New electric motorcycle has highs and lows
By Michael W. Jones
A new American-made all-electric motorcycle is being manufactured in California and demonstrates both the upside and the downside of electric vehicles in a petroleum society.
On the gasoline motorcycle scale, the Zero S electric motorcycle, manufactured in Santa Cruz, is the equivalent off a 250cc bike. When that direct comparison is made, the Zero S measures up well in some areas and not so well in others. It is, in some ways, a microcosm of the state of completely electric vehicles in the world today.
It weighs in at only 250 pounds, and the electric motor puts out 62.5 pound-feet of torque, so it is very impressive coming off the line, according to a story from CNET. But even though performance from a standing start is impressive and virtually silent, the bike’s top speed is just 60 mph or so, which means it would not be a great freeway commuter.
The Zero S will let you take trips of 60 miles or so on a single charge, but the battery takes as long as four hours to charge. So, theoretically, if you went 50 miles a day to work and had an emergency that required you to go right back home some morning, you would not be able to do it, which is a little disconcerting.
But these are the same highs and lows of all electric vehicles built using today’s technology. The payback equation is similarly muddy. The Zero S costs $9,950, which is close to double the cost of the competition. Without taking energy credits from the government into account, it would take about 20 years to break even on fuel costs with a 10-mile commute, which compares 1 cent-per-mile for the Zero S to 4 cents-per-mile for a comparable gasoline motorcycle. In California, where those credits are higher, an owner could break even on original price in seven years.
Zero Motorcycles CEO Gene Banman says, “We have about a hundred orders for Zero S already that we will ship during May and June. About 40 percent are from California but the rest are spread all over the world.” That’s a pretty good start for the company and should get them into full production soon. But like all electrics, there is a real need for better technology and lower costs.
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Stumble It!
May 2nd, 2009
You’re thinking needs to change.
Instead of throwing up a barrier by expecting communting travel to work at or around the max range how about working on the basis of the short trips most do most often?
Approx 5 – 30miles.