Does anyone have any feedback on the pros and cons in existing electric motorcycles?
The research that I have worked on so far is the following:
[ul]
[li]Electric Motorcycles are sport style motorcycles
[/li][li]They have a limited range - approximately 100 miles from what I have heard
[/li][li]They only have a single speed
[/li][/ul]
Does anyone have any other input or examples of motorcycles that get around some of these limitations?
smaller bike are reqiured to make best use of the battery.
The single speed is not really a con though. Those electric motors have great low speed torque. The new zero will easily do a wheelie.
[QUOTE=caesargus;8898]Does anyone have any feedback on the pros and cons in existing electric motorcycles?[/QUOTE]sure
[QUOTE=caesargus;8898]The research that I have worked on so far is the following:
[ul]
[li]Electric Motorcycles are sport style motorcycles[/QUOTE][/li]That is incorrect. Just visit EVAlbum.com and you will see every kind of bike converted, from dirt bikes, to cruisers, to trikes, yes even Harley Davidsons.
[QUOTE=caesargus;8898][li]They have a limited range - approximately 100 miles from what I have heard[/QUOTE][/li]For the home built conversions 100 sounds about right, maybe even too ambitious. However there is a saying in hot rodding when talking about horse power, it goes something like this how much horse power do you want depends on how much you want to spend, that can carry over to EVs, how far you want to go depends on how much you want to spend on the battery technology
[QUOTE=caesargus;8898][li]They only have a single speed[/li][/ul][/QUOTE]
Again I am not arguing, but I would like to point out that there are many conversions that use the existing transmissions or some flavor of them to have at least two gears, again please check out EVAlbum.com
[QUOTE=caesargus;8898]Does anyone have any other input or examples of motorcycles that get around some of these limitations?[/QUOTE]
More and more conversions/builds are done with multiple electric motors these days, so a single motor is not your only option.
I am working on a conversion that is going on 2 years right now, and so we could add to the list that they are time consuming and complex unless you know how to weld, fabricate, machine, or your way around electronics.
Also they are still expensive, I am trying to get my done for under $2,500 and that is on the cheap. You can buy two used gas powered motorcycles for that price, or one and a bunch of fuel.
A motor can run you $450 bucks same for a controller and a decent charger, then you may need six batteries at over $100 bucks a pop.
Don’t get me wrong I am all for the conversions and as I mentioned I am working on my own.
The F-14 EV concept has addressed several of these cons, and added a few more pros. See the story here: http://www.electricforum.com/cars/new-electric-technology/9622-f-14-ev-project-started.html#post27132