Automakers must build cheaper, smaller EVs to spur adoption, report says

boem@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 700 points –
Automakers must build cheaper, smaller EVs to spur adoption, report says
arstechnica.com
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That's fine for people who live in cities (which I acknowledge is a lot of people), but for people who live in smaller more remote and more rural places, it will never be possible to fullly be free of personal vehicles.

Electric bike solves a lot of those issues, but you are correct.

I want to ride a bike really bad, but cars have killed more cyclists in my city year over year my entire life.

It's just simply terrifying out there when a douche in an Escalade is in a hurry.

You could just get a small EV like a Citroën Ami but having more than two wheels on a vehicle does make you an eco-terrorist according to Lemmy.

We hardly have any small EVs in the US. I'm keen on the mini that's coming out next year, but 40k is a big ask for a short commute.

I guess it's busloads of tweakers for me for a while.

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I stopped riding my motorcycle because of idiots in cars. No way in hell am I taking an electric bicycle to get groceries

If electric bikes were the only thing allowed on back roads, it would work great.

Edit: yeah, it would involve extreme changes to bike design so that they could carry more things, and there is always a need for a tractor, a semi hauling things, and moving vans.

I suppose for rural cycling to work safely, it would need a network of separate paths, plus some bike lanes attached to the roads in strategic places.

If electric bikes were the only thing allowed on back roads, you'd never be able to make enough grocery/dump/Tractor Supply runs to have time for anything else in your life.

I don't think you understand what rural means. There were people who had to travel 1 hr+ by car to get to the local grocery store where I came from. An ebike isn't appropriate for places where you may need to travel 60+ miles, and/or in snow or bad conditions that might persist for weeks, and/or in ungodly hot / humid conditions that also persist for weeks. All three of those are true for decent swaths of the year in my area.

I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. Electric bikes are a great solution for those that don't need to haul much or go far. Weather permitting of course. I sold my ICE sedan about a year ago and don't miss it.

Personally I have the grace of Jar Jar Binks. My last few forays on a bike, when I was younger and less frail, were disastrous. Proponents of E-bikes must be very young and fit, I guess? Because all of us older, disabled, or just plain clutzy people need four wheels and walls of metal between us and the world.

Having said that, I wouldn't mind having a glorified golf cart to run around town. Seal me in from the weather and give me AC and Bluetooth, that's all I ask.

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