[Rick_Rude]

I got passed by an arsehole in a Tesla doing about 100+ on a B road yesterday and I could tell he was coming and braced myself because of the sheer tyre noise he was making. 

Speeding aside I’m finding these things more disconcerting in urban/low speed situations as at lower speeds without the tyre noise, you can’t heard the bastards and suddenly there’s a twat close passing you. 

The other day I was going through a quiet village and moved out around a pothole without looking over my shoulder as I couldn’t hear anything. Mistake. Bloody BMW thing was trying to overtake me closely and I almost got collected. 

Give me a 5l V8 behind me any day. 

Topic

[hawkinspeter]

Awavey wrote:

Id not be surprised, albeit based on my admittedly poor sample size, but the demographic of people I see on electric scooters are almost exclusively those who arent legally old enough to drive anyway, or those who most likely cant afford to own a car.

Are you sure it isn’t that you’re so old that everyone else looks young?

[Awavey]

Amazon have started using

Amazon have started using electric vans, and I encountered a DPD mini electric car/golf buggy out delivering parcels the other day,whilst utility companies are slowly swapping their fleets over,  and so electric vans are only likely to increase in number, scarily able to accelerate much more quickly than their ICE equivalents given their size, and virtually completely inaudible in most urban road situations.

its not just Teslas or other electric cars weve got to worry about on this point.

[Awavey]

Id not be surprised, albeit

Id not be surprised, albeit based on my admittedly poor sample size, but the demographic of people I see on electric scooters are almost exclusively those who arent legally old enough to drive anyway, or those who most likely cant afford to own a car.

[Hirsute]

I read there was some sort of

I read there was some sort of tax break thing so if you could get a company car, they were one of the cheaper options  (depending on you tax and pay circumstances).

[Hirsute]

They are only really quiet at

They are only really quiet at low speed, after that the tyre noise is the biggest thing.

I find that if it is windy, then it is harder to hear and if you have a helmet it is harder too, so even if they are full petrol/diesel they can still sneak up on you.

[HoarseMann]

The newer ones are now being

The newer ones are now being fitted with a noise emitter to give an audible warning at low speeds. Some even have a ‘bing, bong’ sound when reversing – was quite surprised to hear that on a new range rover hybrid the other day.

I think the only way to not be surprised by an approaching vehicle is a mirror and/or varia radar. Some petrol cars are really quiet now.

[Kendalred]

Dicks in cars will still be

Dicks in cars will still be dicks in cars no matter what the method of propulsion is. The price of those Teslas equates to a high end BMW, Merc or Range Rover, so is it that surprising it was being driven by an entitled prick?

 

[hawkinspeter]

No, I must have missed that.

No, I must have missed that.

I’m not so sure that it’s a complete fail, as it gets drivers more used to dealing with two-wheeled traffic. Unfortunately, a lot of scooter riders are now getting abuse from a minority of drivers (no surprise to us cyclists, then) which will undoubtedly add a chilling effect to people wanting to change how they commute. I’m hoping that as scooters become normalised, then more motorists might weigh up their finances and decide whether they really need to own a car or not.

[brooksby]

peter – slightly OT, but did

peter – slightly OT, but did you see the article in the Evening Post the other day, that They reckon far more people have swapped from walking or cycling to electric scooters than from motor cars to electric scooters?  Seems like that’s a fail, then… 

[hawkinspeter]

I haven’t encountered a Tesla

I haven’t encountered a Tesla, but have seen a few electric cars and haven’t really noticed whether they’re driven well or not (which probably means they were well-driven).

The tyre noise is usually quite noticeable, though I have been surprised a couple of times by using my handlebar-end mirror and spotted a close vehicle that I hadn’t heard approach. Personally, I much prefer a quiet, non-fumey electric car to a noisy, fumey car.

[Author]

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