Thoughts about electric quad bikes for 'ruralism'?
Thoughts about electric quad bikes for 'ruralism'?
I'm a country boy all my life. I can't cycle or take the metro anywhere. Walkable cities are great but they're a hundred miles away.
Everyone goes on about how they hate cars, but what else are you supposed to do?
https://electrek.co/2023/12/04/livaq-equad-unveiled-as-most-capable-electric-atv-ever/ – this article talks about something with a 108km/h and a range of 273 km. It's mad expensive unfortunately, but that is normally to do with adoption rates and scale.
(It says "claims a range of 170 miles (273 km) from its 15.4 kWh battery pack", which implies consumption of about 55 watt-hours per km travelled, though that'd be variable depending on speed and conditions)
If I had one of these, I could get to town, get to a train station, without a car. I could carry one child, which is worse than a car, but the energy consumption is a 3-4× lower than a car. If train stations had swappable batteries, that would be ideal, but I don't see that coming any time soon.
Hot take: it's ok for actual rural residents to use sensible trucks and cars.
20Do you need its off-road capability? If not, you could search for tiny electric cars that are sold in your country.
7What is the weather like where you are? It would be brutal to have to use this on a regular basis in cold, rainy, or even very hot weather.
Even a small car would give you so much more capability and you could use it no matter the weather.
Fun toy, but doesn't seem like a car replacement
7This would not be great in the winter, the truth is for rural living personal vehicles (or at least communal vehicles) are going to be required
5Right that's my point, but what kind
3Trucks, vans, etc. something that can handle normal winter roads and haul the people and goods that are needed. Maybe a bus if you’re a hutterite
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Unless you’re looking for the off-road capabilities this doesn’t seem like the most practical way to get around.
For 1-2 passengers and limited cargo electric motorcycles or mopeds are likely the best option.
If you need to regularly carry more passengers or cargo, the more conventional EVs will make sense.
As others have pointed out, the anti-car movement is mainly focused on cities and urban design because using cars as the dominant mode of transit there just doesn’t make sense. But that doesn’t mean they’re bad in every scenario. Living in a remote area without a fast vehicle seems impractical to me, so I would just focus on making sure it’s powered by renewable energy and operated safely.
That said, I would argue that other urbanist ideas like dense town centers might still make sense in rural areas. Unless you’re engaged in agriculture or some other activity that needs acreage, concentrating living space, goods, and services into a smaller area just makes good sense. This is the way all small towns were built throughout the entirety of human history until the last 100 years.
4Why not a cargo bike with electric assist?
4🐢
5Not necessarily but what exactly were you looking for speed-wise?
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Don't worry about the charge if this has an standard plug. My car loads 55 kW in little more than 100 minutes. And the last 20% needs something like half an hour.
Edit: too expensive. My car (MG 4 standard) costed me less than 30K€ and has a range of 400 km.
2How about something like aliexpress.com/item/1005007010043560.html
1Only 55km
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It all depends on local conditions.
- The "last mile" loop will be different in Europe, in Africa, North America or Australia. It shapes your need for speed and range, as well as required safety (how long will it take to get assistance in case of need).
- In rural applications you rarely need strictly personal transport. On average it is a 2-5 people and some cargo, with occasional trailer.
- Serviceability is an important factor.
For Eastern Europe, where I live, I would recommend a slow (~45km/h) pickup (2 + 1000kg) - the one pictured below. For extended range you can add a PV canopy and even a small gas-powered genset for emergencies.
1Seconding this - if I ever move back home I'll be looking for some kind of little electric kei truck for hauling trash and supplies. Most of my driving when I lived there was under 50mph and over fairly short distances.
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It would be nice if it looked less EXTREME
1Maybe add a pink bow.
2