Modern Vespa

Can I fill my evil petrol guzzling car with old batteries, charge it up for free, power my home with it?

Well, actually... the Smart Grid scenarious include 2-way network connected electric vehicles, as a way to smoothen electricity demand-supply peaks

That would be just great, you go to drive somewhere and you battery is low because the grid needed the power.

I just ordered myself one of those electric unicycle things. You put your feet either side of the wheel and (hopefully) move forward or back. The one I ordered wasn't expensive because there's a fair chance I might be incapable of riding the damn thing. The high end ones have a range of 50 miles and can reach 30mph which makes them fairly useful in cities etc. Legally, I think they're in a bit of a grI'll admit I was a bit surprised by what they could do but I suspect you'd have to be young and a bit stupid to try 30mph on a unicycle but hey ho. Now I just have to wait 40 days for the thing to arrive from China

I've been watching them one after the other. Then there's all the comparison videos. By the time it arrives I'll be an expert! As an older guy I'll probably end up breaking a few ribs but hey ho. I can see they might be an entertaining way of getting round my neighbourhood - I'm often making trips that are under a few miles so I'm hoping this will be a fun (and green) way of getting about. I'll admit my electric bike was a bit of a disappointment, both the battery and the frame broke, but I've seen loads of videos where these things go crashing down the hill side and yet they seem to still work ok. Fingers crossed.

I went for the Inmotion V5f because it wasn't fast, it didn't weigh a tonne and perhaps because I found it for £330. I was initially trying to buy a 2nd hand one but even beaten up ones cost more than this. The Vf5 isn't new but the owners reviews I read all seemed quite glowing. There are models that cost 2K but I'd be in tears if I dropped one and, when you're learning, you drop them a lot.

I suspect I'll be wearing my gear for quite some time. I even have some wrist guards on order from Amazon.

I'll admit I've been watching these things go wooshing down the roads and paths in London for some time. I've owned an electric bike but they weren't that much different to a normal bike. I've seen a few electric skate boards zoom past on the roads and, while they look amazingly fast, I'm not quite ready to die just yet. The one wheel boards look great and seem quite easy to ride but they're a bit of a pain to carry around a shop or coffee house. They also cost a small fortune and aren't appearing yet on the 2nd hand market. The electric unicycle wheels just look like the future each time I see them so it was just a matter of time till I got one.

If you're not familiar with the things then:

Seriously, I think I'm a bit scared of trying one out, but they do look tempting.
Will be genuily interesting to read your experiences...be carefull!

be sure to check out the OneWheel too.

https://onewheel.com/

so fun to ride,

some people are commuting on them, and they are offroad capable. Built solid, made in the USA, very high quality.

I had a go on one this afternoon. In all honesty it's fairly tricky to ride as you need to fully trust the wheel before putting both feet on board and start leaning forwards. It took me about an hour to go 10 feet! About 20 minutes later I could go the length of a football field but was rudely stopped by a tree (I hadn't learnt to turn yet). After another hour I could ride shakily around a tennis court. I think after another hour I would of looked fairly confident on the thing but my legs felt like jelly and I didn't think it was a good idea to continue. I'm now hiding the support bandage I've had to put on my knee in case the wife gets the idea that it's dangerous. It was a laugh though and I can easily see how I can use it once I'm a more confident rider. Trips to the shops, to friends or coffee houses will soon all likely be by electric unicycle. The only slight fly in the ointment is that they're slightly illegal in the UK but hopefully that will change with time. I think the onewheel is slightly easier to ride but both the range and the speed are quite limited. Range for the XR version is 18 miles (28km) with a top speed of about 18mph (28kmh) while many electric unicycles will cruise at just under 30mph (48kmh) and have a range of over 40 miles (70km). Another issue with having a smaller battery on the onewheel is that it can get overwhelmed by potholes or bumps when you're travelling over 10 mph. The hassle with that is that you get dumped on the road. That's not to say that electric unicycles won't dump you in the same way but it takes a certain type of personality to ride at over 30mph on a unicycle with all the warnings turned off. A more practical issue is what to do with the onewheel when you get to where you're going. If you're not riding it then you have to carry it and it weighs 12kg. The nice thing about these electric unicycles is most have a handle that allows you to easily wheel it around - it just looks like a piece of luggage but no effort is required to move it as all the effort is done by the wheel.

