Electric bikes may help you climb hills, fight headwinds and arrive at work in a non-sweaty state, but they still won't keep you dry when it rains. That's one of the reasons that some people – mostly deep-pocketed people – are looking at human/electric hybrid velomobiles. One of the latest such vehicles to hit the road is Virginia-based inventor Peter Ginzburg's GinzVelo.
The GinzVelo takes the form of a recumbent tricycle surrounded by a sleek fiberglass/foam core body shell, which is the basic design used by most velomobiles. The shell aids in aerodynamics, shields the rider from the elements, and may also offer a degree of crash protection.
It additionally makes the thing look pretty darn cool.
Because they tend to be a lot heavier than bicycles, many velomobiles feature an electric-assist motor. In the case of the 85-lb (39-kg) GinzVelo, a 48-volt 20-Ah lithium-polymer battery-powered 500-watt brushless hub motor is used to augment the rider's own pedaling power, or to work purely in throttle mode.
If used as a throttle, it can reportedly take the GinzVelo to a regulated top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h) for a range of 75 to 100 miles (120 to 161 km) – that range is increased if the rider is willing to do some pedaling. According to Ginzburg, because the vehicle is so aerodynamic and otherwise efficient, an "average rider" can push it to over 30 mph (48 km/h) using pedal power alone.
Some of its other features include full front and rear LED lighting with turn signals and brake lights, side mirrors, a hinged canopy for entry and exit, and a ventilation system that incorporates the wheel openings and a vent in the back.
If you're liking the looks of the GinzVelo, you can make your appreciation known by backing it on Kickstarter. A pledge of US$6,000 will get you one, when and if they reach production.
Sources: GinzVelo, Kickstarter
Looks like there's no cargo capacity, either.
Although low tech, a good rain cape works very well. While touring, I've used them to ride a whole day under heavy rain. With rainproof shoes and gaiters, you're all set.
> That's one of the reasons that some people – mostly deep-pocketed people – are looking at human/electric hybrid velomobiles.
You don't have to be deep-pocketed to get one, *if that replaces a car*, whose TCO is about that much for a couple of years even if you don't drive that much.
I don't care for the mass distribution of this design. The wheelbase is too short. Going down a hill, I can easily see it pitching forward, especially if it hit some kind of obstacle (like even a fist-sized rock in the road).
While putting the front wheels farther forward a few inches might affect the aerodynamics somewhat, the shell can probably be modded to compensate, and aerodynamics is by no means the only physics problem that must be solved here.
Ugly and will not sell. For "deep pocket" people with more money than brains.
The wheelbase may appear shorter than it is, given the extra material out front. But the mass placement of the driver looks about right, so all the perceived mass out front is mostly air.
It is not cheap, but it looks cheap.
Trike stability requires three main things: keep the center of gravity low, keep the weight distribution around 67/33, and keep the wheels far apart from one another. (I'd put those priorities in that order, too, but you could swap the weight distribution and center of gravity.)
This thing looks like the rider's sitting quite upright, which raises the center of gravity, making a rollover more likely. That also hurts aerodynamics, of course.
Then, the windshield design that they're using will bake the rider. Yes, it gives better aero, but the only successful trike designs I see using windshields like that are racing trikes that make the window small, so you can only look directly forward and a little to the sides, definitely not up. Personally, I'd take the aero hit and follow the example of the European velomobiles, which make the nose only tall enough for the rider's knees, and then have the rider's head sticking above, with an optional cap to streamline the rider's head (with the ability to raise the windshield for ventilation). Another benefit of that is sidewind stability - because the European velomobiles are taller behind the rider than in front of the rider, sidewinds will automatically turn the velomobile into the wind, improving stability. This? This'll get blown all over the place.