this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2025
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Electric Vehicles
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Electric Vehicles are a key part of our tomorrow and how we get there. If we can get all the fossil fuel vehicles off our roads, out of our seas and out of our skies, we'll have a much better environment. This community is where we discuss the various different vehicles and news stories regarding electric transportation.
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Isn't that just an EV?
An EV without safety features.
Safety features can be present if the manufacturer bothers. The only safety feature that's not allowed in that class is large amounts of mass.
Airbags and seatbelts don't add any appreciable mass. A protective cage around the passenger doesn't add much either. Space (to prevent hitting things with your head in an accident) does introduce a mass penalty. Many microcars lack a safe amount of head space which sure annoys me.
Automatic braking (a lidar and some actuators) would not add much. If a vehicle happens to have 4 independent motors, then traction control is a software problem with zero mass. Individual control of brakes would admittedly add mass - separate brake pumps for each wheel.
The frame of an L7e can be made pretty sturdy. Some folks have been asking me if I'm building a tank, but no, it's an L7e - instead of armor, it's covered in greenhouse plastic. :) It's the beams that count, I don't care if anyone punches through the gaps. :)
Tiny picture because I like to keep some privacy.
Yeah, manufacturers can build safety features. But the whole point of building a box around a motor/tri/quadcycle instead of just building a car is that you aren't held to the same safety standards as a normal 4-wheeled vehicle. That makes it cheaper to manufacture and certify, and the only downside is they lose customers in the event of a serious collision.
Admittedly, I'm taking the north American perspective as that's where I live. It's probably sufficiently safe for intracity transportation in most European cities.