Modern Vespa

Just to ram the point home, here's how the 2014 Zero SR compares to the 2011 S: it has a 3.2 times bigger battery, almost 4 times the range, just under 2.7 times the power, 2.4 times the torque and a 50 percent higher top speed. Oh, and the battery's service life is nearly four and a half times what it used to be - the SR will go nearly half a million kilometers (310,000 mi) before the battery drops to 80 percent of its normal range.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6YIEVdFt0OE

88 mile range at 70mph. That works!

Yeah it would be great as a commuter for me.

That's getting impressive!

Battery tech is definitely getting impressive. I was an early adopter in using the same battery tech in RC cars by converting nitro powered cars to electric.

Even though the specs are there, over coming the desire for noise and smoke factor among the traditionalist is a challenge.

With my remote control cars, even though the electric cars accelerate 2x's as fast, have instantaneous torque, almost zero maintenance, etc the gas guys can't get over the desire for noise/smoke and tuning engines. I see the same issues with full sized vehicles. Just think how resistant motorcyclist are even to twist & go / DCT even though computers can do it better and faster now.

There is something visceral about a screaming combustion engine that is very hard to reproduce with electric powered vehicles.

I was watching some youtube videos of flybys on Isle of Man. In one of the clips some electric bikes came by just as fast, but it just didn't give you the same feeling. Practically no noise.

I see these bikes being great for commuters, particularly as the charging infrastructure is built out even more.

tomjasz, I have been eyeing the zero electric motorcycles for quite some time. They have been making great strides. The SR seems to be leading the way.

A meager 20MPH and 25 miles.

I'm glad to see how quickly they improved - I hope they get lots of business and keep on going.

I like the lines on your ride, Tom. Very cool.

Electrics, thank goodness, have been evolving. Are they perfect? Hell no! But as you have shown they are improving. These advances are not in vain. They are very important.

"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying."

I really like electric vehicles tho only have a hybrid at this point. Ms Miguel and I only do about 7K between us, including the Vespa so a full electric at this juncture isn't worth it.

However, the Zero factory is about 15 minutes form me. In fact, they hired a team member from a project I mentored a year ago.

However, I hate the styling. It looks like a motocross bike and that's my least favorite style. The high fenders just aren't appealing in my eyes. Hope someone comes out with a really interesting design. Just my opinion. No flaming please.

Best
Miguel

+1000 The price, the styling, the battery issues are ALL wrong from my view. However the advancements are exciting to me. I'm amazed every day that I get on my simple E Bike. It's a tech whose time has come. Shamefully slow but has come. Now if someone could come up with the Model T or A of electric PTW's...

I know what you're saying, and in a lot of cases I agree with your view. The things I think that might reverse this are:

- the advancement of things like DCT technology in bikes (making T&G more common and acceptable, and generally playing games with the shape and functionality of a PTW)
- the decrease in influence of the "hardcore, real" biker. Of course, there will always be people who love loud engines, but I think that there's such an increase in ordinary normal people taking to PTWs for their practicality and low cost that the opinions of hardcore petrolheads are becoming diluted.

In any case, thanks for an interesting thread, Tom. Really amazing progress in battery technology. The challenge for a lot of us Euro city folk is that you're unlikely to live somewhere where you can easily hook your electric bike up to your mains electricity (we all live in little boxes piled on top of each other, not like you lot over there with your wide open spaces and room to breathe ) The electric bikes are perfect for a lot of people who commute into London, apart from the challenge of charging them up. But I'm sure someone is working on a solution to that as I type.

I am certainly excited about the great advances made in such a short time. But the cost to be an early adopter is prohibitive to nearly all but a few with large amounts of money or those willing to make a huge financial investment.

I do think we'll begin seeing some more real world affordable examples in the next 5-7 years.

The Zero, Bramma and Mission e-motorcylces are very exciting bikes. I believe within the next 5 years we will see the prices drop and the use and production of e-motorcycles should increase dramatically.

I hope that all of these e-motorcycle brands survive the early adoption phase and have investors with deep pockets to further pioneer this much needed technology. I fully expect my next PTW to be electric yet I also expect the e-motorcycle to still cost more than a fossil fueled relic. But we can expect future e-bikes/sccots to perform better and much more efficiently than what we are currently riding, as well.

... and predictably, some aftermarket entrepreneur will find a way to sell loud pipes in order to save lives for any e-model you happen to purchase.

Let's not forget that the recycling end of the equation needs to be addressed.
There is no battery recycling being done in North, Central or South America.
Everything is being shipped back to Asia ; and the question is are good safety and environmental practices being followed?

You know who lives by these types of places. Poor people, namely women and children.

I am a huge fan of e-bikes, e-motorcycles, cordless tools, etc. We can not go into this pretending to be blind. Let's start asking questions about the whole life cycle of the products. We need to design in recycling and end of use options as soon as possible.

Those economics are not just limited to batteries. Be sure to check your clothing tags, coffee bags, and many foods. Globally we've a long way to go, to fair trade, on nearly every product. Don't start me on poverty and hunger in my own backyard.

FWIW a lot of battery packs are recycled from tool packs. Quite a number of E bike builders build there own battery packs.