Obviously you can take all that with a pinch of salt because I only have 2 hours experience riding electric unicycles and none on the one wheel.

Hey how about those folks in California that got their power shut off to avoid a wildfire? I saw that one article mentioned 2 million folks. Suck to have your power cut off and no way to charge your e-car or e-bike.

http://www.ansa.it/canale_ambiente/notizie/postit/Snam/2019/10/10/snam-lancia-lidrogeno-per-unitalia-green-e-leader_fa92c2ad-e1e3-45d8-8266-ba1fc3be1df7.html

"Snam, the Italian company that manages the gas network, launches, even more convinced, into the challenge to make hydrogen energy of the future. By the end of the year, the numbers of experimentation that mixes 10% natural gas and hydrogen from the initial 5% will double. And it does so by choosing the South: the transmission network of Contursi Terme (Salerno). The news was announced at the "The hydrogen challenge" event. The initiative was also attended by the President of the Council, Giuseppe Conte. "We need to launch concrete and rapid action in Italy to achieve the same results with hydrogen as we did with wind power, thus recovering the gap that separates us from some Northern European countries," the prime minister said. And he added: "Italy has the human reserves and the technological competences to win, in a short time, this challenge". On the other hand, pointed out Conte, the Peninsula "expresses realities of absolute importance on an international level, such as Snam, which have been able to anticipate the times and anticipate trends". Hydrogen is not only synonymous with clean energy and development, for Italy it can be even more: a lever for relaunching the South. "It is precisely the regions of Southern Italy, from Campania to Puglia to Sicily, rich in renewable energy, those that could favor the emergence of hydrogen", with positive repercussions on growth and employment, said the CEO of Snam, Marco Alverà. A "precious" element that therefore must be valued: just think that "a kg of hydrogen heats a family for two days, makes a car walk for 130 km, produces 9 tons of steel", explained the president of Snam, Luca Dal Fabbro. The potential of hydrogen is now recognized internationally. "He is a very good friend, who will allow us to find solutions to the main challenges posed by climate change," remarked the director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol, who urged governments to "work to eliminate obstacles" . The conference was also attended by the Minister of Economic Development, Stefano Patuanelli, who said in this regard that "a pact with companies is necessary", even if not written but "linked to the recognition of their role in the country". Patuanelli said he was confident about "the possibility of grasping the potential of the challenges and opportunities offered by this transition". The Snam-McKinsey study makes the figures: "in Italy hydrogen could cover almost a quarter of the total energy demand in 2050 in a scenario of 95% decarbonisation ". In this wake Snam signed two agreements on sustainable energy and innovation. The first is a memorandum of understanding with the Israel Innovation Authority aimed at fostering collaboration between Snam and Israeli companies, in particular start-ups, in innovative technologies at the service of the green economy The second is a Snam-CNR framework agreement aimed at planning and analyst common standards for the development of hydrogen and, in general, of renewable gases and sustainable modes. The collaboration, in particular, provides for the launch of a joint working group to evaluate compatibility studies of increasing amounts of hydrogen in gas and mobility infrastructures, analysis of carbon dioxide capture, transport and storage processes, new studies technologies in the biomethane sector and in general of low-carbon gas. Among Snam's projects there is also the "plastic less" program to eliminate plastic from packaging by 2023 and from 2020 delete it, in the single-use version, from beverage distributors in all national offices. The group has also created an Observatory dedicated to the analysis of ESG factors (environmental, social and governance)."

There are also alternatives to electric traction, in the US i do not know but we have been going to LPG and CNG for many years ... they are cheap and pollute little.

So Harley figured out no one wanted to pay $30k+ for a bike that would only go 75 miles and didn't make a lot of noise. Shocking.

So Harley figured out no one wanted to pay $30k+ for a bike that would only go 75 miles and didn't make a lot of noise. Shocking.

Here's a thought. Battery technology advances far more than engine technology so maybe we're all waiting for it to plateau a bit before we commit ?

Is the Harley priced there because it's what the manufacturer thinks that the customer will pay or does it reflect just how much Harley Davidson have invested into this project ?

As soon as the range of an EV scoot allows me to do the Three Peaks Challenge at full tilt (just under 300 miles for me) then I'll jump on one.