Zap Xebra

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ May 15 2007, 04:54 PM) [snapback]442842[/snapback]</div>

The bouncing is severe enough to be uncomfortable, and requires me to keep all my muscles, especially in my back, tense, to keep from getting severely jarred. My Prius rides smoothly. On the very same roads, the Xebra tosses me all over the place. One day soon Allan will give me a ride in his PK and I'll give him a ride in my SD and we'll compare notes.

Would have done it today, but I'm having severe back pain today. I'm hoping the Xebra is not responsible. I do get back pain occasionally. Sometimes the smallest wrong movement can set it off.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ May 15 2007, 10:58 PM) [snapback]443109[/snapback]</div>

If I have this right, Norm thinks it should have higher but springier springs. That would hold it up off the stops and allow the inertia of the car to hold it steadier as the wheels follow the irregularities of the road.

 

Today Allan and I passed our trike driving tests. The Xebra is classified as a three-wheeled motorcycle, and both the written and driving tests are designed accordingly, with absolutely nothing relevant to actually driving this car. The driving test is a timed obstacle course. Weaving around cones. Swerves. Quick stops. Precision stops (front wheel inside a box painted on the ground).

Totally pointless, but that's government for you. We are both now permitted to carry passengers.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 25 2007, 06:22 PM) [snapback]450147[/snapback]</div>

Thanks Galaxee. I went to an osteopath on Monday and within a few days my back was okay. She confirmed what I suspected: What triggered this back episode was probably reaching over to roll down the passenger-side window. Because of the cramped space, I had twisted my back in a bad way, setting off the problem. The solution is that I have to be very careful how I lean over to reach the passenger-side door. So it was car related, but only indirectly, and my back has gotten better in spite of driving the car every day.

I will also be getting better springs for it, and that should help a lot.

There may be some more pictures, too. Allan and I took pics of each other during the driving test, using his camera, and when he sends them to me I'll post a few. Unless he just posts them here first.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ May 26 2007, 10:31 AM) [snapback]450454[/snapback]</div>

Someone made that exact comment earlier in the thread. Yes. But how else do you deliver a car that has a 40-mile driving range?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ May 25 2007, 10:25 PM) [snapback]450270[/snapback]</div>

Nobody but Darell would install a fake plug on a child's toy car so she can pretend she's driving an electric car, instead of pretending she's driving a gasoline car.

 

On Friday Allan and I took our driving tests in our respective Xebras. I was really lucky that the examiner was so nice: I did not have an appointment for that day, but he gave me the test anyway. We both passed and have our three-wheel motorcycle licenses now. The examiner really liked these cars.

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Two-wheeled motorcycles had to take a test which involved swerving around cones, and stopping quickly. Shifting gears was not required, except insofar as necessary to get up to the required speed for the quick-stop and one of the swerve tests.

Three-wheeled motorcycles had a different swerve course, in recognition of their larger turning radius, plus essentially the same quick-stop test and a very similar fast-swerve test.

Both types had to be able to stop with their front wheel in a box painted on the ground.

We took exactly the same test as the real three-wheel motorcycles. Both Allan and I have larger-than-stock controllers. A stock Xebra might be unable to complete the timed events in the required time, but could still pass the test, since you only lose a few points for going over the time.

I think a real 3-wheel motorcycle should be able to do the test easier than a Xebra, but my getting 100% shows that it can be done.

The examiner said that at one point, one of my wheels lifted 6 inches off the ground. But no points are lost for that. Sean (the Xebra dealer) told me it is impossible to tip a Xebra.

[EDIT:] P.S. The form asked for the engine displacement of the motorcycle. The examiner just put "Electric" for ours. But for my insurance, the agent actually had to do a conversion of motor HP to equivalent displacement.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ May 27 2007, 09:40 PM) [snapback]450892[/snapback]</div>

Okay. What Sean actually told me was that he was so confident that I could not tip it, that if I did (on my test-drive) he would not hold me responsible. It has an extremely low center of gravity, with batteries along a line in front of, but parallel to, the rear axle, and more along a line from there leading forward along the center of the car. It would require a tremendous force to tip it.

On the other hand, I don't know if he changed his mind after hearing that the examiner claims my wheel came off the ground during my test.

The maker of the Tango also told me his car is un-tippable, for the same reason.