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The_Toecutter wrote: I don't know of ANY type of car you can pedal if the motor fails or if you run out of fuel.

Maybe because....there isn't any demand for such a thing? An interesting curiosity to be sure but I've got to tell you Toe, 1.3+ million miles in cages alone and I've never run out of fuel or had a motor fail. Ever. Come to think of it, 250k on motorcycles, and never run out of fuel or had a motor go on one of those either, street or track.

I had a tranny blow once? First cage ever, didn't check manual tranny fluid after I bought it, slow leak, blew main bearing one evening. But from Brownsville to Prudhoe Bay spanning parts of 6 decades now, no need for pedals because of lack of fuel or blown engines. Might you be supposing a solution for a problem that doesn't exist?

The Toecutter wrote:Range anxiety will simply not exist with this vehicle, since it is light enough to drag it to a location if one must.

Range anxiety in gassers doesn't exist with even half assed trip planning across North America. Including to Prudhoe Bay Alaska or Goose Bay Labrador. Could come in handy in Mongolia or Siberia perhaps?

Just got a low chill peach nectarine and plum
Just need to hope we get 150 hours of chill

This year we definitely did it was a surprisingly cold winter for the sub tropics.....a few Antarctic blasts went up the east cost we got to 16C in the day light a few times usually doesn't get below 20C

....I have had success in the past and a local farmer grows a few varieties

AdamB wrote:
Range anxiety in gassers doesn't exist with even half assed trip planning across North America. Including to Prudhoe Bay Alaska or Goose Bay Labrador. Could come in handy in Mongolia or Siberia perhaps?

You can still run out of fuel if you're not paying attention, or if the nearest gas station within range of what remains in your tank is closed. And you can usually purchase gasoline in most places, if you have the money for it, but what if you don't? This design was done in consideration of the possibility that gasoline may not be as readily or easily available as it is today, and the same for electricity. That said, if there were an affordable light-weight fuel cell that could strip electricity by breaking down gasoline or ethanol, you best believe I'd have one for my vehicle, just to increase its versatility in possible fueling options. So yeah, having the ability to take this to Mongolia or Siberia if the need ever arose, is basically part of the design constraint, even if going to those places isn't an explicit goal.

Fueling options that are either present or very soon to be implemented:

-grid electricity
-pedaling
-regenerative braking
-solar electricity

Any combination of the above, or any above item in isolation, can move the vehicle.

I can run the human drivetrain and electric drivetrain independently of each other. If there's no grid electricity available, I'll have solar panels, which could easily give 50-60 miles per day(the math suggests that at least, but haven't gotten the chance to test this). If the solar panels fail and there's no grid electricity, I could pedal it up a hill and re-capture some energy on the downhill, and perhaps over 300 miles of riding in hilly areas I'll be able to fully recharge my battery pack and get 150-200 miles of motorized range. If the electric drive system fails, it's still pedalable. If the bicycle drivetrain fails, it still has an electric drive system.

Being able to run it on gasoline or diesel or ethanol or similar would fir the overarching philosophy in its design. That being, off-grid rapid transportation. I could even tow a homemade camper trailer with it, and that greatly negatively impacts range. Being able to use gasoline would be worth the expense in such a scenario where such a trailer is towed for long distances, but if one makes enough stops with functioning outlets to plug into, gasoline will still be purely optional. Unfortunately, gasoline engines are much too heavy for this application, but damn would a small fuel cell stack and a half gallon storage container for fuel go a VERY long way with this vehicle, even towing an unaerodynamic trailer.

The_Toecutter wrote:

AdamB wrote:
Range anxiety in gassers doesn't exist with even half assed trip planning across North America. Including to Prudhoe Bay Alaska or Goose Bay Labrador. Could come in handy in Mongolia or Siberia perhaps?

You can still run out of fuel if you're not paying attention, or if the nearest gas station within range of what remains in your tank is closed.

