Electric recumbent bikes are 80 more efficient than EV (2018)
These EV recumbents are too low to be safe in traffic, but at least they are trikes and so a bit more stable than two wheeled recumbents. There are a couple of them riding around here where I live and while fast they are a huge nuisance on the bike paths because they&#x27;re faster than everybody else and the people riding them believe that the rest of the population on the bike path are &#x27;moving obstacles&#x27; that they <i>have</i> to overtake, even if it isn&#x27;t possible (in that sense they are quite similar to the packs of racing bikes that always appear in the summer).<p>Normal recumbents are also bloody dangerous. I&#x27;m a pretty experienced cyclist, have taken many experimental bikes out for a spin. Finally, a recumbent got me, a simple traffic obstacle took the front wheel off the ground and that was that. Ambulance ride, complex double fracture and a 7 hour operation later I can walk so I got very lucky. This was 6 years ago. There isn&#x27;t a day that I think &#x27;why did I have to try that particular bike, it felt dangerous from the first moment&#x27;. Recumbents are not stable like normal bikes are. Anything goes wrong, you fall, there is no recovery. If the circumstances are bad enough that will do you in, if you&#x27;re lucky, like me, you end up with a daily reminder. Don&#x27;t ride recumbents in traffic, even if it feels like a great idea, they&#x27;re fast as can be and you have next to no wind resistance. The failure modes are inherent in the way the bike works and there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it (leg suck, balancing by steering) and they&#x27;re invisible from inside a car.<p>Another problem with these is that they have a bad turning radius and don&#x27;t mix well with other traffic on a bike path because of their width.<p>Regular e-bikes are <i>also</i> 80% (or even more) efficient than electric cars and don&#x27;t have the disadvantages.