Instruction manual. Thanks to Berto Aussems.
Cargo Cycles Database
Yes, it’s written in German. But nowhere else will you find such a complete database showing and describing all cargo cycles available on the market today.
Moreover, the information is easy to navigate and you can consult the specifications of the vehicles without even a basic knowledge of foreign languages. The description of most models also includes a link to the website of the manufacturer. Check out the Nutzrad Cargo Cycle Database.
Read more:
Cargo cyclists replace trucks drivers on European city streets.
Siemens Rediscovers The Trolleytruck
In Los Angeles, at the Electric Vehicle Symposium, German engineering company Siemens announced that it is conducting pilot projects using trolleytrucks:
“The eHighway concept is the electrification of trucks and select highway lanes via overhead electrified wires similar to how modern day trolleys or streetcars are powered on many city streets.”
Trolleybuses and trolleytrucks offer sustainable electric transportation for a bargain. Trolleylines are relatively cheap to build and can be very easily integrated into existing highways and infrastructures. Furthermore, the vehicles do not require large batteries, which means that trolleybuses and trolleytrucks do not have the disadvantages of electric cars. Trolleybuses are still around in many countries, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, but trolleytrucks have become very rare.
Siemens uses hybrid diesel electric freight trucks with built-in technology and software to connect to overhead electrified wires. “The trucks are designed to use both electricity and diesel power and will automatically switch to electric mode when they detect and attach to the overhead lines.
Once the truck leaves the lines, it switches back to diesel. As the technology becomes more widely adopted, the company believes every truck equipped with an electric drive system will be able to use the eHighway regardless if it’s a diesel electric, pure battery, fuel cell range extended or CNG combustion engine vehicle.”
Previously: “Get wired (again): trolleybusses and trolleytrucks“.
Hat tip to Stefan van der Fange.
Dog Sulkies: Pet Powered Mobility
Dog owners looking for a more sustainable means of personal transportation should not look any further: the dog sulky is the answer. Dog powered vehicles have been used for the transport of goods and passengers in some European countries during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Compared to those vehicles, the modern dogcarts offered by ChaloSulky promise to deliver a much smoother ride. The carts benefit greatly from the use of bicycle wheels, suspension and brakes. Moreover, the dogs are not confined between two shafts. Instead, only one shaft goes over the animals’ back, making the vehicle lighter and giving the dogs more freedom of movement.
Pack Goats
“Goats can be excellent pack animals. A good pack goat will carry at least twenty-five percent of his body weight (a two-hundred-pound wether will pack about fifty pounds), will follow you like a dog, will feed himself along the trail and around camp, and will be a pleasure to have around. Goats have been used as a beast of burden in Europe and Asia for thousands of years.”
Read more: 1 (quote) / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5.
Picture found at American Goat.
Related: Pack camels / Pack horses.