Indeed. And you can fall in your kitchen while carrying a butter knife and die from it when you trip and it goes into your eye. It isn't that running out of fuel is impossible, only that it likely happens to folks pushing their luck with what's left in their tank as opposed to normal folks with brains and a modicum of care. The odds of pedals being needed are probably less than the odds of me needing all the other things a heavier and mass produced vehicle contains.

Toe_Cutter wrote:And you can usually purchase gasoline in most places, if you have the money for it, but what if you don't?

Then you don't go on the trip in the first place, and walk or take a bicycle. I'm betting it costs less at the local pawnship or WalMart than what you need to charge to make money on your 3-wheeler.

Toe_Cutter wrote: If the electric drive system fails, it's still pedalable. If the bicycle drivetrain fails, it still has an electric drive system.

I am aware of your sales brochure at this point. Tesla had some good ideas as well. Most folks nowadays probably think it is the name of a car company rather than an early genius innovator. The translation of a good idea to a commercial product can be quite difficult, with or without a working prototype you could build. Good luck, but have you attempted any work to determine the size of thee market for this type of vehicle? And what people would be willing to pay for it? I know what YOU might think the enthusism level is, but I'm guessing my estimate would be quite different. Any work or thoughts in regard to this?

I was cross country skiing in Gatineau Park, north of Ottawa, recently on a trail located near the Prime Minister of Canada's country residence on Harrington Lake. I was waiting for my wife to catch up to me at the bottom of a hill beside a gate which blocks the public from a trail that connects to the residence. There happened to be someone standing on the other side of the gate which I just assumed was an RCMP officer out on patrol. A skier was approaching me and I said G'day to them. Surprisingly, instead of turning in front of me to continue up the hill they headed towards the gate. A closer look at the skier revealed that the person I had just said G'day to was Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada. A heavy set fellow followed a short while later and I assume this was his RCMP security. Nice to see that our national leader is willing to go for an outing on a public trail!

That is pretty neat.

Winters can be pretty bleak and cold here in central Alaska, but we're definitely heading into spring now.

Personally I had a great winter for three reasons.

(1). The ski areas were shut down during the pandemic but they reopened last fall, and I got in some wonderful skiing over the winter.



(2). It's been an incredible year for the Aurora. The sun has been more active the I thought it would be, based on the last several years low sunspot counts, and we've had some of the best auroras in decades, according to the old timers here. I was out last thursday watching the Aurora, and I got some incredible photos. Then it turned out last thursday was the biggest solar storm in the last six years, and the auroras were visible as far south as New Mexico and Arizona. But they only get to see a glow on the horizon....up here in Alaska the Aurora is directly overhead, and the curtains and waves and changes in the aurora go on all around you in the sky when you get a good one.





(3). I do a lot traveling over the winter to get a break from the cold and dark winter, and this past winter I did a Northwest Passage Cruise from Alaska across Canada and then over to Greenland---it was great. Then I did a solo trip to the southwest of France. The best part of that was renting a car (a bright red Fiat 500) in Toulouse and touring around for about a week. And then in February I went to SE Asia, and travelled through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. SE Asian countries were just opening up after Covid, so there weren't a lot of western tourists and the hotels and trains and planes and ferries weren't crowded at all. AND China was supposedly opening up but there were no chinese tourists anywhere along my route, so Angkor Wat and the other major tourist sites were as empty as they probably ever are.



And now it's springtime in Alaska.

Its all very very pleasant.

CHEERS!

Plantagenet wrote:(3). I do a lot traveling over the winter to get a break from the cold and dark winter, and this past winter I did a Northwest Passage Cruise from Alaska across Canada and then over to Greenland---it was great. Then I did a solo trip to the southwest of France. The best part of that was renting a car (a bright red Fiat 500) in Toulouse and touring around for about a week. And then in February I went to SE Asia, and travelled through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. SE Asian countries were just opening up after Covid, so there weren't a lot of western tourists and the hotels and trains and planes and ferries weren't crowded at all. AND China was supposedly opening up but there were no chinese tourists anywhere along my route, so Angkor Wat and the other major tourist sites were as empty as they probably ever are.

Its all very very pleasant.

CHEERS!

