Organic Transit Elf (velo) on kickstarter

Kinda sad they use the talbot logo. Plus I don't like the trikes they look anti-aerodynamical IMO.
Talbot.png
 
I have met some of the people working in this shop, seems like an awesome project. I had no idea they raised all that money on Kickstarter. They have some vehicles on display sometimes and they look great.
 
is saw on the yahoo mailbot for electric assist that these guys finally sold one and are making a go of it. wish them luck and talk them up too if you know people that want this stuff.
 
People do like design. I should try kickstarter!

I have very mixed feelings about the Elf. On one hand, it's so American; "Finally! a velomobile that can fit a 300lb single driver who can't tie his shoelaces! A "light" EV that strives to look heavy!" On the other hand, it probably is a formula that could have reasonable success in the US and provide visibility to the idea of using less energy to travel.

I test drove an Elf in Vancouver. It works fine, has a Nuvinci, and is a complete package (except doors). The steering Ackerman was completely wrong, the wheels point closer together as you turn, but that doesn't stop it from steering. It's about the same width & ride height as my Fauchet, but it does feel safer, being so wide with just one person.
 
matterrr said:
I have met some of the people working in this shop, seems like an awesome project. I had no idea they raised all that money on Kickstarter. They have some vehicles on display sometimes and they look great.

Hey matterrr, where are you located? I live about 20 miles east of Organic Transit. Have seen them at public events several times but not gone to their shop "yet" to see their product up (very) close. I'm thinking it would be fun to plan an ebike trip over sometime and talk with them.
 
I'm currently selling my Motorcycle to save up for one of these(tear). I'd be be looking to put a deposit in by November(So I can have it by spring). I want an Electric VeloMobile that I can ride in the rain to and from work year round in Maryland. I'll just make myself some fiberglass doors and a nylon floor to prevent the cold air from smacking me on those hard to wake up mornings.

Unless someone can link me to another similar priced/featured turn key vehicle?

My commute is 10 miles one way on a 40 MPH road. In Maryland, all Electric bikes are "Mopeds" and must be titled, registered, have ORV stickers, Insured for liability, and the rider must wear a DOT Motorcycle Helmet. On the plus side they upped the power limit to 1.5 HP and 30 MPH. So I'll be trying to get a little more juice to the ELF to let me go 30 MPH the entire way. 1.5HP should be about 1100 Watts, more then enough to climb the hills in my area(Esp since the ELF is direct drive with gears).

I like the idea of going to work in the morning and only using 1/2 the battery entirely on electric...A Normal shift is 7 hours...14 if I do a double. So that's more then enough time to top the battery back off with the Solar cells....It's a free ride that should save me $2 a day in gas, and so much more in maintenance on my Acura RL.
 
SpartanX said:
I'm currently selling my Motorcycle to save up for one of these(tear). I'd be be looking to put a deposit in by November(So I can have it by spring). I want an Electric VeloMobile that I can ride in the rain to and from work year round in Maryland. I'll just make myself some fiberglass doors and a nylon floor to prevent the cold air from smacking me on those hard to wake up mornings.

Unless someone can link me to another similar priced/featured turn key vehicle?

My commute is 10 miles one way on a 40 MPH road. In Maryland, all Electric bikes are "Mopeds" and must be titled, registered, have ORV stickers, Insured for liability, and the rider must wear a DOT Motorcycle Helmet. On the plus side they upped the power limit to 1.5 HP and 30 MPH. So I'll be trying to get a little more juice to the ELF to let me go 30 MPH the entire way. 1.5HP should be about 1100 Watts, more then enough to climb the hills in my area(Esp since the ELF is direct drive with gears).

I like the idea of going to work in the morning and only using 1/2 the battery entirely on electric...A Normal shift is 7 hours...14 if I do a double. So that's more then enough time to top the battery back off with the Solar cells....It's a free ride that should save me $2 a day in gas, and so much more in maintenance on my Acura RL.

