Fully Electric Short-Range Motorcycle in 2008

Ardentfrost · 07-09-2007, 11:09 PM

US$15,000 Carbon Fibre Enertia electric motorcycle to hit stores in early 2008 - gizmag Article

Here's the specs for those of you too lazy to click the link:

Top speed 50 mph
Full Battery Distance 45 miles
Full Battery Charge Time 3 hours

Here's the skinny by my calculations:

According to my power bill, I get about 9-10 KWh per dollar. I know this is cheap compared to a lot of the nation (God bless Georgia Power), but I can only go by what I know

So, 3 KWh will get you 45 miles OPTIMALLY (eg., no one is really going to drive it a full 45 miles before recharging), so 1 dollar will get someone with my power company 135 miles. My car, Nissan Versa, gets about 30 miles to the gallon in city driving. At $3 /gallon of unleaded (again, that's local price), 300 miles costs me $30.

SOOO, what costs me $30 in my very economic car would cost about $2.25 on that bike.

Now, like I said, this is the most OPTIMAL type thing. Assuming that the advertised distance (45 miles) is for real, not like the gas mileage thing on cars where they're not realistically measured, then I could personally make 3-4 trips before needing to charge. What would be likely is that every MWF I would charge the thing... that boosts the price a bit, but is still only $1 a week. With my car, driving the 10 miles a day 5 days a week, that's $5 (obviously not including going somewhere on the weekend).

Of course, that is all my very specific situation and costs. Recouping the cost of the bike ($12k for the non-special one coming out next year) would take me 3000 weeks, obviously unrealistic when compared to parts life for the bike (esp battery life)... however, it does show that even with my inexpensive power and gas compared nationally, the cost is a lot less, unlike previous electric models.

If I could be guaranteed that the stock battery would last even 3-5 years before replacement is needed, then I would feel very economic on a bike like this. I'm interested in seeing how the public responds to this vehicle. Most people who buy motorcycles buy them for speed and shit... and drive like dicks. A bunch of these driving around, however, would be very neat... you know the people driving them couldn't drive like dicks too much because it only gets to 50 mph

thomez · 07-10-2007, 12:13 AM

that's too slow even for many urban commutes... needs 15 more mph

Ardentfrost · 07-10-2007, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by thomez

that's too slow even for many urban commutes... needs 15 more mph

Depends on where you're coming from. I barely get to 60 in the mornings because I take surface streets except for one half mile stretch down the interstate. Of course, my commute is 4.5 miles one-way.

My wife couldn't use this, though. Her commute is 35 miles one-way and all interstate. So it's certainly only usable in specific situations.

AVengeance · 07-10-2007, 09:20 AM

Sweet. Motorcycles (2-wheel) are going to have pretty limited range until batteries can be much smaller, but if you have a three-wheeler, it opens up the range a bit. They're still "motorcycles" for the purpose of registration, so they won't be limited to 25mph like NEVs. There just isn't as much market for a fairweather commuter, though.

DosEquis · 07-10-2007, 10:02 AM

Why does everything alternative energy related have to look gayer than aids. I would feel like a bag of dicks riding on that thing.

thomez · 07-10-2007, 10:05 AM

it kind of looks like a supermotard

nbiggershaft · 07-10-2007, 10:13 AM

I'd rather it cost me twice as much per mile and be a badass bike. This is why electric shit fails so bad, people don't want to drive something that looks shitty and drives poorly. More people would be content to save a little and have fun doing it. Tesla Roadster ftw.

Ardentfrost · 07-10-2007, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by nbiggershaft

I'd rather it cost me twice as much per mile and be a badass bike. This is why electric shit fails so bad, people don't want to drive something that looks shitty and drives poorly. More people would be content to save a little and have fun doing it. Tesla Roadster ftw.

That's why there are a shit ton of Prius' out there? Those things look and drive like shit.

With increasing gas prices and eco-awareness, shit like this will be popular... of course, this particular item has the limitation of being used in urban areas or where people live really close to work, but it's still a good idea and I'm sure it'll get sold. And as battery technology gets better, shit like this will only become MORE prominent.

DosEquis · 07-10-2007, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by nbiggershaft

I'd rather it cost me twice as much per mile and be a badass bike. This is why electric shit fails so bad, people don't want to drive something that looks shitty and drives poorly. More people would be content to save a little and have fun doing it. Tesla Roadster ftw.

I could deal with the lack of performance and mediocre handling if it didn't look so cheese dick.

They could design much better handle bars, headlight, and a much better body kit for that thing, so that i don't feel like some retard riding a Vespa or something.

nbiggershaft · 07-10-2007, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

That's why there are a shit ton of Prius' out there? Those things look and drive like shit.

Because it looks and drives much better than it's predecessors. The Prius goes over 100 MPH. It still looks dumb to me but alot of people like that style now.

AVengeance · 07-11-2007, 11:23 AM

eBay Motors: Chrysler : PT Cruiser (item 150141187892 end time Jul-18-07 12:16:10 PDT)

AVengeance · 07-11-2007, 11:25 AM

There are other electric cycles already on the market. I just don't think there's much of a market for them, period. No matter how cool they look, you still look like an idiot sitting under an overpass when it rains. A realistic solution right now would be if automakers would make electric VERSIONS of their existing cars, like they already make gas/diesel or gas/hybrid. Even if it only got 50 miles or so range, it would look and act more like a "regular car" and would be more widely accepted. AND it would give the mfg lots of kiss-up points for being "green". Since it would be based on a regular production car, things like suspension, brakes, body parts, etc. would be cheaper than for an electric-only production.

Donkey® · 07-16-2007, 05:28 PM

It looks like ass.

AVengeance · 07-17-2007, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by Donkey®

It looks like ass.

I'm not sure what to make of that, coming from Donkey...