Outstanding! Pixs! So..how do you square this with the alleged CO2 emitting concerns you express? Are you being as dishonest about those concerns as you are "scientific accuracy" and owning an EV that you can't charge from the grid because...well...you just pretend its an EV, or do you truly worry about CO2 emissions...just not while globe trotting and having a grand CO2 super-emitter time?

AdamB wrote:

Plantagenet wrote:(3). I do a lot traveling over the winter to get a break from the cold and dark winter, and this past winter I did a Northwest Passage Cruise from Alaska across Canada and then over to Greenland---it was great. Then I did a solo trip to the southwest of France. The best part of that was renting a car (a bright red Fiat 500) in Toulouse and touring around for about a week. And then in February I went to SE Asia, and travelled through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. SE Asian countries were just opening up after Covid, so there weren't a lot of western tourists and the hotels and trains and planes and ferries weren't crowded at all. AND China was supposedly opening up but there were no chinese tourists anywhere along my route, so Angkor Wat and the other major tourist sites were as empty as they probably ever are.

Its all very very pleasant.

CHEERS!

Outstanding! Pixs!

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

How about you?

Did you get through the winter OK? Do you have any "Happy Talk" to post here in the Happy Talk thread?



Cheers!

We had a great summer down here, not hot at all aside from the last month. I took the opportunity to do some serious motorcycle on my new Adventure bike. That's always been my idea of a holiday, 3~10 days out exploring the diverse country Australia has to offer. You can start on a sandy subtropical beach and 3 days later be on the edge of one of the largest deserts in the world, and nothing in between but small country towns and the vast natural landscape. On the last trip, a short one, I went to the town of Texas on the border and camped by the river with a couple of dozen other travelers. A little fishing, a meal or two out and then the freedom of the wind as you ride back home.

When I was younger I rode a lot more, a lot further, but when you own a home and have it all set up the way you want it that can tend to be the big satisfaction in your life. Riding home to a soft bed and the day to day pleasures you find so rewarding.

Plantagenet wrote:

AdamB wrote:Outstanding! Pixs!

Thanks! Glad you liked it.
How about you?
Did you get through the winter OK? Do you have any "Happy Talk" to post here in the Happy Talk thread?
Cheers!

Well, provide some more pix before I can "like" anything.

But I'm still above ground, so winter went okay. Thinking about some Milky Way photography in Arches NP during the new moon in June, any nighttime photography tips you learned while doing the aurora borealis?

Plant,
Great report, love the pics. I have never seen the aurora, hopefully this summer if the sun stays active, and does not fry us. LOL

I was a bit surprised to heat you say you had a WINTER crossing. I presume you meant fall? Would like to hear a bit more if you can share.

The covid years were tough on us, not covid, but all the work we did on the boat and old house. This winter we have been lazing around in the Caribbean, doing a whole lot of not much. I may try to get some diving in this week.

Newfie wrote:Plant,
Great report, love the pics. I have never seen the aurora, hopefully this summer if the sun stays active, and does not fry us. LOL

The sun is VERY ACTIVE right now, and the peak of the cycle should be next year. That should be a great time to se the Aurora.

Newfie wrote:
I was a bit surprised to heat you say you had a WINTER crossing. I presume you meant fall? Would like to hear a bit more if you can share.

Sorry about that. My NW Passage trip was right at the end of September and start of October and of course technically that is fall. But here in Alaska I maintain there are really only two season....Summer and Winter. It gets cold and starts snowing in late September and it doesn't warm up until....well.....who knows. We had subzero temps and another four inches of snow just yesterday. So I plan my travel to escape from the long "winter" and last "winter" I escaped from the snow and cold three times.....NW passage trip, France trip, and SE Asia trip. Thats one more trip then I usually do over the "winter" season and it really really was great. So I've already got three trips planned for this upcoming winter---which I can already see out there looming on the other side of "summer" which starts for me here in Alaska when all the snow finally melts. That will happen sometime in April so technically it's already spring in the outside world, but in my Alaska world with only two seasons the summer doesn't start until the snow melts. We used to have seven months of "winter" and five months of snow-free summer, but with global warming we're now up to six months snow-free "summer" and six months of snowed in "winter"...at least thats the way I look at it.

