Electric Burgman?

[Maxi Burger]

Have Suzuki been doing a bit of catching up?

https://www.scootering.com/are-suzuki-m ... c-burgman/

[knight2]

It's about time I have often looked at mine and thought it could be made into an electric model with out to many exterior changes and would have thought the chassis wouldn't need many. If I had the technical abilitity I'd be tempted to buy an old one and try a conversion. Now I shall wait for Data to tell me if I'm right or wrong, I'd be interested to know.

[Maxi Burger]

I like that in the drawing they point out which is the front and which is the rear, I get so confused

Without the fuel tank it looks quite slim across the bike at foot level, hope it's plenty stiff enough. It looks to have a chain but hopefully it's a belt drive, how do these hold up to daily commuting, grit and the like?

[knight2]

It does look like a chain, but like you I hope it's a belt. But there again number 22 looks liike a scimitar for dealing with unruly pedestrians I assume

[MrGrumpy]

Been lots of drawings and concepts from Suzuki, but no models. Ditto Honda, though its cliamed that they are about to release loads of electric scoots.

[Data]

The smart bike manufacturers are delaying introduction of meaningful EV bikes & scooters until the crop of new batteries comes on stream. We'll see bigger ranges & very fast charging on a range of bike with great performance too. It's about to be an even more exciting time to be a two wheeler.

[Data]

It's about time I have often looked at mine and thought it could be made into an electric model with out to many exterior changes and would have thought the chassis wouldn't need many. If I had the technical abilitity I'd be tempted to buy an old one and try a conversion. Now I shall wait for Data to tell me if I'm right or wrong, I'd be interested to know.

Hi Knight. It's probably going to be a couple of years at the very least before we see bigger EV Burgman size bikes with good range & fast charging. Many new battery technologies go into production later this year & next, giving those things & with the advantage of even longer lifespans than lithium ion, which in itself is very good anyway. From talking to ex colleagues still in the design business, designs that I know are coming all have the battery packs under the floor. Non use Lithium ion! All have fast charge times of just minutes, & all have long ranges in excess of anything you can buy at the moment. Performance better than any petrol equivalent. They wouldn't tell exactly what models they know about, what batteries are going to be used or what new motor technology is on the cards. I'm no longer privileged to know that. But it's gonna be great!

[knight2]

Data, thanks, I assume they are waiting for the sodium-ion batteries that you told me about before. It makes sense as it seems they are on the verge of mass production, no point in making something that will be redundant in eighteen months time. I was hoping that Faradion would build a factory in Sheffield (where they're based) but as they appear to have sold out to India I'm not holding my breath. It would be a shame as we have some hi tec stuff being made here, both Boeing and Maclaren amongst others have factories here. Sheffield uni also does a lot of tec stuff including batteries.
I will be interested to see what does get made, but the cynic in me isn't getting too excited, not that they will be in my price range.

[Data]

The future of the ev bike market is quite exciting, but it's happening much slower than for cars, as we can all see. Some of the reasons for that is political with bike companies thinking they would be exempt from ice bans until much later. However there are technical reasons too for that related to weight and range. However, these issues are being overcome with new battery technologies. The view at the moment of many in the ev development trade, & many manufacturers, is there will be quite a few different types of battery available. Some will be good for all types of bike, some better for more specific longer range performance bikes. But all giving good performance and longevity. Eventually we might see one or two types come to the forefront and dominate but whatever we buy or use will be fine. Some of these battery types available soon (4 to 5 yrs from now) will have between 2 & 4 times the energy density of current Lithium Ion batteries, some with unlimited recharge cycles too, or so I'm told by the people developing them. Don't expect Lithium Ion batteries to disappear either. They are good for powering most vehicles still and have a long life. Using XFC (extra fast charging) we are seeing just how good they are. Many new car with xfc currently charge up on fast chargers in less than 30mins from just 10% to either 80% (the recommended norm for general use) or to 100% for longer trips. Our family E-Niro's (not mine but we now have two in the family) go from 20% to 80% in 30 mins or so in the cold. 10mins of charging gives a top up of 120-140 miles. Neither has xfc but it's worth noting how relatively good the charge times are. New ev bikes will be recharged in just minutes, even as few as 2-4mins. I can't even fill my car in that time.

[riders in the storm]

The importance of " fast charging" may also be over stated by many people including the media and manufacturers. I have a Skoda Enyaq EV which I either charge overnight on Economy 7 or at work on the EV charger there. I plug it in when I arrive at work and it is fully charged by lunchtime. I don't actually care how long it takes to charge from the often quoted 20% to 80% as I'm either in bed or in work....!

As yet I haven't been on a journey longer than the 200+ mile range of my car so the speed of the charge has been irrelevant to me. I appreciate if I want to go and see granny at the other end of the country this could be an issue, but it hasn't yet....

Bikes with smaller batteries might be glad of fast charging but then it shouldn't take too long to bring a bike from 20% to 80% if it does need a charge whilst out on a ride.....

By the time I've had a pee and drunk my coffee it should be ready.....!

Really it is just price holding me back from an electric bike.....