Electric Bikes... the Future?

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OB1
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by OB1 »

I just received an email from my local dealer of Zero Motorcycles, The English Electric Motor Co.

It looks like the price is coming down to be more in line with ICE motorcycles:

2019 NEW Stock

  • Zero FXS 7.2 - £8,990 RRP
  • Zero S 7.2 11kw w/charge tank - £11,490 RRP
  • Zero S 14.4 - £12,190 RRP
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Fried Egg Sandwich
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by Fried Egg Sandwich »

OB1 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:24 pm It looks like the price is coming down to be more in line with ICE motorcycles:

2019 NEW Stock
  • Zero FXS 7.2 - £8,990 RRP
  • Zero S 7.2 11kw w/charge tank - £11,490 RRP
  • Zero S 14.4 - £12,190 RRP
That means the value of used ones will be falling too. Good news for those who can't afford new, not so good for those selling on.
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by P4ulie »

OB1 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:24 pm I just received an email from my local dealer of Zero Motorcycles, The English Electric Motor Co.

It looks like the price is coming down to be more in line with ICE motorcycles:

2019 NEW Stock

  • Zero FXS 7.2 - £8,990 RRP
  • Zero S 7.2 11kw w/charge tank - £11,490 RRP
  • Zero S 14.4 - £12,190 RRP
I have no idea about the others but the FXS has dropped by a whopping £5. I'm doubting the 2nd hand market will panic just yet ;) I really enjoyed my test ride (although the suspension isn't great) but the 60 mile range makes it an expensive commuting toy. One day
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Andi_Archer
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by Andi_Archer »

I had a ride on one when were at the Ponderosa last year and saw them again recently and to be honest given the high price, the whole control system looks cheap and very basic. The main problem with them is lack of range even with the extra battery pack it only rose to around 150 maximum.
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by DavidS »

There are a few lurking around here in Canada, mostly in towns and all seem to be Chinese.
At least shops are selling them.
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by msjesscat »

There's been some good electric MX bikes come out, unsure about road bikes, I haven't kept up. By the time the get the adv electric bikes sorted we might be more worried about more pressing global issues. Like survival of humanity :lol:
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Jak*
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by Jak* »

Whilst the prices may compare more favourably with new KTMs, BMWs etc they are a hell of a lot more than a Himalayan. Most Himmy riders are averaging between 75-95 mpg, you need to do a hell of a lot of miles to make the electric bikes cost comparable. The Himmy is also capable of doing well over 200 miles on a tank, is relatively easy to maintain and spares are fairly cheap. There is also a good and improving dealer network
I have chosen the Himmy because that’s what I own but their are probably other similar new bikes out there and a lot of older ones too. The point is, apart from short distance inner city commuters, like the Soco, and toys, whether for short off road trips or for sunny days out, electric bikes aren’t there yet. Charlie and Ewan’s back up for their latest trip proves this. Don’t get me wrong I would love to own an electric bike, however by the time they become viable I will hopefully have stopped commuting and will have different needs from a bike. I can see that eventually fossil fuels will go the way of leaded petrol and we will be forced to use something else, but we are a long way from that yet and other parts of the world are even further from it.
I am still looking forward to a test ride on the Livewire when it comes to these shores.
Cheers Jak
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by Andi_Archer »

Talking electric Martyn Ashton has a superbly designed electric "Random Tandem" check this video out

[video][/video]
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by catcitrus »

Apart from destroying mountains and villages to mine Lithium--and use a load of fossil fueled energy to refine and produce the batteries(which have a limited cycle life and a disposal issue) there is a fundamental problem related to basic physics/chemistry---batteries are storage devices and there is a limit to the amount of energy that can be stored per cubic metre i.e. kWh/m3--ENERGY DENSITY. believe me I've worked years ago on all kinds of material combinations for batteries--like sodium/sulphur running at 400C--but this is for military use . There is a definite limit to the energy density. It may be improved slightly with development but energy "in a box" without heat or emissions(gas etc) is never going to cut it except for short urban trips--and even if we populate the planet with charging points (which need to be manufactured--and supplied with power) we still have an environmental cost in producing the batteries that is way over conventional power sources--and certainly way over economic, small devices that have been made many years ago and are still serviceable. People have been sucked into "tail pipe emissions" but in reality they are trivial compared to other sources of CO2.
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Re: Electric Bikes... the Future?

Post by Jak* »

I would bow to your superior knowledge about batteries, but I think where electric vehicles come into their own is in reducing air pollution in cities. Obviously there are better long term solutions, such as decent public transport, stopping building homes where people are reliant on personally motorised transport, rethinking how we organising working patterns and where we work. Unfortunately none of these are likely to happen in our current political climate whereas it is relatively cheap for local authorities to put in emission zones and then collect the revenue from them. So increased hybrid and electric vehicles are the immediate future.
Cheers Jak
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