Monkey Review: ELF from Organic Transit

You crushed my dreams! #Triggered

I would like one with a 6.5 hp gas engine....but i guess that would defeat the purpose?

BURN!

just get a smart car for that price

A great improvement would be if Organic Transit used a hydrogen fuel cell to greatly increase the range of the ELF Velomobile by over 10 fold or more like up to 250 miles range.Then the range limitations wouldn't be there if they could add that capability.
A hydrogen fuel cell system could also be charged by the Solar Panel too.
However there is a loss of energy efficiency by using a Hydrogen Fuel cell.They can be about 40% efficient at conversion.So the energy efficiency would drop but the vehicles overall range would be drastically improved.The Organic Transit Elf as a low mass highly energy efficient vehicle would be a good match with a small hydrogen fuel cell system and this would be quite an improvement over a lithium battery system.

Take a look at this video as an example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i-XFWxjnfQ

or this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THZ-HReaj8U

The ELF is a step in the right direction though as it offers weather protection,better collision safety than a bicycle (which has none in an accident) and can be used at times of the year a regular bicycle couldn't be practically rode on.

One thing I wish that Organic Transit could do is to make it a kit for do it yourselfers/
those that like to construct something together..

That way the cost could be drastically lowered not having to pay employees for construction though a construction/parts/tools manual would have to be available for it along with possible specialized tools,adhesives etc.Perhaps the kit cost could be nearly half as much as the fully constructed cost.In addition by having a kit/plans available one could purchase parts say individual parts a few at a time, so that one not able to come up with $8,000 for a fully assembled one at once could purchase a few $500 parts at a time and after a few years eventually construct it.Maybe the kit cost could be like $4,000 or so

Like if the naked ELF could be offered as a kit maybe for perhaps $1,750 without the motor (as an example) and one could just obtain the individual parts to put it together.Eventually later they could add the outer plastic mold and polycarbonate windshield.Then they could add the Solar Panel,motor and eventually have a full ELF.
Doing it this way would open it up for far more individuals interested in the ELF as the financing option is not viable for a lot of interested potential customers including me.
Building it a few parts at a time makes it viable for many.

By the way I see that your range estimates are conceivable under bad conditions and carrying an extra person.For instance a 450 watt-hr lithium battery I think can be drained to about 80% so that the amount of power available to it realistically is around
360 watt-hrs.Now if you used all of the 750 watt motors power that would provide less than 30 minutes of power at full throttle.At 12 mph average speed with heavy cargo or extra passenger having to accelerate/decelerate a lot because of city streets/traffic etc that would take you about 6 miles.Now if you had to climb a slope and a 6 mph average speed it would be only 3 miles for 30 minutes .So that's quite possible.Now if you don't have extra cargo or an extra passenger you might only have to use say 375 watts average of that motor's power and range and speed could be quite higher.It could give you close to an hours worth of riding at higher speeds so 12 to maybe around 20 miles could be possible.

Your criticism could be positive mentioning that the plastic outer frame seems to have need for improvement to be strengthened say with an additional aluminum skeleton so that it doesn't seem like a "rickety shopping cart"

As to your scam comment I think that allegation is likely unfounded and too harsh.

I donated to the Kickstarter program for this because I believed it was an excellent idea.
Thanks for your review.I see that the ELF is still a work in progress and no doubt Organic Transit will improve them over time.I am still interested in getting one but with your review I see that a test drive would be mandatory before a possible purchase.
One reason that I am interested in getting one is that I am a Cardiac patient so daily exercise and losing weight is mandatory for me if I want to live a longer life.Health wise too much sedentary activity is a death sentence for me.

Thank you for the honest review.

how many have been sold?

$6000 is too expensive for sale in developing countries... if it's to be mass produced in India or China, cost should be down to less than $2000, by then it will be affordable to most of developing countries.

I really wanted to like the ELF, but it did seem to me (just from viewing video clips) to be kinda flimsy, especially for the price. For that price I can just about buy a new golf cart to use on 35 MPH streets close to home. Not sure if the PEBL is better. I'm now considering the Arcimoto electric trike motorcycle at about 12K. My interests are more practical than for sport

Thank you for your honest review.

