Digital Flatus

A Midsummer's Resolution

I am coming to grips with a slowly building dislike for cars and slowly building achy knees at the same time. I never have really liked cars. They are a tool. They get you from one place to another in excellent comfort with a bunch of stuff, but that is all. Frequently they are a hideously over-designed tool. You don't need a 4x4 pickup that is capable of pulling a house trailer and probably a house as well just to get your sorry butt into work every day. Yet most everyone I know including me does just this or something very much like it. Worse, many American's idea of fun is to drive to the lake in a truck that gets about 10 mpg pulling a boat that gets 1 mpg and spend the day puttering around a lake. I admit it that it is fun, but how many people think about the potential long term consequences? The price of gas at the pump is not enough to make a deep impression, but I suspect it soon will be. Energy is currently so plentiful and cheap in the U.S. that most of us do not even perceive the irony in driving to go exercise. This is not intended to harsh on anyone. I am just trying to explain my mind set.

The problem is I do think about it. Every time I drive or ride in a car I think about it and it annoys me. It's like the feeling I get when I hear an air-conditioner rumble to life on a cool summer evening. We live in one of the few states in the union where air conditioning is optional yet most people out here have one. I know some people have medical conditions and the like, but if I were king of the universe you would need a note from your doctor to operate one of these infernal machines in Colorado. This is somebody else's lookout, however, so I can pretty much forget about it. I can't forget about my own car, however. It's like a sore tooth. Always there. Just hovering on the edge of consciousness waiting to throb some more.

Recently two things happened to bring the question to a head. Ellen retired is one. The other happened on the plane on the way back from my brother's place. I read an ad for an electric scooter in SkyMall magazine. That got the brain gerbils pedalling something fierce. I live close to where I work, shop, and play. Ellen really should not need a car every day any more. It seems more than feasible to replace one of our cars with something more efficient. Way more efficient. I still ride a bike sometimes, but if I do it every day my knees start to bitch at me. Besides a bike just is not convenient enough or flexible enough to replace a car. No, something more scooterish would fill the bill. It turns out the exact scooter I read about wasn't suitable, but others just about to come out were. The seed was planted and growing. Next I did what any self-respecting American male does on the verge of a mid-life crisis -- I spent the next three months torturing Ellen with speculation of various transportation options, details of hub motor construction and battery technology, and pining away for that electric scooter that I was sure was going to arrive Any Day Now.



After some research the EVT Z-20 seemed like a good bet. It was the second generation of bike from the an existing company. It has a decent range and speed (40 miles and 35mph). From the web sites and a few emails with the distributor it sounded as though it were going to be available fairly quickly. Well that was mid-May. Long about late June I began to despair. The Z-20 was still due "soon", but no fixed date had been mentioned. I decided to hedge my bets and got on the waiting list for different scooter. More on this in a bit.



And then I started thinking about year-round transportation. The cold and rain don't scare me, but the snow had started to. I have ridden a motorcycle on snow before and it slides out very suddenly and deposits your body on the street in a manner that is several different kinds of no fun. And besides this there's all those mukluks who believe that driving in summer is just the same as driving in winter because they have all wheel drive and ABS. I'm not sure either me or my scooter would survive a hickey from an SUV. So I need something to keep me off the streets. At first I thought an electric skateboard would be this device. It sure was fun, but it was not a practical commuting vehicle. It required a way too much concentration to ride near traffic. Even then I thought that death was probably inevitable on the thing. It was either keep it ride it exclusively in parking lots (as the manufacturer recommends) or sell it. I opted for the latter to pave the way for this charming LashOut electric bicycle. It is in my garage right now. It goes at about 13 mph for about 20 miles. More than enough to get me to work and back on a nearly car-free route. I put fenders (yes, fenders; I much prefer wet feet to front and rear racing stripes) and a bunch of lights on it. This is what I plan for foul-weather commuting. At least I will. The batteries did not survive storage/shipment so I'm waiting on a new set right now. Who ever said the path to bliss wouldn't have a few bumps? It is still pretty fun to ride. Just a touch on the heavy side -- 88 pounds is about 60 more pounds than I am used to pedalling. (Several jokes about hauling around extra weight have been omitted out of fears for my personal safety.)



I signed up for this bad boy when I thought the Z-20 might never arrive. Actually I'm still not entirely sure. I think it probably will, but I am now convinced that I don't know exactly when this bike is going to ship because the manufacturer doesn't know exactly when it is going to ship. Word on the street has it that they are still working through negotiations with the DOT. Getting on the waiting list of the eMax was a stroke of brilliance, keen foresight, or perhaps sheer luck. It is in a similar class. It is German designed whereas the EVT is an American/Taiwanese. Both are built in China. The Z20 uses lead-acid batteries. The German uses silicone batteries. That's right. Silicone. I can't find a description of the chemistry involved in these. Apparently the technology is new. You can try googling for "silicone batteries", but all you will find is a bunch of sex-toy sites. If you preserve the double-quotes you will do slightly better, but what descriptions can be found are not very detailed. Theoretically they have much better performance at a wider variety of temperatures than lead-acid and they aren't toxic. Time will tell. Anyway, this sleek beauty should be mine by this week or next. The last word I got was they expected to put it on a truck in Austin Texas on Friday. To say I can't wait would be an understatement. If possible Ellen is even more impatient that I am. Once it arrives I will stop nattering away at her about when I expect it to arrive and how happy I will be.


So, you may ask, "Are you going to keep both scooters? If so, why?" Fair questions. At this point I think so. I really am going to sell my car so I'll have the room and the money. Both models are new enough that a glitch or two is not unexpected. I feel much better if I have a backup. I also plan to become a bit of an electric transport evangelist maybe even get some of the stores around here interested in selling them. I figure I can be more persuasive if I have a couple of different models for show and tell.