I just got a potential lead on a job installing burglar alarms. I'll know more next week. Should I make money by landing this job, I will finally be able to return to working on my alternative fueled vehicle projects.
This electric velomobile I'm building will use about 1/20th the energy of a Nissan Neaf for like for like operating conditions, be capable of exceeding any U.S. speed limit, operable faster than a normal bicycle under pedal-only mode with the motor disabled, and could be operated for a few pennies for every 100 miles of travel. It can also be picked up by hand and carried into an apartment.
With the right design, "happy motoring" doesn't have to be a resource hog, and the same principles that apply to this velomobile also can apply to a car. I'm sure there would be a market niche for something like this if it was faster than almost any car you could buy as well as being cheaper than any car you could buy, and you'd be able to fit 3 or 4 of them in the space occupied by one midsized car.
Of course, the main impediments to something like this entering the market would be laws restricting e-bikes and/or government regulations on automobiles. But as material sciences improve, there is absolutely no reason something like this couldn't have comparable safety to a modern car in a wreck.
When I finish this prototype(including roll cage structure), I plan to tour the U.S. with it. I'll be able to cross the country on less than $1.00 worth of electricity, and could add some pedal input to it if desired.
The benefit to pedaling your transportation is the ability to eat like a horse and stay slim. I just weighed myself today and am at 139 lbs, and trying to gain weight is difficult to impossible no matter how much I eat. Of course, there is a downside that comes with eating like a horse: crapping like one too.
The unnecessary felling of a tree, perhaps the old growth of centuries, seems to me a crime little short of murder. ~Thomas Jefferson