Half Ebike / Half Car? Velometro Mobility

[Timpo]

It was featured on Dragon's Den (Canadian Shark Tank).

Legal on bike lanes
20mph top speed
It's an ebike, you need to pedal

I think it's a good idea for rain / cold days.

https://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/pitches/velometro-mobility

 

[Alex M]

They come from time to time. Court reviewed one or two: https://electricbikereview.com/virtue-cycles/pedalist/.
You can't really pedal this contraption, consider it more like moving/maneuvering around your backyard or parking lot.

 

[PaD]

Link in first post didn’t work for me.
Here is another link
https://www.velometro.com/
The video seems to indicate women as target audience

 

[Alex M]

A few thoughts.

Legal in bike lanes... yes, technically. Unfortunately, wide 2-way bike lanes like those in one photo of downtown Vancouver are not common. Most other bike lanes in this city are narrow and 2-wheel cyclists wouldn't want these machines there.

So far this is planned as a local share-ride service only - not for individual sale. I "think" Class 2 are allowed in bike lanes in this city, though it is not clear whether this is Class 1 or 2. There are no specs of any kind on their website.

Again, if you will have to pedal this machine without power, you better call a tow-truck.

 

[bob armani]

I like the concept, however, the overall width does not look well suited for a typical bike lane. Not sure really where to make it legal to ride in any biking infrastructure.

 

[tegnamo]

I forget...did this concept of an enclosed 3-wheel cycle originate from the UK or something? Because there they have lots of bridal paths and small country roads and it seems like that sort of "extra large bike path" would be great for this. But yeah regular bike paths are kind of a crap shoot. You'd have to suss out your daily routes and see if the vehicle could make sense of it all. If so...then sure, a perfect solution I bet.

 

[Alex M]

Don't know where the concept has originated, but this particular company is from Vancouver, BC, Canada. They mentioned something about targeting local university campus - UBC, a big and TAD isolated area where traffic is light and bus routes are scarce, though situation with bike lanes is not too bad. I would not want to get stuck with this box anywhere in Vancouver downtown and adjacent areas.

 

[bob armani]

Looks like it could serve its purpose in appropriate areas where traffic congestion is at a minimum most of the time.