I wish I had an EUC when I was a truck driver

[skunkmonkey]

I drove long haul for a while, and I always felt tethered to the truck. Sure I could unhook it and lock the trailer pin, but that's a bit of a pain, and it's time consuming, and even detached your vehicle is still fairly tall and can't go down all streets.

If I had had an EUC I would have explored so many more places, and enjoyed eating out at better restaurants, or actually take in the sights. Most people think that long haul truck drivers see the whole country, but in reality we see the whole country... from the freeway. It's usually too much hassle, and too much risk to disconnect the trailer and bobtail for very long, so I pretty much never did it. If I had had an EUC it would have opened a whole world of possibilities for me. The bicycle was fine, but who wants to pedal 5+ miles each way especially when it's hot?

Edited September 15, 2023 by skunkmonkey

[litewave]

I began riding in 2016. That was *the* year when EUCs became viable for short-range transportation with the Ninebot One E+, the Inmotion V5/V8, the Kingsong S14/S16, and the awesome Gotway ACM and MSuper. It was magical, marvelous, and liberating to learn to ride wheels back then. This website was the premier forum for meeting online, and its earliest contributors were so clever and innovative with all the hacks they came up with (like a fast-swap E+ battery pack!).

The world has changed a lot since then, and the community has grown by leaps and bounds. Wheels are pretty dang good nowadays, but the futuristic appeal of being part of a bold, daring, rare community is gone. However, we now have large groups in many places of the world, and it is much easier to find riding buddies online.

So, grab a friend or three and make up for lost time! Go visit a city where there are meetups and have some fun! Or, as I have done, make EUC-accessibility and acceptance be the top reason for where you live and work!

 

Comment: technically some of the wheels listed above came out in 2015, but from my recollection, 2016 was the year when things got very interesting.

Edited September 15, 2023 by litewave

[skunkmonkey]

1 hour ago, litewave said:

the futuristic appeal of being part of a bold, daring, rare community is gone

I suppose that's one benefit I have living in the suburbs. I'm the only EUC rider around that I'm aware of for miles. I constantly turn heads, and have kids exclaiming excitedly to their parents when they see me roll by. There's lots of "oooh, what's that?!?!" and "mom, look, can I have one?!?", and even the rare "look mom, it's a clown" from a 2-3yr old kid. 

[Harryme123]

I’m in South Florida and I’ve been riding for 3 1/2 years and I have never seen another EUC rider.  North broward.  I’m pretty famous in the area.  I ride nearly every day, rain or shine.  Yeah, truck driver with one of these would really change things.  Great idea

[mhpr262]

I have been riding for pretty much exactly three years and have met only one other EUC rider in the wild, and he was only visiting his daughter in my hometown. He was actually from around Berlin. I have met another rider but that was by appointment so to speak, after he had posted in the r/munich subreddit because he had been riding his V11 in Munich and had promptly gotten into trouble with the police there. And at one time I was approached by a girl who asked me  where I had gotten the license plate for my wheel, I believe she had only been riding in her backyard.

[skunkmonkey]

11 hours ago, mhpr262 said:

he had been riding his V11 in Munich and had promptly gotten into trouble with the police there

I had heard rumors that Germany had outlawed EUC's, but wasn't sure if that was true or not. That sucks. With so many countries trying to fight climate change it seems backwards to ban PEV's which do more than any other vehicle in that regards.

[atdlzpae]

52 minutes ago, skunkmonkey said:

I had heard rumors that Germany had outlawed EUC's, but wasn't sure if that was true or not. That sucks. With so many countries trying to fight climate change it seems backwards to ban PEV's which do more than any other vehicle in that regards.

As long as politicians don't ride anything other than cars, there won't be any movement in a direction of PEV's. I took part in consultations about PEV's in Poland... And let's just say that I'm glad that police is ignoring EUC's and scooters when we ride illegally because we have to.

The fact that Germany shut down all of it's nuclear power plants and moved power production to coal/gas is a proof how much they really care about climate change.

[mhpr262]

10 hours ago, skunkmonkey said:

it seems backwards to ban PEV's which do more than any other vehicle in that regards

Indeed it is. Believe it or not it is actually the Green Party here in Germany that pushes the hardest against PEV, because of the alleged  environmental damage from mining the materials for the battery, their short lifespan, and because "they dont replace cars or kiloemters driven by cars". They want everybody to use public transport.

[skunkmonkey]

3 hours ago, mhpr262 said:

because of the alleged  environmental damage from mining the materials for the battery

Well hopefully the new salt or sulphur battery technologies that are coming out will change their minds then. They have zero rare earth metals.