| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
Copied and pasted from email I got this morning. Greetings from Zero Motorcycles, We are proud to introduce our game changing 2012 electric motorcycle line. Without question, this is the largest step anyone has ever taken in production electric motorcycle technology. Here are just a few of the incredible new features: You can now ride up to 114 miles on a charge Revolutionary new battery technology will allow you to travel up to 308,000 miles on the original power pack All the street models let you ride without ever worrying about any routine powertrain maintenance (imagine that) Regenerative braking to maximize your range Top speeds of up to 88 mph and more power for each model Sophisticated and striking new design elements that give the lineup a new look that will draw eyes and conversations where ever you go With the high level of anticipated demand for our 2012 model line, we want to give you a head start in placing your pre-order with a dealer near you. To see exciting new videos, photos, read about the new features and to reserve a 2012 model, please visit our website at the link below: http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/ The entire lineup will be hitting dealerships this February. However, if you'd like to make this an early holiday present by placing a pre-order, we can send you a little something to unwrap. Enjoy the Ride, Your Friends at Zero | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I would love to have that bike with the 114 mile range. The day will come when you can have a bike like this and be able to quick charge in a reasonable time and actually tour on it. If it weren't for that expensive battery these bikes would be way better priced. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Maybe I missed it but I can't find anything about a warranty on the Zero site. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/support/warranty-ge neral.php | ||
| Froggy |
What happens if you hit 88mph? Will you see some serious shit? | ||
| Bike_pilot |
The "up-to" renders the figures sorta meaningless. Heck doesn't buell claim the XB gets 65mpg? Maybe on a trailer... The other trouble is time to recharge. Except for commuting I don't think I ever go for a ride of only a hundred miles or so and I'm not keen on sitting for hours every hundred miles while it charges. With an ICE bike I can re-fill the tank in less than 5 minutes  They've made huge strides on e-bikes, but at least for the way I use bikes they are still no more than a novelty and/or dedicated city-commuter. (Message edited by bike_pilot on November 08, 2011) | ||
| Froggy |
Not really. Without knowing how its tested it is hard to say how realistic it is.
I know, what a load a crap, mine gets 75mpg.
You are missing the point then. They currently aren't intended for touring. Using the quick charger accessories the Zero S can be nearly fully charged in about an hour, which you can easily kill having lunch. Not to mention it costs less than a buck to fill it up, and there is next to no maintenance, you make up for it in the long run. | ||
| Reepicheep |
That's on the edge of being pretty practical. The mileage is there for my commute, and the bike looks reasonable (the dual sport looks neat, hopefully it's not too tiny). As is the top speed. $10k is still pretty tough for me though. At $5k, I might be on the phone already. Lets see... 40 miles per day commuting. Say $3.50 worth of gas per day. Say I can ride 60% of the year (very optimistic). Thats 156 days, or $546 saved. That "nets me back" $5000 after 10 years (assuming electric is free, which it isn't). So we are now past the "you are an idiot for buying one" phase of the math and into the "looks interesting, and there are certainly less interesting ways to spend $5000 over 10 years" phase. If that was a $5k bike instead of $10k, or if gas goes way up, then that could get pretty compelling just on it's own. Buy the bike for $5k, commute for about 10 years on it, and the bike was "free" based on what you saved on gas. That feels like the break even point... | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
We own both a 2004 and 2010 Prius. I still get asked about the batteries and how long they last or how many times we've had to replace them. Never replaced. Also as the argument goes, the price is too high for the hybrids compared to a supposedly comparable vehicle. Seems that people never use this same logic when plunking down a small fortune for a Lexus. Stepping down off the soapbox for a second I will say that the price for these bikes is too high considering how many less parts an electric bike has compared to an ICE bike. I say, sell them for a reasonable price and make it up on volume. I'd love to have one though. Really sucks spending so much money on fuel all the time. I suppose if I was built like an envelope I could get better mpg just like Froggy. | ||
