Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
I've got the review of the Xebra PK in place now:
Enjoy, and have fun looking at the pretty pictures. In particular, I'm fond of the picture with me standing next to the thing. It's miniscule.
Posted at 18:02 permanent link category: /gadgets
I went in to the Green Car Company today, and ended up test-driving three different cars.
The first was the ZAP! Xebra PK, my primary motivation for going there. First impression? Tiny! That truck, despite what it looks like in every picture I've come across, only comes up to my chest. It's miniscule.
That tininess extends to the cabin. I could just fit in, with the seat rammed all the way back, and even then my shoulder and hair were brushing the walls. The pedals are weirdly offset, with the gas pedal about were you'd expect a brake pedal to be in relation to the seat, and the big brake pedal shoved hard to the left wall. It definitely encourages "two-foot" driving despite the automatic nature of the beast.
In a quick (~1 mile) test drive, I got to accelerate on the flat, round a few corners, and try going up a moderate grade. Acceleration on the flat is fine, a bit less than what you'd expect from a truly basic economy car. Corners were non-events, apparently due to the positioning of the batteries below the truck bed. No noticeable body roll, but I wasn't pushing anything. Acceleration up the grade was pretty lame. It hit an indicated 18 MPH, and stayed there until the hill flattened out. This was with myself (about 220 lbs) and the salesman (maybe 180-220 lbs) in the cab, and nothing in the bed.
Part of our circuit took us over some speed bumps, and the steepest bump there caused some hard part at the front of the vehicle to touch down with a bonk. I would guess it was the lower suspension mount, but I didn't take a close look under the nose of the thing. The sedan model did the same thing (even being very gentle over the bump), so I assume it's typical of the design rather than particular to that unit.
The salesman, who I can now only think of as Smilin' Jim (his name is Jim something, but he was definitely a salesman, and not a granola-eatin' hippie) said the Xebras currently come with 300A controllers, but that they were looking into replacing them with 450A controllers. That would definitely help with acceleration, and with getting up hills, but it could seriously impact range if you've got a heavy foot.
He said that as equipped, the Xebras don't have regenerative braking, but that with a new controller, they could have regen. I don't know if this is true, and he admitted to me that he wasn't super savvy about the tech side of things. It'd be worth more investigation. He also said that the top speed (40 MPH, more or less) was controlled by a governor, but said that he didn't know where the governor was. If it's not in the motor controller, I'd be very surprised. It probably doesn't make a lot of sense to get rid of the governor, though, as going faster would seriously compromise range.
The Xebra sedan was about the same experience as the truck, but the seating was more comfortable. Since there wasn't a vertical wall right behind the driver's seat, it could be scooted much further back, and there wasn't a curved-in section to hit my shoulder. If I were looking at one of these as a single-person transport, I'd pick the sedan (it's also cheaper). The biggest problem I had with the sedan was that the parking brake was situated on the left, next to the door, and was nearly impossible to reach.
Smilin' Jim looked over at me at one point, and said (shortly after I'd described my sidecar rig to him), "You know, one downside of this is that you'll have to get a motorcycle license." I looked at him like he was crazy, since he'd commented on the fact that I rode a motorcycle in to the shop when I walked in, and we had just been discussing the way I don't have any cars. He had to understand that I already had a license.
"I have a motorcycle license," I said.
"But I mean a class 3 motorcycle license," he said knowingly. He's plainly caught motorcycle people out with this before. I just looked at him like he was crazy again, and said, "I have a three-wheeler license, if that's what you mean." He had a little head-slap moment and said, "Oh, of course! The sidecar..." Ah, Jim.
Finally, I drove a SMART car, which was a blast. Very much more refined than the Xebras, I could easily see getting a SMART as an all-round car, if I were rich and very specifically wanted a highly-efficient two-seater. At $25k for the basic model, and $30k for the convertible, they're beyond what I want. Way cooler than a Toyota Echo, but of course nearly double the price.
The SMART accelerates very well, and Smilin' Jim said they get 40-50 MPG in-city, and 60ish on the freeway. That's pretty damned good, for a boxy little car with a 700cc motor. (It doesn't sound big, but my 250cc motorcycle has trouble topping 50 MPG in-city, and gets 60ish in real-world freeway driving.) The SMART also has ABS and airbags, so it's actually got a lot going for it when compared to a motorcycle. Of course, it's not actually a motorcycle, so it's a bit of a ridiculous comparison.
Anyway, after I was all done, I asked if I could test-drive the Meyers whatever-they-call it (nee Corbin Sparrow), and Smilin' Jim lost a bit of the smile (but not too much) and said, "I'm sorry, but it's not licensed for single-driver right now." I gave him the "huh?" look, and he explained, "Because I can't go with you," as if that cleared it all up. "Oh, ok," I said, since the answer was obviously "No. Go 'way kid, you bother me," no matter how I might have tried phrasing it. (I noticed on the way out that the Xebra PK we'd taken out had no license plate whatsoever, so Smilin' Jim obviously wasn't too worried about legality.) No worries, he'd been very accomodating. I know I'm not going to get a Corbin Sparrow, although they're very cool, and I'm glad to see that another company picked them up.
So, bottom line, I liked the Zap! cars. I'm going to write up a more formal review which will appear on my main page sooner or later, with pictures. I'm only going to review the truck model, with perhaps a smattering of comparisons with the sedan model.
Posted at 15:30 permanent link category: /gadgets
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater