in Europe, that govern e-bikes and their classification impose relatively onerous requirements on vehicles that are classed as “more than a bike”.  This makes it challenging to successfully develop and market a vehicle of this type.  A recent article on the Low Tech Magazine blog, albeit featuring the highly aerodynamic WAW velomobile, argues the virtues of electric assisted velomobiles, much of which  applies to the ELF, the second part of the article also goes into some of the issues with the current legislation.

One velomobile mentioned by the Low Tech article is the 55 kg Aerorider, developed in the mid 2000s.  This vehicle with many similar attributes to the ELF failed to be commercially successful due to a combination of high cost, weight and the limitations imposed by regulation.  It would be reasonable to say that if regulation had been favourable for a class of “fast bikes” the Aerorider would have done much better.  As it stands the Aerorider was redesigned as the Sunrider which has now passed into the hands of Alligt, and Alligt are doing their part to lobby for a fast-bike class (snelfiets).  As Alligt now have access to the moulds and tooling for the original Aerorider, should regulations change, one never knows, the Aerorider may ride again.  Hopefully the ELF will continue to progress and, though lower cost, a different market and simplicity, be more successful than the Aerorider proved to be.

Velomobile News from Holland

A couple of news items from Holland.

Sinner to Cease Recumbent Bike Production?

According to Ligtfiets.net Sinner is to stop producing the Demon and Spirit recumbent bikes, instead concentrating their efforts on the Comfort delta trike and the Mango velomobile.  A quick review of the Sinner website turned up no information but Ligtfiets advise that existing stock of the Spirit and Demon will continue to be sold.

Mark 2 Sunrider is to be made available as a kit and branded the Alligt A9

Alligt have a photo of the new Sunrider body with the different elements highlighted in one of the three standard body colours.  There is a caveat that the actual shade of yellow will be slightly different from that shown, but it gives a nice idea of how the finished machine is assembled.  The most obvious changes are the the rear of the body with a squarer ending reminiscent of the Versatile/Orca but there are quite a number of other more subtle changes to the body which should improve water-tightness and sound.

Alligt A9 body in colourWhat is not visible here are the substantial sub-frame and numerous standard Alligt components that have been incorporated into the design.

The particularly interesting news is that the Sunrider will be available as a self build kit along side the A4, A6, A7 and A8.  Not too surprisingly the kit will be sold as the A9.

Prices in Euros are available via the Alligt website but to summarise, depending on options: the A9 kit will range from 4,195 to 7,395; and a completed Sunrider ranges from 6,595 to 8,895.  A “Moped” class Sunrider is also available suitable for type-approval in Germany for 10,595.Photo of mark 2 Sunrider prototype

 

Roll Over America – The Book!

ROAM logoThe Roll Over America (ROAM) velomobile tour which took place in 2011 is now documented in book form.  Available either as an iBook for iOS 5 or 210 Mb PDF from Google Docs, Josef Janning chronicles the story of the first ever velomobile tour across the United States from Oregon to Washington D.C.  The 210 pages cover the 28 day, 5300 km journey in detail, together with additional material and comments from riders and observers.

Cover of ROAM the storyAs one would expect the opening chapter deals with the background and planning for the tour.  The book also closes with a number of after thoughts and hints at possible future tours of a similar kind in both the US and other parts of the world.

It is good to see ROAM documented in this, more permanent, fashion as the original site at http://www.rolloveramerica.eu, while reserved, no longer has any content accessible, demonstrating the frustratingly short life cycle of too much of the information available on the internet.

Oliebollentocht

Oliebollentocht LogoIt is the time of year in Holland in which Oliebollen are cooked and eaten.  It is also about the time of year when a large number of velonauts gather for what is the world’s largest social velomobile ride – the Oliebollentocht.

Oliebollen are a spiced fruity dough-ball fried and traditionally eaten in Holland around the end of the year so in other words Oliebollentocht is Dutch Doughnut Time.  The Oliebollentocht velomobile gatherings have been held yearly in various locations in the Netherlands, and the 17th such gathering is to be held on the last Saturday of December in Zwolle, about a week from now.

The following video produced by David Hembrow and available on his blog – A view from the cycle path – illustrates the experience from a velonaut’s eye view in the 2009 Oliebollentocht held in Utrecht.

Organised through the Dutch HPV site ligfiets.net there is a page with more details for those wishing to participate.  This is strictly a velomobile-only event.  This year the exclusivity perhaps takes on more significance, as velomobiles have been excluded for the first time from participating in a similar event, the Elfstedenfietstocht, despite participating without incident in previous years.

Last year there was a record number of 149 velomobiles in attendance and there will be high hopes to break that record next Saturday.  The following video shows a selection of the assembled velomobiles presumably while most of the riders are inside consuming Oliebollen and coffee.

The following video is a Dutch TV report of the same event and contains some nice shots.  There are also English subtitles which helps for those without Dutch.

All-in-all good promotion of the velomobile helping to raise the awareness of the concept in Holland and possibly elsewhere too.

Dr Alex Moulton CBE

It is with sadness that we note the passing of Alex Moulton on the 9th December 2012 at the age of 92.  A tribute page has been set up at http://www.alexmoulton.co.uk.  A nice potted summary of his life is given on the Moulton Bicyle Company Heritage page.

Best known for developing the suspension system used on the original Mini and then designing the series of revolutionary small wheeled suspended bicycles that bear his name, which are still produced today, he also was active in contributing to the HPV comunity.  He presented papers at two of the IHPVA international symposia and added comments in the columns of Human Power.  He also authored or contributed to a number of books including a biographical interview with the cycle historian John Pinkerton and an excellent engineering reference book, the Moulton Formulae and Methods.  As such his legacy will live on.

Active until the end he was a living demonstration of the benefits of regular cycling both to the individual and to society.  The following short interview was taken earlier this year.

The following short “Made in Britain” film gives an overview of his work and the Moulton Bicycle company – a fitting tribute.

POSTSCRIPT:

While writing this post I spent some time looking for what I believe was an Open University lecture about Moulton covering the manufacture and the philosophy behind the design and it’s development.  The page where I first saw it on Cozy Beehive points to a non-existent Google video.   Does anyone know where to find it now?