this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
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micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility

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Ebikes, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, longboards, eboards, motorcycles, skates, unicycles: Whatever floats your goat, this is all things micromobility!

"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.

micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"

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Back in 2016 we told you about the PEBL, a pedal-electric velomobile that combined some of the best attributes of a bicycle and a car. Well, it now has a cushier, spiffier, more streamlined successor, in the form of the PEBL 2.0.

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[–] litchralee@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I'm always rooting for velomobiles, though I feel like 91 kg is a bit too heavy for what this is. Supposing we start with a cargo ebike for comparison, a RadWagon 5 weighs in at 39 kg and has a comparable battery capacity, motor, and payload rating. This velomobile will likely have a sturdier recumbent frame than the upright cargo bike frame, and of course it has the fiberglass fairing.

But a difference of ~50 kg seems just too much. 20 kg would be plausible for a fairing, and maybe add another 10 kg for all the drivetrain component changes, like a more-complicated steering assembly and that third wheel. But where is that last 20 kg?

And I don't think the question is irrelevant, as one online reference indicates that existing velomobiles fall in between 20-30 kg. So this 91 kg behemoth -- even considering its cargo capabilities -- is very much the odd-one-out. The remaining weight difference is akin to carrying a second velomobile onboard the first one.

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This is really interesting, but I'm not quite sure where you'd use it. Is it safe to be used on multi-use trails? I could see this struggling to navigate some of our protected bike lanes here.

I like the idea a lot, but I suspect you'd need a lot more green ways and healthy roads before it could be better used in NA.

[–] Grass@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

it would probably be fine anywhere you could take a recumbent trike, but that would rule out my commute where there are two stupid blockages a road bike can barely fit through.

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io 2 points 2 days ago

That's kind of the general problem with velomobiles.

[–] thoralf@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago

The prices are still mind boggling.

[–] griff@lemmings.world 3 points 2 days ago

kind of a mini-Aptera?