Triumph considers electric future

Bring it on! Sort of.
If someone would make an electric bike that had a 150 mile+ range, a recharge time of under 2 hours, and the weight and performance of say, a 600 four, I'd buy one to commute (at 150 miles to flat battery and two hours to 'fill up' it's still not a good prospect for long distance days but as a commuter, no problems. Anyway...) and chortle heartily at people paying £938 for half a pint of unleaded in petrol stations. Well, assuming this mythical electric wonder bike would retail for less than 30 grand which is questionable. How expensive are the options that you can currently buy? One I looked at was about 9 and a half grand. And yes, I know that many petrol engined bikes are currently more expensive than this, but they go faster for longer and 'recharge' in a couple of minutes.
And yes, I know fossil fuels are very naughty and leccy/hydrogen is the future (which is fine with me), but we're taking about now, as in 2012.
Respect to those that are trying (really) as someone has to, and I appreciate that you have to start somewhere, and low volume production numbers plus initial development and start up costs all add up to a lot of cash very quickly, hence the high retail price for these things, but even given those factors, the relatively high unit retail cost and the fact that battery/recharge technology still has a bit of a way to go means thanks but no thanks.
At least, not yet.

Posted: 29/05/2012 at 15:00

i'd be tempted.. long range is not an issue for where I live... I just want something that accelerates to 70 mph faster than the "average" sports car.. can do 100 miles ... and recharges in a few hours... must look good - and is probably dirt bike orientated as its gonna have to get up a flight of 6 or 7 concrete steps to get close enough to my flat to charge.....

Posted: 29/05/2012 at 17:47

The problem with all electric vehicle development is that it is left in the hands of low volume manufacturers who simply don't have the capacity to make them viable with the backup with would be required.

Automotive manufacturers although starting to take them seriously, and not prepared to fork out the initial outlay to change over the production lines. Electric cars and bikes could currently be just as good if not better than petrol alternatives, but it's not cost effective to do so at the moment.

One of the most interesting facts is that electric cars existed a the beginning of the 20th century. Henry Ford made a pretty good one. But then they found lots more oil in the states...

Posted: 29/05/2012 at 19:02

But what about the loss of romance towards the grease, oil & gas not to mention the noise pollution. I am NOT sold on the idea of electric motorcycles yet.

Posted: 30/05/2012 at 00:52

An electric motorcycle is significantly more complex than it appears on the surface. Unlike internal combustion, an electric motor relies heavily on software which controls everything from throttle speed to the recharging process. Standard off the shelf electric motors do not hold up well under the stresses of rapidly changing speeds and the heat of high speed running for extended times. Most underestimate these issues and that is why car companies like Toyota and Mercedes contract for parts from Tesla. I predict that one of the major motorcycles companies will buy Zero and that will combine the know how with the dealer network and the manufacturing capacity.

Posted: 30/05/2012 at 19:17

there are all sorts of odd ideas by smaller manufacturers, search you tube for the geezer with the car that uses  a piston engine but no petrol, its force fed compressed air  from an onboard tank, he uses it to travel in town, i think he is french and he fills up at petrol stations air lines for free in seconds. that sounds like fun.

Posted: 30/05/2012 at 22:26

Fun maybe, but as a viable product manufactured for masses with necessary approval of all regulating bodies to be sold all over the world, is a whole different ball game.

Posted: 31/05/2012 at 11:44

I think the sentence in this article where it states ... "And with no requirement to pass terrifyingly expensive crash-tests, ..." is not valid. I am not sure about Europe, but I very much doubt that once the bike is not considered a scooter or a low speed moving vehicle, the kind of propulsion it uses is irrelevant. It must pass the same tests as ICE based motorcycle.

Posted: 31/05/2012 at 11:50

Put a sidecar on it and a few more batterys and the range problem is 'sorted'!

Posted: 31/05/2012 at 14:35