Wife and I have been to Durham twice to test ride these. Both times we were underwhelmed. To slow to ride with traffic, to big to ride in bicycle lanes. The body may keep some rain off you, but the open floor allows road spray to get all over you which is actually worst than plain rain. This is the first honest, practical review I have seen on the ELF, thank you.If you can pedal the ELF, you can easily pedal a bicycle. Get a good rain suit, set of panniers and or a trailer and you are set. Rain will not hurt you, your body is designed to get wet.The ELF will not replace a need for a car nor will it replace the practicality of a bicycle.I actually searched and found one of the original buyers who bought one and rode it from Durham back to Boston I believe to ask him how he liked it. His answer was, he sold it because it did not blend well with traffic, it is to big and slow for road use and to big and too fast for bicycle lanes and or sidewalks.It is actually hard to park, too big for bicycle racks and not secure enough to park in a car parking spot. The ELF only weight around 160 pounds a couple of guys could easily pick one up and put it in the back of a pickup truck and drive off.We really wanted to like the ELF, that's why we drove over 600 miles twice to test drive one. They are cute, but just not very practical when compared to a bicycle for commuting or errand running.Once again, thanks for the great video review!

you probably didn't have your brakes adjusted properly they have professionals out there that can do that for you

I once owned an ELF and after 1 year I sold it too, for all the reasons mentioned in this video and more. Where I live the ELF is considered a moped/motorcycle and the company was less than forthright about it's legality in my state. To their credit they now have the disclaimer on their website. Not ready for prime time is an understatement. The company expects the owners to do virtually all the real world testing and their price point for a product that is underpowered, unstable in corners and lacking a real suspension system, is ludicrous. Thanks Blue Monkey for your honest assessment. I wish it wasn't so as I embrace the concept but the ELF is a rip off.

11AH BATTERY my passenger weighed around 135 I weigh about 170 and kid ways 50 i get 20 miles and the 15AH BATTERY i get 30 miles with the same passengers iam not assumeing

i rode 20 miles with two adults and 7 year old kid you lie

you are not honest your a lied about range what els are you lieing about

you totally lied about the range you can get a lot more distance thin that

If you dislike your ELF so.much, give it to me. I'd even pay for shipping back to North Carolina.

First off, clearly the Elf is not for everybody but for some of us, it works extremely well. Got mine a little before Marty got his. Mine doesn’t have the NuVinci gear shifter nor the new suspension and several other upgrades. It rattles; I don’t mind. It’s fun. People wave, people smile when they see you (either that or scratch their heads). I also use it to keep up with my fast dogs. They’re on leash off the side; I can gauge the speed accordingly. We all get exercise.

It seems pricey but compared to other type recumbents/velomobiles, I’d say it’s very reasonable. I, like Donna, am a senior who uses it to get around the small town where I live; and yes, as in your comments, visibility is a huge factor for me.. Like Popeye, I have charged only from the solar panel, and believe I’ve not only saved my auto from damaging wear and tear on a multitude of short start/stop trips but also a fair amount of gas during this 2.5 years (not to mention insurance). You will have to let us know on how well the resale value holds. I suspect you’d get a lot of takers in Utah.

There’s a whole segment of folks out there who can no longer drive due to physical impairments that can drive the Elf and it has given them a whole new realm of freedom and self-reliance.

So each person has to decide what it is desired from the vehicle and how how practical it would work in those circumstances. I expect your review provides one end of the scale and our glowing reports from happier owners, the other.

I'm an ex-ELF owner, and this review is scary accurate. I got it hoping I'd be able to support an american made velomobile company, as I was thinking of going with a BlueVelo. I thought a velomobile would be perfect for me, It'd keep me protected from the elements, It'd be a great car replacement, and It'd allow for me to carry plenty of cargo.

I found pretty quickly it didn't do any of those things well. It did help a bit in the rain, but big puddles would still get me, and If I stopped at a light, it would blow right in the side doors. It didn't replace my bikes, which I had been using prior to getting the ELF, because I couldn't go very far. I was lucky if I went 10 miles on a charge, which is pretty pathetic. The cargo wasn't too bad, and I was able to carry a fair bit, but I found that If I needed to run to the hardware store, i'd just hop on my Cargo Bike, which was suited so much better for whatever cargo I could think of. I have on numerous occasions carried ~60 feet of lumber on my cargo bike, there is no (safe) way to do that in the ELF that I can think of.

The ELF is kind of silly. It weighs a lot, isn't all that stable, and is pretty scary to turn on. I was taking a turn, one that I did every day on my bicycle without issue, and the left wheel lifted off the ground, mind you I was only going about 16 mph, but I had to put my foot down to stop it from flipping and ended up rolling my ankle.

Not everything about the ELF is bad, and if you are in a certain situation, it can work perfectly. I had a commute for some time, that was about 3 miles to, 6 hours of charging, and then another 3-7 miles before the end of the day. It worked pretty well for the most part. On some of the longer days, or when I had the odd extra passenger, it would usually die before I got home. This wouldn't be a problem, as it is pedal powered, but there are some good sized hills on my way home, so my commute, which was normally done at about 17 mph, was now cut down to 6-10 mph, on the flats. I was lucky if I stayed above 4 on the hills. This lead to cancelled plans and basically negated the reason I got it in the first place.

I'd like to see it revised a bit more, but I do believe that it is a great step forward in the consumer HPV market. Sadly, it just isn't consumer ready. I totally love that in the video they said its basically a prototype. That totally describes how I feel about it too!

Monkey Review: ELF from Organic Transit

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