How do You Feel About Elves?

[Loadrunner]

Walking past the local bike shop a little while back I saw a vehicle parked on the sidewalk outside the store called an ELF. It was a single passenger, pedal-powered, electric motor assisted car/bike. More accurately, it was a trike with two wheels up front and one in the rear. It had a rechargeable battery with a solar panel on the roof that could recharge the battery with 7 hours of sunlight; it can also be plugged in to a 110 outlet and recharge in 1.5 hours. Because it's pedal powered it doesn't have to be licensed nor do you need auto insurance to operate it on the road. It made me curious so I looked on-line and behold, there is a whole industry of small, pedal power and or electric vehicles slowly coming to market. The price of an ELF was a whopping $5500.

I have to say given the right circumstances I would consider one of these. If I lived in an area that was sufficiently flat and I had a commute where the 15 mph top speed wouldn't get me killed everyday I would consider it. I would save about $1000 per year in fuel cost alone in my current situation not to mention 4000 miles of wear and tear on the Pacifica.

[dakman1]

I have never heard of them before. However $5500 is way more than I would pay for something like that.

[Mopars&Missiles]

So, your return on investment would take 6 years to pay for the ELF. Not including the cost of any electrical power you used for charging during those 6 years. Plus, you're not getting anywhere fast for 6 years at 15 mph. That may work for you, but I think I'll pass on it.