| Raceautobody |
From http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/ Incentives for United States Federal Incentive Street legal Zero models are eligible for a 10% Federal tax credit on electric motorcycles. (A second battery must be purchased in order for a Zero XU, Zero X Street Legal, or Zero MX Street Legal to qualify for the credit.) The Federal tax credit expires 12/31/11. Additional battery is $2995.99 http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/shop/index.php?main _page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=10 | ||
| Buewulf |
114 miles? You have to treat the range ratings on electric motorcycles somewhat like dog years. It might go half that far if you tried really hard. (Froggy could probably get 200 miles out of it.) At 80 mph, it probably wouldn't go 20 miles. Pretty nice looking bike, though, and one that can at least make it though most commutes. They really need to start developing transmissions for these things. | ||
| Froggy |
I can assure you that is incorrect, as it will do 63 miles at 70mph sustained. | ||
| Paul56 |
It definitely is intriguing. At the claimed cruising speed and range it would be at the limit for my commute, assuming I only charged up overnight. If I could score a place to charge while at work, though, it would be easy (I work at a secure facility with limited access for employee vehicles). A rough calculation showed that the fuel savings alone would pay back the purchase price in 8 years. Not unrealistic considering I've had my Uly for over 5 years already. | ||
| Froggy |
Don't forget to factor in maintenance costs. Other than tires, there should be pretty much nothing that needs that needs scheduled service. Even the brakes should last longer if you take advantage of the regenerative braking. Not having to blow $50 a month in oil and filters adds up fast. Also being under 1000cc, the insurance will be cheaper. | ||
| Buewulf |
I can assure you that is incorrect, as it will do 63 miles at 70mph sustained. My pessimism stands corrected. That is quite good for a sustained 70mph. Where did you see it reviewed? | ||
| Froggy |
I pulled the number right off the Zero website. | ||
| Eulysses |
Silent and stealthy on logging roads during hunting season...so one would have to add the value of the meat to the cost of the bike.  | ||
| Eulysses |
Now we need a Zero 4 wheeler! | ||
| Reepicheep |
I bet it goes a LONG way on tires also. That could also really swing the math. | ||
| Richardbiker |
Just asked the wife: "How about an electric motorcycle?" Her reply: "How long's the cord?" | ||
| Schwara |
The payoff perspective assumes no additional payoff from fun. If it is still fun I might consider it ... at some point. If it is simply a bigger electric scooter I'll wait. I have never owned a vehicle that had a true payoff unless I'm comparing to a military grade SUV. I always compare with the vehicle being replaced. I'm still trying to justify the Uly in that on a bad day it does better than my Grand Am on a good day, but both my wife and I know that I got it for fun. Based on that it's probably already paid for itself. Even though I get better MPG I ride it twice as much ... | ||
| Toona |
$14,500 for the Zero S ZF9, plus another $600 for the quick charger. The ZF9 travels only 63 miles at 70mph. The 114 miles is rated for "city" travel. The ZF6 is $11,500, but doesn't have the 114 mile range, only 43 on the hwy at 70 mph, and 76 miles in town. http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/zero-s/specs.php | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
They need to make Planes, Semi trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks etc. More fuel efficient. This huge focus on hybrids and low emission motorcycles is just someone trying to make a buck and is a waste of time. Someone who drives a Prius would probably be driving a Civic or Cruze which have great mpg numbers anyway. Motorcycles already get great mph (which isn't even a good measure of fuel consumption anyways). Fact of the matter is, an electric bike is a joke. 118 miles will barely get me to and from the roads I enjoy riding. Want an 88 mph gas sipper get a Honda SilverWing. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
