Netherlands Safari

It was a brisk but sunny winter's day. I was bicycling just North of the city of Amsterdam on my way to an Ajax football game, that's Dutch for quality soccer. Cars were zipping along the highway safely to my right separated from the smoothly paved bicycle and moped path by a few meters of grass and a railing. Sheep grazed in the grassland to my left. Unexpectedly, a shimmering red dot appeared on the horizon in line with the bicycle path. My eyes were adjusting to the distance as the dot approached at an impressive pace. I couldn't believe my luck. It was a real live Sunrider in its natural habitat eating up kilometers with the utmost efficiency. The Sunrider is a highly evolved species of pedal powered transporters indigenous to the Netherlands. It combines battery electric assist with human muscle to achieve speeds of up to 50 kph for at least 50 km. At 15 Wh/km when cruising the Sunrider sips energy at the rate of over 1000 miles per gallon. Later in the day, after my friend and I snuck into the game at halftime and enjoyed some invite only hors d'oeuvres in the business lounge, I spotted another Dutch native, a wind turbine swinging its arms in the sunset winds. The Wind Turbine is not as rare as the Sunrider but enjoys a symbiotic partnership with its more exotic friend by harvesting electrical energy from the wind for the Sunrider's batteries. In return, the Sunrider's passengers keep the Wind Turbine well oiled and plant new ones. It was really nice to get the chance to witness two beautiful native species coexisting happily in the Dutch ecosystem.

The next day I visited the small warehouse in the nearby industrial center where the Sunriders are assembled. This vehicle has been in development for a good ten years now and is easily the most efficient commercially available enclosed electric vehicle, a true work of art. It boasts a carbon monocoque frame with simple steering and suspension systems mostly engineered from scratch. The electric drive is from the same Chinese company I used for my trike project, Crystalite, and peaks at 1.2 kW. I got to drive/ride one myself and found it to be a bit touchy in the steering control but otherwise awesome and sexy. It was a bit like flying a small plane but on the ground. For comparisons sake, the PET feels more powerful but it also uses more energy. They cost about 5k euro fully equipped and there is a waiting list as production is slow. Apparently it is difficult to find investors to sponsor medium scale production facilities for this cool lookin' animal, even in Holland.