Miljöbästa bilen för dagligt bruk är en eWAW, en cykelbil med elektrisk hjälpmotor. Den klarar allt
: ett hållbart alternativ till fossilbränslemotor. Ultra låg energiförbrukning, låg miljöpåverkan vid tillverkning och under drift, säker (färre trafikskadade) komfortabel, lätt parkerat, låg kostnad, billig i drift, obegrännsad räckvid (om batteriet är urladdat kan man fortfarande rampa vidare i 30-50 km/t), minskar trafikträngsel och behov av nya motorvägar (förbifart Sthlm t ex) etc.
However, when we compare the eWAW with the electric car, still viewed by many as the future of sustainable transportation, it's a clear winner.
In fact, the electric velomobile is everything what the electric car wants to be, but isn't: a sustainable alternative to the automobile with combustion engine. It is nearly impossible to design a personal, motorised and practical vehicle that is more efficient than the eWAW.
If all 300 million Americans replace their car with an electric velomobile, they need only 25 % of the electricity produced by existing American wind
turbinesA simple calculation can illustrate this claim. Imagine that all 300 million Americans replace their car with an electric velomobile and all drive to work on the same day. To charge the 288 Wh battery of each of these 300 million eWAW's, we need 86,4 GWh of electricity. This is only 25 % of the electricity produced by existing American wind turbines (on average per day during the period July 2011 to June 2012, source). In other words, we could make a switch to private vehicles operating on 100 % renewable energy, using existent energy plants.
Now imagine that all 300 million Americans replaced their cars with an electric version like the Nissan Leaf, and all drive to work on the same day. To charge the 24 kW battery of each of those 300 million vehicles, we need 7,200 Gwh of electricity. This is 20 times more than what American wind turbines produce today, and 80 times more than what electric velomobiles need. In short: scenario one is realistic, scenario two is not.
Even if we all started carpooling, and every electric automobile could carry five people, there remains a large gap in efficiency. Charging 60 million electric cars would still require 16.6 times more electricity than charging 300 million eWAW's. The electric velomobile also makes it fairly easy for a driver to charge his or her own vehicle. A solar panel of about 60 watts (with a surface area of less than one square metre) produces enough energy to charge the battery, even on a dark winter day.
In Europe, it would take an even smaller share of the existent wind turbines to charge every European's eWAW. For the sake of thoroughness, it should be mentioned that the bio-motor also requires energy: the driver needs to eat, and this food needs to be produced. But since western people eat too much, and then drive their cars to the gym in order to lose excess fat, this factor can be safely ignored.
Range AnxietyThe large difference in energy efficiency between electric velomobiles and electric cars is remarkable, because both have a similar range. As mentioned, the eWAW takes you a distance of 60 to 130 km, depending on how intensively you use the motor. The Nissan Leaf takes you at best 160 km, when you drive slowly and steadily, and when you don't make use of the air-conditioning, heating or electronic gadgets on board.
Adding only 6 kg of batteries increases the range of the electric velomobile to 450 kmA heating system is not required in a velomobile, not even in winter, because hands and feet are protected from the wind by the bodywork, and because the driver is active (body activity is the most important factor in maintaining thermal comfort). The need for cooling in summer, on the other hand, will decrease the range -- the driver will rely more on the electric motor in order to cool down.
Interestingly, it is easier to increase the range of the electric velomobile than of the electric car, if necessary. The eWAW can be equipped with one or two extra batteries, which increases the range up to 180 km (112 miles, with continuous assistance of the motor) or 450 km (280 miles, when the motor is only used to assist acceleration). Adding two batteries to the eWAW increases the weight of the vehicle by only 6 kg, and still leaves ample space for luggage. If we suppose that the rider weighs 70 kg, then adding two batteries increases the total weight of the eWAW from 103 to 109 kg -- a weight gain of 6 %. If we apply the same trick to the Nissan Leaf (where three times as many batteries take the place of the rear seat and the trunk), total weight increases from 1,582 kg (the driver of 70 kg included) to 2,022 kg -- a weight gain of 30 %.
Another way to increase the range of an electric vehicle is swapping batteries or fast-charging them. These options are available for both electric cars and velomobiles, but developing a charging infrastructure for electric cars is a daunting task, while doing so for electric velomobiles is easy. The battery of the eWAW not only needs 80 times less energy than the battery of a Nissan Leaf (which makes fast-charging a real option), it also weighs 73 times less (which makes swapping batteries a very low-tech operation). While we do have faster vehicles for long distances that are equally sustainable (like trains and trolleybusses), the velomobile offers an alternative for those who prefer a personal means of transportation, or for those who prefer an active lifestyle.
The capacity of our roads would at least quadruple if we switched from cars to velomobilesWhen the battery of an electric velomobile drains, the velomobilist can still pedal home -- at speeds above those of a bicycle. The driver of the electric car can't do that, because his contraption is too heavy. One Nissan Leaf weighs as much as 46 eWAW's. Most of the energy used by an electric car (and by a car with combustion engine), is used to move the vehicle itself, not the driver -- the Nissan Leaf is 21 times heavier than its driver. In the case of the eWAW, this relation is reversed: the driver weighs two to three times more than the vehicle.
Fast and Smooth TrafficThe eWAW makes cycling a fast and comfortable option for longer distances. At a cruising speed of 50 km/h (31 mph), the average commute in the USA (19.5 km or 12 miles) would take 23.4 minutes. This compares very favourably with the car, for which the average commute time is 22.8 minutes (source). In the Netherlands, where road traffic is heavy, the electric velomobile is potentially faster than a car. The velomobile could cover the average commute of 22 km (13.7 miles) in 26.4 minutes, while it takes 28 minutes by car (source).
Of course, a cruising speed of 50 km/h does not mean that a velomobilist can reach an average speed of 50 km/h during the whole trip. If cars could maintain their maximum cruising speed during the commute, they would be much faster than velomobiles. In reality, however, they can't do that because of speed limits, traffic lights and traffic jams.
Velomobiles could suffer similar delays, but there is an important difference: because a velomobile occupies much less space than a car (one car needs as much space as four velomobiles), free-flowing traffic is a much more realistic option for velomobiles. The capacity of our roads would at least quadruple if we switched from cars to velomobiles. Furthermore, the cruising speed of a velomobile does not exceed most speed limits.
En Dansk som dagligen kör drygt 5 mil till och från jobbet med sin cykelbil med elmotor