Zero electric motorcycle

[Altie7deLaan]

electric means you have high torque from the word go, whereas a IC motor needs to get to this point somewhere in its range.
regenerative power is not new in industrial motor control, where you do not use a braking resistor to exhaust energy when braking , but instead use this power to pump back into the system.
there is still a lot of issues to resolve on e-bikes, and bigger range = bigger weight is probably the biggest.
for me safety is a concern, nobody or nothing will hear you coming along, except when you scream at the top of your voice or fit some big knobbly tires.
ebikes is still expensive, but it will become cheaper in time.
poephols revving their bikes at rallies will be a thing of the past at sometime.

[HenricoTerrance]

electric means you have high torque from the word go, whereas a IC motor needs to get to this point somewhere in its range.
regenerative power is not new in industrial motor control, where you do not use a braking resistor to exhaust energy when braking , but instead use this power to pump back into the system.
there is still a lot of issues to resolve on e-bikes, and bigger range = bigger weight is probably the biggest.
for me safety is a concern, nobody or nothing will hear you coming along, except when you scream at the top of your voice or fit some big knobbly tires.
ebikes is still expensive, but it will become cheaper in time.
poephols revving their bikes at rallies will be a thing of the past at sometime.

Anakee III will do as well!!

[Single Cylinder]

Very nice scoot, very expensive and slow charge time 

[Bundu]

I would assume maintenance should be much less than a normal bike? except for when batteries need to be replaced

[the_BOBNOB]

I would assume maintenance should be much less than a normal bike? except for when batteries need to be replaced

That is my main worry, the R149k is R39k worth of bike and R110k worth of batteries

They say 500 000km out of a set of batteries - but I'm not sure I'm buying that just yet.

[mox]

I would assume maintenance should be much less than a normal bike? except for when batteries need to be replaced

Cells last 2,500 full charge-discharge cycles before hitting 80% capacity, yielding as much as 339,000 miles on the original power pack

that's over half a million km's.

[Bundu]

I would assume maintenance should be much less than a normal bike? except for when batteries need to be replaced

Cells last 2,500 full charge-discharge cycles before hitting 80% capacity, yielding as much as 339,000 miles on the original power pack

that's over half a million km's.

the hassle is just that AFAIK, the batteries also degrade with age, so the km will probably not be the limiting factor

[silvrav]

I would assume maintenance should be much less than a normal bike? except for when batteries need to be replaced

Cells last 2,500 full charge-discharge cycles before hitting 80% capacity, yielding as much as 339,000 miles on the original power pack

that's over half a million km's.

the hassle is just that AFAIK, the batteries also degrade with age, so the km will probably not be the limiting factor

batteries performance is based on a wide range of factors. Humidity, temperature, user abuse, etc.

[the_BOBNOB]

what is a "recharge cycle"

is it better to use the battery to the max then recharge - or is it better to top it up whenever possible even after just a 30km ride?

my understanding is it is better to always keep batteries charged where possible - not like the older cellphones that had memory effect where you had to use it till empty before recharging?

[Bundu]

I would assume maintenance should be much less than a normal bike? except for when batteries need to be replaced

Cells last 2,500 full charge-discharge cycles before hitting 80% capacity, yielding as much as 339,000 miles on the original power pack

that's over half a million km's.

the hassle is just that AFAIK, the batteries also degrade with age, so the km will probably not be the limiting factor

batteries performance is based on a wide range of factors. Humidity, temperature, user abuse, etc.

yes I know, but the only factor that nobody can do anything about is time, so the batteries will age, and I've even heard at a rate of 10% loss of capacity per year, so for 99.9% of the people, 500 000km means nothing

[Straatkat]

I tested a Zero and came away feeling that it is not much more than a 250 chassis with a lot of silent power bolted in. I want to see a bike that has quality components like Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes, etc and decent tyres that are wide and can handle the power, not 120 tyreson the back. Like what was mentioned, a R35k bike...... I want a Lightning!

[Bensien]

If you think the Zero is expensive, have a look at this. I did a costing estimate on an import, as I thought it would be a nice runabout to replace the 125 and also has promotional value for my tyre business. If the Rand holds, I'm looking at just under R100 000

http://coolmaterial.com/rides/motorman-is-an-electric-moped-with-retro-styling/

[volroom]

I would assume maintenance should be much less than a normal bike? except for when batteries need to be replaced

That is my main worry, the R149k is R39k worth of bike and R110k worth of batteries

They say 500 000km out of a set of batteries - but I'm not sure I'm buying that just yet.

I wonder where they get this figures. they say theoretically lithium (iron phosphate) batteries can deep cycle 2000 times, so how far can you ride on a single charge- theoretically 150km, so thats 300 000km..in theory. in reality I doubt it very much. within a few years we'd be able to get some feedback. these batteries should become cheaper...hopefully. New tech batteries are on their way (check lithium sulfur, of lithium air batteries on google). if you can get a more energy dense battery that's lighter, the future for e-bikes is bright I think

family members bought deep cycle lead acid batteries for solar panels, we're told that they last up to 25 years...3 years in, and they capacity of the batteries are already way down.

[Sláinte Mhaith]

I wonder where they get this figures. they say theoretically lithium (iron phosphate) batteries can deep cycle 2000 times, so how far can you ride on a single charge- theoretically 150km, so thats 300 000km..in theory. in reality I doubt it very much.

It will probably be something like 150km with an almost completely drained battery giving something like 1000 cycles.
Or to get to 2000 cycles you can't drain more than say 50% and can then only do say 80km.