the world's fastest production Sportbike - yes, it's all electric

[michaelphillips]

funny, mind you when you think of the formula e then the likes of teams/factory development such the likes of mahindra, renault audi and not forgetting China Racing whom with their chinese cousins development on ev`s , i think know that their own market which is enormous for evt`s can push forward as the oil barons cant influence their NEEDS

[rtfm]

The bottom line in the whole e vehicle debate is until battery tech gets better they won't be a viable option to replace the internal combustion engine. Instead they will be a second vehicle to own for short trips for smug people.

Most people don't want to wait 20-30 minutes to fill up for only 150ish miles of travel, nor do the majority of people have off street parking and therefore the ability to charge their cars at home. Charging at work may be fine with employers for now while it is still a novelty but if everyone does it what then? A serious amount of leccy and infrastructure would be needed to charge a reasonable size car park full of cars.

From an environmental perspective, how many miles do you need to drive to offset the carbon cost of manufacturing an e-car and those dodgy lithium batteries that will need replacing every 3 years or so, plus disposing of your old vehicle vs just keeping your old vehicle and running it til it breaks? A hell of a lot I would imagine.

Finally, if evehicles really take off, you can be 100% sure the government will tax the shit out of them to get back the lost petrol revenue so we'll be no better off anyway!

[rtfm]

But back on topic I think it's great the worlds fastest production bike is a twist and go

[Normsthename]

those dodgy lithium batteries that will need replacing every 3 years or so

Dam, my electric car is 2 1/2 years old.........
The Nissan Leaf has a Lithium-ion battery fitted and it has a life of at least 10 years, and even then it will still hold 80% of its charge

Andy

[rtfm]

Well that's a big improvement then.

Does it have a 10 year warranty for the battery? Is that based on a certain amount of charge cycles?

But the 60-80 mile range is still a big problem unless you are a hermit or have a second car

[Bluebottle]

But back on topic I think it's great the worlds fastest production bike is a twist and go

+1
They set out to beat the smokers and they did exactly that. Congratulations and well done to them.

I am one of the smug people you mentioned (no lithium in my batteries by the way)
What I see is that whenever electric vehicles beat a particular prejudice of the petrol advocates they don't acknowledge it, they look for some other issue.

Electrics are slow milk floats - busted
Well the batteries only last 2 years - busted
Replacing the batteries costs more than the bike - busted full set = £60 for mine
Erm... It's all a lie, you can't get 2p per mile (Irev) - well I certainly can't, less than 1p per mile every time (over 2 full tanks for a quid)
They aren't green because of power stations (Irev) - busted, my burgman uses more electricity than my electric; petrol is made using electricity.
They just suddenly stop and leave you stranded when run out of power - no, you've been watching too much Top Gear
1970 - They only do 20 miles I need 30 to get to work
2000 - they only do 40 miles I need to go further
2014 they only do 100 I can't tour Europe

GN2 is the first person I ever heard say - well that beats what I thought they could do, I'll take a closer look.
Some people even carry on saying the same stuff even after they have been proven wrong several times.

The real issues are range and "I can't plug in/don't have space for wind/solar"
These are genuine concerns.
But how does it make it a bad idea for me?
I can go to work, easily reach several towns and supermarkets. I can charge it for peanuts.
It's like saying all boats are stupid, useless and not at all practical for anybody because I'm miles from the sea.

If supercapicitors deliver what is expected, electrics will dominate here just as they already do in some places overseas

[gn2]

GN2 is the first person I ever heard say - well that beats what I thought they could do, I'll take a closer look.

After owning the Forza for a year I have now come to the decision that an electric would probably suit me fine.
I had thought I would venture further afield on the Forza given that it has a bigger engine and is generally more capable.
Thing is, when my days off roll around I just can't be arsed riding it anywhere, I'd rather do other things instead.
In fourteen months I have done precisely zero trips above 60 miles on it.
My only problem now regarding an electric powered scooter is finding a suitable one for sale in the UK.

[rtfm]

But how does it make it a bad idea for me?
I can go to work, easily reach several towns and supermarkets. I can charge it for peanuts.
It's like swing boats are stupid, useless and not at all practical for anybody because I'm miles from the sea.

If supercapicitors deliver what is expected, electrics will dominate here just as they already do in some places overseas

I agree wholeheartedly, if it's good for you then great, but e-vehicles not ready for mass market as a complete replacement for petrol vehicles. It does look like ebikes are a whole lot closer than ecars though.

Supercapacitors would be great, a real game changer, but until then cars will be stuck with lithium batteries. Your batteries may be cheap to replace, the Nissan leaf batteries cost 3.5 grand (after trading in the old ones). If they really do last ten years then that may not matter but it's a hell of an outlay for an old car if you need new ones. I suppose that cost might be offset by lower maintainence and running costs?

Honestly, I'd love an emotorbike ( instant torque and potentially very long serice intervals are very appealing) but I can't afford to buy and run two vehicles so I have to have one that does everything and for now petrol is the only option.

Have you done a writeup on your ebike? You should, I'm sure there will be a lot of interest.

[Bluebottle]

I did a write up years ago on the bike i had at the time - looks like it has fallen off the end of the forum.
I've worked on electric vehicle, aircraft and military design projects too (but not on the motor/battery side of things)

I often hear it said that electrics aren't ready for the mass market.
Did you know the biggest selling car in Norway is electri, the Tesla outsells all Ford models put together and holds the record for the most cars sold in a month. Second biggest seller is also electric.
I heard Tesla is now the biggest selling luxury car in the US but I haven't bothered to verify that
In many places, notably Chinese cities, electric vehicles aren't just ready for market, they are the market, they completely dominate.

You were right about me being smug though, I remember going past a huge queue at a Tesco petrol station and really wanting to pull into the midde of the forecourt and do a little dance holding up a 1p piece. Then a fight broke out over jumping in or not using a pump on the opposite side and I was laughing so hard I fogged up my helmet.

And I hammer the motor on short trips to the shops with a stone cold engine that would wreck a petrol engine

[Bluebottle]

For what it's worth the electric i have now is a Honda Shadow clone and nothing special.
Normsthename has a Renaut Twizzy which is a much better quality and more capable machine