The battery ran out 30 minutes into my ride and I had to peddle it home. The placement of the steering was uncomfortably low, my knees banged off the front, the seat was curved so my back was bent, there were screw heads poking through the seat back in line with my spine. I had to peddle extra hard as I were turning the motor as well as the wheels.
Looking at the price on the wikipedia page, and accounting for inflation, it looks like the C5 was actually one-third the cost of a new Segway. $1707.44 in today's dollars.
Recumbent bicycles aren't exactly a death trap and most owners use them as their primary transportation. Then again lithium ion batteries have improved so much you no longer need the aerodynamics to make it work, and electric scooters (and motorcycles) exist for that very reason.
I've been thinking of getting one of these because they bridge some rules about motorized vehicles: since you are still peddling you can take them on bike trails, but since the assist kicks in there is almost no resistance allowing you to maintain higher speeds...
What I find interesting about electric cars is that they are as old as petrol cars and in the late 19th century they were actually more popular, just to be left in shadow for the next 100 years. Now I'm waiting for the rebirth of steam cars, you can't get more eco than that :)
It's worth pointing out the link to Micro Men on that page. Micro Men is a very good fictionalisation of the Sinclair vs Acorn battle for the UK BBC Micro contract.
The battery ran out 30 minutes into my ride and I had to peddle it home. The placement of the steering was uncomfortably low, my knees banged off the front, the seat was curved so my back was bent, there were screw heads poking through the seat back in line with my spine. I had to peddle extra hard as I were turning the motor as well as the wheels.
I had blisters all down my back when I got home.