BMW scooters arriving soon (allegedly)

[MrGrumpy]

Servicing really is as simple as that.

My Burgman has far more wires than my electric. We forget that it is actually quite hard to get a petrol engine to run because we see it happen every day.

I always love it when the blurb for Elec scooters says that the only servicing needed is for tyres and brakes - I have 10 times more trouble with scooter tyres & brakes than everything else put together!!!! (eg I've just got ANOTHER puncture - unusually on the front wheel of the baby burger). Petrol engines are effectively everlasting these days - just change the oil and spark plugs at regular intervals, cam belts where necessary, and they seem to go for ever with no trouble.

[Liam]

There is a Vectrix owners forum so if you want to see what problems they are finding and having with the only proper electric maxi scooter on sale (since 2007), dive right in:

http://www.vectrixowner.com/members/vec ... 0Questions

i've had a look and the forum's a bit

[Bluebottle]

.... We forget that it is actually quite hard to get a petrol engine to run because we see it happen every day.

......... Petrol engines are effectively everlasting these days - just change the oil and spark plugs at regular intervals, cam belts where necessary, and they seem to go for ever with no trouble.

I didn't understand your point at first, now I realise what I said was ambiguous and unclear.

What I meant was "hard to design and build" an engine to run, rather than to maintain it; electric motors are simpler.

I can make an electric motor on my kitchen table

To make a petrol engine I need make what I just made above, then a pressure vessel, piston and lubricant, create a fuel vapour and mix it with air in exact proportions that change with temp and rpm, create a spark and make it happen at exactly the right time, make inlet/outlet valves that seal and operate at the correct time.....blah blah blah.

Then you need clutches etc while an electric motor produces torque at zero revs

The point being, more systems means more chance of things going wrong and petrol needs many sytems and monitors.

Not needing oil, plugs, exhaust, clutch expenditure to keep it going is just a bonus


It even means fewer punctures..........
Ok that last one is a lie.

[gn2]

Not a lie in the case of a maglev vehicle

[wozza]

Personally I don't think electric cars are reliable in the long term. Service intervals for cars are getting ever longer with some having 18,000 mile oil changes. All you need is the cost of replacing batteries once and that's paid for a large number of services. I just don't believe that these batteries on these cars will last 10 year's. The manufacturers can make all the promises they like.

[Bluebottle]

I think that is a real concern and there is a bit of wait and see as you and other sensible people have said

Rental batteries are one way to get round it (StephenC above)

If/when the next generation graphine supercapictors go into production then electrics will take over. They are 20 times more powerful and 10 times quicker to charge than todays production batteries with close to zero degradation over 10,000 cycles.

In my experiments the batteries have worked as they should, even in deep cycles if you treat them properly

I am still open minded and interested in what people have to say or what they can teach me

[mottza]

Remember batteries are nasty things to make and dispose of.

[Bluebottle]

Yes, they can be very nasty, heavy on rare resources too

That is what made me go for solid state LA in my projects, no acid mist pollution or sulphurics to dispose of.
The main ingredients are used again and the waste becomes fertilizer

Heavier but far friendlier than lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride