BugE - now road legal in New York!

Finally, FINALLY, after all this time, I managed to get a plate from the NY-DMV!

I decided to take the BugE for an across town trip. OMG! This thing is fun! At first, I was a bit conservative on my route, only going along back roads. However, after getting used to how the vehicle worked, I was soon flying down the main strip with no problems keeping up with traffic! Acceleration remained good through the journey and battery life was much better than expected (probably due to the powercheq modules). I criss-crossed from one side of town to the other and was still safely in the upper part of the green zone when I returned. Both suspension changes work great - even over railroad tracks! Clear skies, nice sunset. Truly a fun ride! I ended the ride with a well earned beer at the local bar.

However, it has all been a bitter-sweet experience. Thanks to New York State, this simple vehicle became needlessly expensive in terms of up-front money and time. Paying sales tax on my own home-built vehicle made of retail parts was a final insult. However, it's over. Now, I just pay motorcycle rates for registration, inspection and insurance (just over $200 for the year). Of course, I also don't need to buy gas either - just occasional batteries. If I go for a different battery technology such as nickel iron, I may not even need to do that again either! Repairs of course are now very affordable and hopefully infrequent too. If I were to use my 200W solar array, it would even be Fusion powered!

So, I've gotta say, after a long journey, the future has arrived!