Hey SpartanX - interesting concept you have there, sorry about having to sell the motorcycle! :cry:

I wish there were another similar priced/featured turn key vehicle, but if you define the ELF as a "powered velomobile", nothing else touches it for the money, which I think is $5k right now. The closest I've ever come to that price in a velomobile is an Alleweder kit that you have to assemble yourself, and it won't have nearly any of the features the ELF has.

Interesting, that the laws there in Maryland may allow you to use the ELF in electric mode to get to work! The ELF sounds like a viable year-round transportation option for you.
 
There are some more human-electic-hybrid Velocars coming up in Europe, even as two-seater...
 
I love the velomobile concept. However, I can't say that I'm super impressed with these. A friend of mine has repaired an ELF for a friend. They're poorly engineered unfortunately. I have a lot of hope for this concept in the future, and I commend them for creating something new and finding a market for it.
 
^ This was finally an "alls well that ended well".

The owner got pretty frustrated with the lack of response and beat the bushes, and finally I was able to get some key guys on the phone. After some long talks, one of the engineers sent me some photos of the harness that he "just shot yesterday for another customer with similar problems". I took a look at those and realized the connector for the new motor had two leads swapped (Yellow and Green). Once I swapped them back, we were all better, and I called Mark and got the thing out of my driveway. :roll:

They were clearly a company with good intentions, but -no- thought to after-sale support when they launched. It seems like I just saw an announcement where they have set up some sort of service network partnering with some bike repair service. I'll see if I can find it. They did cover my costs for the repair, but not without some resistance.

As far as the machine goes, I'm not particularly impressed. It was one of the scariest rides I've had at over 25mph on just about anything, especially on a bumpy road. Turning it at speed is twitchy at best, yet turning it running slow takes some muscle.

Not one part of it was designed with service or repair in mind, in fact, several designs look like they were trying to make it as hard to service as possible, in the interest of appearance. One of my not-so-favorite habits of (bad) engineering. It takes up most of the width of a lane, around here anyway (Boston), but can't keep up with traffic. Having ridden a bicycle to Boston on my commute for over 12 years, I can't imagine riding this on the same route and surviving.

The whole experience made me re-examine (and learn some lessons) about Kickstarter from both perspectives - the backer as well as the backee. Take a look at those links above. Those lessons I hope will benefit me when I launch my own Kickstarter project next month... :D
 
I dont like it. Its ugly. Why does it has to be ugly? Nothing inovative. Put a barrel on top of recumbent tricycle and you get most of these velo.
 
agniusm said:
I dont like it. Its ugly. Why does it has to be ugly? Nothing inovative. Put a barrel on top of recumbent tricycle and you get most of these velo.
+1, it looks like shit and I bet It rides like it too.
The velo I built in a few days for a roadtrip a few years back looked tons better. This is not a velomobile IMO
 
I don't see how they can sell the ELF at a profit at $4000 ea. If I build a bargain basement velomobile myself from a bottom of the line Terratrike, add an HPV body (no floor or canopy) from blueskydsn.com, a flevo roof from velocityvelos.com and an internally geared hub motor with a Lipo pack from ampedbikes.com, I've still spent $2500 bucks.
 
wheelbender6 said:
I don't see how they can sell the ELF at a profit at $4000 ea. If I build a bargain basement velomobile myself from a bottom of the line Terratrike, add an HPV body (no floor or canopy) from blueskydsn.com, a flevo roof from velocityvelos.com and an internally geared hub motor with a Lipo pack from ampedbikes.com, I've still spent $2500 bucks.

That Velocity Velos site is class. A DIY kit for a tandem recumbent trike would possibly open up another market for them too.
 
bzhwindtalker said:
agniusm said:
I dont like it. Its ugly. Why does it has to be ugly? Nothing inovative. Put a barrel on top of recumbent tricycle and you get most of these velo.
+1, it looks like shit and I bet It rides like it too.
The velo I built in a few days for a roadtrip a few years back looked tons better. This is not a velomobile IMO
Rightly so - shit. He says inovative design. That thing looks like it will fall apart and that solar panel on the roof is nonsense. People would say: "Hey, look, hes driving green poo". I just dont know how people are getting involved in this. Is it lack of taste, intelligence? sad story.
 
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