Periodic reminder that space flight is cool, alt-right billionaires are not. You can get to space without fashy billionaires.
The same Tesla fans who are completely shocked that BYD sells more cars, will also be surprised to know that China has its own space station, and is ahead of the US in the race to a manned mission to Mars.
I was not aware, that the US basically ban smaller than car vehicles like #PersonalLightVehicle . That of course is not good.
In Europe, we have multiple vehicles classes that allow such vehicles to be on the "road". But I have to dissappoint you... they sell quite poorly which isnt very surprising, because they are almost as expensive as a small regular car, have very little in comfort and safety and at least when combustion engine powered, dont even consume particular less fuel.
Some Quad Bikes saw some popularity a decade ago or so, but they were primary used a joy ride, not really as an car alternative.
As I have mentioned elsewhere, the moment you want 4 wheels - and you really want to from a driving dynamics and safety standpoint - things quickly get expensive and since you probably also want some weather protection (or why not use a bike?), price further increases.
Something I notice about most of these "flying car" concepts: I have seen a few different setups but most of the roadworthy ones rely on some kind of wing setup, either a spar wing which goes back to Otto Lillienthal in the 1890s, or a gyroplane setup which goes back to de la Cierva in the 1920s.
Never once have I seen lifting body suggested.
This is a Martin X-24. It was an experimental lifting body design. And as you can see, its overall shape is a little more like a car or a boat.
@threetails personally, I'd rather want to build a more sleek and efficient car that takes design lessions from fighter jets and uses some cool non-distorting canopy instead of windows...
Admit it: People only buy cars because they need them as tools or because they like the one they chose...
Maybe do some fancy Methanol Fuelcell thingy and make it go swoosh!
@threetails there's a reason why I'd not even bother to build something that would be "legally classified as car" (as per EC Vehicle Class M1) because there is so much expensive bloat mandated per law that just makes it impossible to build a #car that could be sold with taxes and fees for <€10k.
#RadRide at auction today! We're following right along with The Drive's #JDM week here at Tiki Bunny, keeping it going with this 99 Daihatsu Midjet II! Though less modified than the one James drove, it's nonetheless resprayed in a lovely blue and features a van back to keep all your goods safe and dry. The windows on the side and tailgate open upwards, so it's the perfect truck to set up a shop display in when you're at a festival! Who needs a booth? DM for interest or to bid!
Also ich fahre ja generell nicht oft Auto und habe auch keines, daher hatte ich erst gestern meine erste Begegnung mit einem #Elektroauto / #BEV - und jetzt frage ich mich wirklich, wer nach einer Fahrt mit so was jemals wieder zurück will zum träge-unelastischen #Verbrennstinklärmer?
Gerade habe ich meinen Wagen zur Inspektion gebracht und einen Leihwagen in Empfang genommen. Ich fahre aus Prinzip eher kleine Wagen (Golf Klasse).
Was stellt mir Volkswagen hin? Einen Benziner T-Roc Automatik.
Auf meine Frage, warum es nicht wenigsten ein moderner Antrieb sein kann? "Wir wollen die Autos wieder aufgetankt zurück erhalten. Das ist mit einen E-Auto nicht so leicht möglich".
Chance vertan mich und Andere von einen E-Auto zu überzeugen.
#Methanol lässt sich regenerativ herstellen und das auch skalierar - hinzu kommt dass hier die Vorteile existierender Distributionsnetze und damit Skalierungseffekte einhergehen...
In #Berlin und #Brandenburg fährt der Prignitz-Express jetzt mit Biokraftstoff statt mit Diesel. Eine tolle Sache! Unser Landesvorsitzender war in Neuruppin mit dabei, als das Konzept vorgestellt wurde.
@hllizi no, seriously, #ElonMusk really is a kindergartener that never got forced to learn to first take a minute to think "why hasn't anyone else done that yet?"
Like one may scoff and laugh at my ideas loudly - may it be the #NUCbook or #PersonalLightVehicle but most people at the age of like 7 develop some sense of "groundedness" in what's realistic and what's bullshit.
I guess #ApartheidEmeraldBoy never had to learn that shit and now noone holds him accountable.
How long will USB-C be the most common & standard connector for consumer electronics? (there can be updates to voltage and protocols, but it must be backwards compatible to what we have now)
Personally I want the counter-development to the #SuperUselessVehicle|s in the form of #PersonalLightVehicle|s that are sleek and efficient in space and resource useage.
Das erfolgreichste und hartnäckigste Meme des Industriezeitalters ist die Erzählung, man brauche stets eine zwei Tonnen schwere Stahlmaschine mit irgendeinem Antrieb, um 80 Kilogramm Mensch von A nach B zu bewegen. Erst wenn dieses Quatsch-Konzept auf der Liste "Bizarre Meme, die unter unseren Vorfahren kursierten" gelandet ist, können wir ernsthaft eine Verkehrswende angehen.
1887 hatte Deutschland 456 Produktionsstätten für Fahrräder.
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So viele brauchen wir wieder
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Gegen #Deindustrualisierung und Energievergeudung, für die Fahrradwirtschaft: die #Radkolumne
Decarbonising road transport - Lighter vehicles make a big difference
"Currently, a large diesel SUV typically emits a kilogram of CO₂ for every 3 kilometres of driving, compared to 15km for a light electric vehicle and 200 kilometres for an e-bike. An average electric vehicle currently emits 1kg of CO₂ every 7km."
"Australia is on track to miss the net-zero target for 2050 mainly because of the large proportions of fossil-fuelled vehicles and large and heavy passenger vehicles."
Besides encouraging to walk, bike or use #PublicTransport, we need a counter-movement to the masses of #SuperUselessVehicles that clog up streets and are obscenely inefficient in terms of space and utilization.