Electric motorcycles are as disruptive as Tesla's cars - RenewEconomy
What bike beat every other motorcycle and most cars up Pike’s Peak in 2013. What motorcycle had massive brake and shock upgrades while getting almost $2,000 cheaper in the past two years. The answers are electric motorcycles from Lightning and Zero. The rate of change in electric motorcycles is truly phenomenal, and mostly outshadowed by Tesla’s great job of getting amazing press by delivering amazing electric cars. The graphic on the right shows the 2011 to 2014 evolution of the Zero motorcycle: quadrupling of range, 50% increase in top speed, 150% more horsepower, and 150% increase in torque. In 2014, Zero also massively improved the brakes and shocks on the bike while dropping the price by $400. In 2015, the company left the specs of the bikes alone, but dropped the price tag by $1,350. How were they able to do that. What is the Zero SR most comparable to. Well, in terms of torque, it’s up there with 1000 cc gas bikes, while in terms of horsepower, it’s equivalent to 600 cc bikes. That means it’s very quick off the line, with the SR rated at 3. 3 seconds to 60 mph. The top speed isn’t as insane as bigger bikes, topping out around 100 mph — also known as the speed at which fines start being enough to fund municipal budgets and having your bike taken away from you is a serious possibility. My last bike was a BMW F800ST, a beautifully mannered and very quick sport tourer from Bavaria. I only took it above 100 mph a couple of times, and not by very much. Source: reneweconomy.com.au