And while we're on the subject of seasons I used to be even more of a heretic when it comes to seasons because I invented an entire additional season to describe life in Alaska. The middle of the winter here in Alaska used to be so dark and so cold, often with weeks at time staying below -40°, that I considered the middle part of the winter...from Thanksgiving to mid-January....to be a season different from winter. I called the extra dark cold season "HOTH" after the ice planet in Star Wars. Fortunately, thanks to global warming, we don't have HOTH anymore. In fact we rarely go below -40* at all....it was maybe just a day or two last winter. But I still need the travel (and the skiing and indoor pickleball) to get me through the long winter.


We used to have a month of two of HOTH in the middle of winter up here in Alaska but thanks to global warming it doesn't get that cold anymore....

Newfie wrote:The covid years were tough on us, not covid, but all the work we did on the boat and old house. This winter we have been lazing around in the Caribbean, doing a whole lot of not much. I may try to get some diving in this week.

I got to say you are a genius. Spending the winter cruising and diving and hanging out in the Caribbean is one of the best ideas ever. CONGRATS.

Funny, I joke Newfoundland has 2 seasons.
Almost summer and
March.

Newfoundland in not nearly as cold, but lots of precipitation and maritime weather.

Had cataract surgery on my right eye today, what an interesting time, my total out of pocket cost could have been zero, but I elected to take just one combination eye drop, instead of three separate eye drops. Bottom line total cost $47.00. The colors I haven't been seeing are amazing! It was definitely worth a needle in my eye!

I get my left eye done in two weeks. In the meantime I'm having fun comparing the differences between the two eyes. Even more fascinating is how my brain melds/blends? the two separate colors into one, when both eyes are opened.

Oh, the anti anxiety drug I got was pretty sweet, but I can't remember what it's called. They also said I could not make any decisions today. So, I made my wife decide what was for dinner tonight.

Peace

LOL
I keep hearing good reports about the new eye surgery but I am still chicken.
Glad it worked for you.
Enjoy the dinner.

Newfie wrote:Funny, I joke Newfoundland has 2 seasons.
Almost summer and
March.

Newfoundland in not nearly as cold, but lots of precipitation and maritime weather.

We had really warm weather and hardly any rain while visiting Western Newfoundland in 2019. However, I did get the impression that the weather isn't always that good when one of our Earth Science professors asked if we had gotten any snow on the trip!

Newfie wrote:LOL
I keep hearing good reports about the new eye surgery but I am still chicken.
Glad it worked for you.
Enjoy the dinner.

Count me in with the chickens.

Newfie wrote:LOL
I keep hearing good reports about the new eye surgery but I am still chicken.
Glad it worked for you.
Enjoy the dinner.

It's probably the safest form of surgery out there, I had it done. I could have got it for free through the medicare system but I chose to pay a grand and a half extra for a ophthalmologist with a reputation. The key is in the testing before hand to determine exactly what lens to get, if they stuff that up, even a little, you can have minor blurring at a distance, like a telescope that isn't exactly in focus. I guess the average person wouldn't notice, or care, but being big into astronomy photography and microscopy it would have nagged on me off no end. Not that it would have effected those pursuits in any way, but I have a keen sense of focus and it would have bugged me.

I don't know what those anti anxiety drugs careinke was munching but everyone over there seems to take drugs even if they stub a toe so it doesn't surprise me. Hell I had dental surgery where they drill into your jaws and ratchet one inch long titanium implants and all I took for that was some Valium, the local shots, and was give panadine forte for afterwards, which I didn't bother taking anyway. But the eye surgery is totally painless.

My dad had it done a few years back
If you get it done for free through medicare in Australia they give you a bit of laser surgery for free too at the same time.
If you do it through private insurance its not free
He didnt need glasses again in his 90s
He wore glasses for nearly 4 decades.
You would think with the cost of supplying free glasses over the decades they could have done his eyes back then but then the optometrists would be out of work.