asg70 wrote:Well, batteries wear out in DIY builds too ya know. Until solid-state batteries or EESTOR-style supercaps, all this stuff requires civilization as we know it to keep running.
No disagreement there. Not all batteries are created equal though, and there are ones that exist today that will function for decades. Those CALBs in my GT6 may still be usable when I'm an old man, although they haven't yet been proven by anyone to be as long lasting as the Edison NiFe batteries from 100+ years ago. Jay Leno still has the original set in his Baker Electric delivering stock range. The key to longevity for those NiFe cells is keeping the KOH electrolyte replaced on a regular basis so that the batteries don't corrode.
My point being there is no sustainable prep for the end of the world that includes any sort of industrial society. It's only a matter of time before it's back to stone knives and bearskins.
Agreed. And this is also what Mr. Kaczynski predicted and why his writings are especially relevant, regardless of your opinion of the man.
Huh? What does law enforcement have to do with anything? Will law enforcement care about your hobby vehicle in a TSHTF scenario? I doubt it.
One of the incentives of making this vehicle is that it doesn't need the following to operate because legally, it can be passed off as an ebike:
-insurance
-registration
-tags
-license plate
-drivers license
That all saves money. It's dirt cheap transportation for as long as BAU remains intact. And when/if BAU falls apart, it will still be operable.
How is what you're doing relevant to the 3rd world? You're having trouble supporting yourself as it is. Tend your own garden.
It was an idle musing as well as a comment on 3rd worlders wanting individual transport, and a potential means to meet such demand, even if that means doesn't yet exist. And it would be greatly preferable to the 3rd world buying full sized cars or even ICE powered scooters from a carbon footprint and resource consumption standpoint.
Who is going to mass produce it?
I don't know. Probably no one. I have to get a prototype finished first before I can even begin to produce them as one-offs. 3D printing technology is getting awful cheap though, and a friend and I have been discussing the possibility of getting his shop set up to produce custom parts from raw materials. Got to start somewhere after all.
Look, if you want to publish the spec as an open-source thing, great. But I am seeing a lack of foresight here in what it is you're doing. It just looks like a hobby to me. I know you don't want to view it in such mundane terms, but that's what it is right now. A hobby that gives you a self-esteem boost.
Projection again? It is a hobby at this point and I don't currently see it as anything else. That doesn't mean it will necessarily stay there. But I do intend at a later date to try my hand at selling a few builds, once I get the bugs and glitches all worked out and get something worthy of selling.
Now, you may know that there are literally a TON of grassroots ebike companies out there, many of them crowdfunded. If you were really entrepreneurial you'd look into doing that.
Need to get the prototype ready first.
But you have to understand that the biggest market for ebikes are virtue-signalling yuppies.
This particular demographic is especially interested in my machine. Especially rich hipsters. Not having a finished product to sell them is definitely a missed opportunity.
The poor in the US are still driving old beaters and would probably jump off the nearest bridge before subjecting themselves to a quadricycle.
I'm not so certain of that, judging by all of the interest my vehicle draws, even without having a motor at all. But old beaters will still be cheaper, regardless, for the near-term foreseeable future. Unmotorized velomobiles and cheap DIY full size EV conversions with 100 miles range are both in the upper 4-figure price range at minimum today, whereas the poor are buying $2,000 beaters. Getting the cost of this contraption down to the level of a $2,000 beater would be mandatory in order to be able to market to this demographic. I think it is possible, but not with my current resources.
Point being that the difference between a hobby and a business is that hobbies are about building what YOU want and businesses are about building what the MASSES want.
The trick is to find something that serves both.
I get this. I'm currently building what I want as a prototype and proof of concept.
I find no disagreement with the assessment in this video, either. Although with proper choice of glider, 100 mile range car conversions can today be done for around $5k, not counting labor cost, but one must be very picky about glider and component selection to pull it off, while scavenging parts from junked OEM EVs. Getting it done for that cheap won't happen the vast majority of the time, and even then, that's the cost of a used Nissan Leaf with a decent pack.
In contrast, my velomobile may end up getting a 200 mile range @ 30 mph for less than $2k in EV parts. And since it can still be pedaled, there's no range anxiety.
There's certainly no case to be made for it as a peak-oil prep.
I disagree. If one is mechanically inclined and knows how to fix old cars, it may be a better decision to convert an old car than to drive am OEM EV whether purchased new or used, simply because one doesn't have to deal with a complicated mess of computers and features, and in a pinch, could still make a simple classic DIY conversion run using 19th century tech if they must(lead acid batteries of very low density ~10 wh/kg are possible to make without relying on modern industry, as well as DIY NiFe cells capable of delivering capacity similar to modern AGM lead acid batteries) and a blacksmith would have all the tools needed to make a low-powered but usable motor and a DIY contactor controller. In the case of my custom built vehicle, it is light enough to even be pedaled.
But that prospect is really only viable in the worst SHTF scenario anyway. But even if our civilization goes back to the dark ages or worse, I think some kind of motorized vehicles will be a permanent part of the landscape, even if they may be quite terrible by today's standards. It would beat using horses.
Although, the real weak link keeping something like that running in a post SHTF scenario would be replacing the tires after they wore out!
So all you can really do today is prep for YOURSELF, not your neighbor, not for the third world. Prep for YOURSELF while everything is still being mass produced and is still at commodity prices. Prep for yourself when you still have cash-flow.
I was working on that until I had to save my mother's house. Which still falls into that category, considering without the house, all of my preps wouldn't do much good and I'd lose them.
This custom built vehicle is a prep in and of itself, and would be valuable in case TSHTF for me personally and I end up homeless. I'd be able to live out of this thing if I had to, as it's a mobile shelter and bed, can provide insulation and protection from biting insects, carry food/water/camping gear/tools, and once I get the ebike drive installed and some solar panels, it will also be a mobile phone charger/computer charger and night light for reading books. Paul Elkins inspired my build as well(Former Boeing engineer who made coroplast camper trailers for homeless people along with custom 3 wheeled vehicles).
And even if TSHTF doesn't occur to me personally, I intend to travel using this vehicle anyway for fun at some point.
And maximize that cash-flow while you still can.
I've been trying to do that for years without resorting to something I would regret doing. In hindsight, I don't see how I could have done much better other than to know the future. I'd [probably have been better off not bothering with college or a career, and instead perhaps learning a trade or working a low paying job while staying with parents and saving every penny. I've made a few mistakes along the way after starting the career I had, but I don't see them being very life altering on the career front unless I was willing to allow my mom to lose the house and possibly die given what she went through. I'm currently at the mercy of whatever employer I can get to hire me, unless I take matters into my own hands including the possibility of ignoring the law to make money, and that in and of itself can have some life altering consequences for the worse.
I've made lots of good decisions(such as getting out of debt as quickly as possible) and lived well below my means, and had I not done that, I'd be in a far worse position than I am today, even if my life still sucks right now.
The main thing that makes me happy is building EVs, and I have not got to do that a whole lot as a result of delaying gratification in pursuit of being fiscally responsible. And constantly delayed gratification means it never comes. It doesn't help that I've been picked apart financially in every direction by parasites, otherwise I'd be much happier at the moment since I'd have had the resources to pursue my builds.
The unnecessary felling of a tree, perhaps the old growth of centuries, seems to me a crime little short of murder. ~Thomas Jefferson