this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
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Solarpunk technology

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Technology for a Solar-Punk future.

Airships and hydroponic farms...

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7654367

https://vhelio.org/

I personally think it could be a great alternative to cars and bikes for those who need to take a whole family somewhere or a decent amount of stuff.

Only modifications I would make would be ride-by-wire and an extra set of pedals (so you can have two people pedalling without the annoyance of normal tandem bikes having to pedal at the same rate), and a more powerful motor (only 250W is legal in France, where this was designed, whereas 500W is legal here in Canada)

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[โ€“] rekliner 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for some actual info rather than the rest of opinion and commentary here... Also for working to make the world a place.

Frustrating that one of the hurdles is red tape around engine size that needs a quirky solution like multiple motors.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Very frustrating! And we know that the path to change that is ~10 years. In the meantime, we will have to find a way to homologate them as registered vehicles, a process that's not exactly designed for small projects like that but thankfully we have a governmental agency on our side to open some doors. Right now we are mostly using a loophole (and a bit of a gray area) of "self build vehicles" that can be insured but not bought or sold. That's a reason why these are only sold in kit.