The ULY gets lousy mpg when you compare it to either of our Prius cars. If we drive from Omaha to Iowa City to visit my folks, the Prius uses about 10.5 gallons round trip and that carries all three of us. If we take all three bikes it costs more than 3 times as much. Even if my wife rode on the back of the ULY it would cost more. Prius gets better mpg than the ULY any day of the week and especially in around town driving. 1000cc+ motorcycles are lagging far behind hybrid cars in regards to mpg. Sure, I can get a 250cc bike or scooter and get 70 to 100mpg but that ain't going to happen. I ride for pleasure and unfortunately it doesn't correlate to better mpg. I'd be very interested in a hybrid motorcycle so long as it was designed for high mpg and not just faster 1/4 mile times. | ||
| Motorbike |
This reminds me of a bike trip I took with my four brothers last summer. If you figure each bike gets an average of 45 MPG and divide that by 5 bikes, you get 9 MPG. We could have rented a school bus that would haul all five of us and spent less money on gas, but what fun would that be?  | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Motorbike, I agree. Only thing is, not every trip is meant to be a vacation and sometimes you have to think about costs over fun. Thankfully not every time though. | ||
| Buewulf |
I rented a BMW F800ST this past summer in Salt Lake City when I went to visit my brother. I averaged 61mpg through mixed riding ranging from mountain road flogging to high-speed superslab, and I don't typically get better mpg than the next guy like Froggy does. The BMW did substantially better than his ER-6N under the same conditions despite having significantly more power and displacement. I don't know what secret sauce BMW used for the bike, but it probably has much to do with the sophistication of the EFI system. So bikes could get much better mpg than they do now. I just don't think consumers care enough about mpg for manufacturers to make it a priority - especially in the US where 97% of bikes are recreational toys rather than primary transportation. | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
My point is, motorcycles use probably the least amount of fuel over any other form of transportation... Why not focus fuel saving benefits on the things that use the majority of the fuel as opposed to the things that represent a minuscule amount. | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
And comparing a Prius mpg to a motorcycle doesn't make sense. I'm sure if you tried you could get amazing mpg on a Ulysses. The fact is you ride the bike fast and don't think about fuel where you do in the Prius. Of course depending on how you drive you will get different MPG. View youtube video of the Corvette C5 getting like .5 mpg less then a Prius on a 40 mile trip. | ||
| Froggy |
I guess you haven't been paying attention. There have been advances over the past few years to allow those vehicles to get better fuel economy. Gas costs companies money too, so they are also looking to save as much as they can. Newer semis are more aerodynamic, planes are flying at different altitudes and speeds in addition to some switching to more fuel efficient turbo props, and I've read how some utility and parcel companies are looking to hydraulic hybrid systems for their trucks.
Right, because we should all be driving carburetor equipped pieces of garbage that get terrible fuel economy and cost a ton to operate.
Good luck finding a bone stock Civic or Cruze that can get 100mpg. I've done it on a Prius without too much effort, best I was able to manage on a Civic Hybrid (not even a gas only) was 62mpg.
I assume you mean MPG, but either way, motorcycles get terrible fuel economy, mostly due to their aerodynamics.
Please, spare me. If it went 118,000 miles on a charge you would find some reason to hate it. It sounds exactly like the same BS that old people use for any new technology they are scared of, be it fuel injection, personal computers, or even music players.
If you notice, the truly good fuel economy bikes are not sold in the US, but are plentiful in Europe and Asia.
Wrong, try again. Motorcycles are highly inefficient. The Ulysses should be getting 150MPG given its displacement and weight.
Why not make EVERYTHING get significantly better fuel economy? It all adds up in the end.
I disagree, especially if they are both used for the same intent.
Not true, not many Prius drivers think about fuel at all, they just assume you are magically going to get better fuel economy because it is a hybrid. Go ahead, ask some Prius owners in real life. You will see their answers are the exact same as someone driving a SUV or any run of the mill sedan.
All things equal, the Prius will come out ahead of a gas car or motorcycle. Period.
I've seen Corvettes get 38MPG driven right, but in that same condition, the Prius would net 100+. I am calling horseshit on the video. |
