ELF is being pitched by its makers, Organic Transit, as a fun and efficient personal electric vehicle powered by you and the sun. On their Kickstarter page, they are also touting it as the cleanest, most efficient vehicle in the world.
The ELF utilizes a mix of pedal power and electric power to move, and can conveniently fit in standard bike lanes. In the video below, founder and CEO Rob Cotter explains that the ELF is a three-wheeled vehicle that can “legally go anywhere a bike goes”. Â It’s designed to fill a niche between a bike and and car for local commuting.
As well as pedals, the ELF has an electric motor powered by an 88.8 volt lithium battery pack. It can carry up to 350 pounds (159 kilos) of cargo so is certainly suitable for getting around the neighborhood with groceries and such like. There is a 60 watt solar panel on the roof to recharge the battery as you go, and you can also plug it in to a standard power outlet when not in use. Â The ELF has a reasonable 30 mile range, and gets 1800 miles for the energy equivalent of 1 gallon of gasoline.
The ELF has a weatherproof shell made from vacuum formed Trylon, with a windshield made from UV resistant polycarbonate, and the frame is made with 45% recycled aluminium.
Organic Transit is based in Durham, North Carolina, and has launched the Kickstarter campaign because the company wants to expand to build ELFs in “downtowns across the globe”.  So far, the campaign has raised over $48,000, with 40 days to go to reach the target $100,000. The base price for buying an ELF is $4,000, by the way.
There seems to be quite a bit of interest in the ELF so far. Could you see yourself or anyone you know wanting to ride in an ELF around your local area?
Hat-tip: @DuncanRiley
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