Friday's Internet Edition, 10:42 PM, July 03, 2009.
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Years ago, I said I would never be caught riding a moped — especially as a main form of transportation. What I’ve always jokingly referred to as “liquor sickles” were meant only for those without a legal driver’s license, usually due to a DWI charge or some form of revocation or suspension.
Despite that stigma, each time I see gas prices inch towards the $4 mark in the Chair City, and slightly above nationally, the moped begins to look more and more attractive. One search of mopeds on the Internet and I’m thinking of trying on helmets.
Take the X-Treme XB-500 for example. Considered an electric bicycle, the XB features a key ignition start, locked rear trunk, carpeted deck and full suspension. Doesn’t sound that different from my Honda Odyssey so far. It also includes an optional pedal kit, 500-watt rear brushless hub motor, and most importantly; four very large batteries — a total of 48 whopping total volts. Huh, my Honda doesn’t offer the optional pedals and only has one battery. Adding to its lure, the XB is street legal, requires no drivers license, no registration, and therefore, none of those pesky annual taxes or trips to the license plate agency to pay nearly $30 for a 1 x 1 sticker. It also gets more than 100 miles per gallon on gas. Available in blue, red, burgundy and pink, you can own the XB today for the low, low price of $799 (shipping $115).
There are, however, setbacks to the XB, including a top speed of 55 miles per hour and a limited number of miles driven before recharging is required. This combined with limited “trunk” space means zipping to the beach for a long weekend is out of the question.
Still, for daily commutes to and from work, the moped is making a comeback. And I don’t mean those old “liquor sickles,” but instead fancy mopeds like the XB-500. More often these two-wheel, eco-friendly machines are being seen in Thomasville and other Triad cities. This rage may be new to Americans, however, Europeans have relied on the moped since their inception. In alignment with the smaller geographic size of Europe, cities tend to be more collective and contained. People walk, ride bicycles or mopeds more often than Americans. They make navigating the smaller streets and popping in the boucherie or patisserie much easier than would be in our spread-out society.
Also, Europeans have paid $5 or more per gallon of gas for years, and the increase in oil prices per barrel have sent gas prices as high as $9.39 per gallon in some parts of Europe. Diesel is an absurd $11 per gallon — a price that has recently caused protests from truckers, farmers and other industries heavily reliant on fuel.
A solution to rising fuel costs seems to be light years away, especially if the government’s answer to the crisis is to drill in ANWAR and other restricted areas as President Bush has suggested of late. I would hate to see robbing more of a natural resource merely for the sake of dropping gas prices. As much as I hate paying so much for gas, I realize that a drop in price will only revive the trend of Hummers and other gas guzzlers hitting the streets again. Conservative when necessary, watseful when affordable — the American way.
At the risk of being labeled a “tree-hugging” liberal, I’ll say it’s high time the American government and its citizens begin looking towards new technology to power our world. We have the intelligence to build crafts that travel into space, one-touch phones that connect us to the world, GPS technology that can track a person’s every move, solar and wind technology that can heat and cool homes, but we can’t develop an engine that is powered by something other than gasoline. I’m no engineer, but something tells me it can be done. Hybrids are a step in the right direction, but more efforts need to be put forth to developing a solution that won’t end up being more costly that the existing problem. For example, if more people turn to using bio-fuels and the cost of grain-based foods skyrocket, then this would leave us no better off than before. Oh, wow, gas is cheaper, but I’m paying $10 a gallon for milk and $5 for a loaf of bread.
Hopefully, a better solution is just around the corner. If not, people will begin to do a lot of things they said they’d never do. Until then, consider the moped — and never say never.
Editor Lisa Wall can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 229, or at editor@tvilletimes.com.
