eMotorbikes

[george formby]

Well bugger me with a pineapple!

An interesting and informative bike post on KB, whoda thunk?

Seriously, though. Cheers for posting that, a really good read.

I'm really looking forward to e-bikes taking off after seeing that Energica, it was lovely. E- trials bikes are really capturing my interest, too.

[Hoonicorn]

Expensive?
A few commenters mentioned price as a barrier. It's true that the up front cost is higher, but lifetime costs can paint a very different picture. My Zero has almost paid for itself in fuel savings alone. Fire up a copy of Excel (or calculator) and run the numbers for your own situation. Here are my numbers and workings.

130,000km ridden, 7.8MW of electricity consumed (according to onboard battery management system). At 25c/kW the math is a simple 7800kW x 0.25c = $1,950 of electrons. On a gas bike managing 5.5L/100km and gas at $2.93/L (average 98 price from gaspy.co.nz just now) the math is (130,000km / 100km) x 5.5L x $2.93 = $20,949.50 in gas bills alone, before 130kkm of maintenance bills. I paid $22,000 for the Zero three years ago. The more you ride the more you save!

Dealers
I have heard rumours of an NZ Energica and/or Zero dealer opening soon. So we may not have long to wait for official in-country support. If anyone here is around Wellington, owns a motorcycle shop, and would consider being a dealer for Energica please get in touch I would like to start one

Your "130,000km" isn't typical. Some people have bikes as weekend toys over summer, like a jet ski, so price might still be an issue. As commuter bikes, they're still expensive, the up-front cost would put a lot of people off. Financing might be the best way to go. After 130k, is the battery still holding up?

I'd like the option of an electric motorbike dealer in Wellington. eBike shops are popping up all over the place and online, even renting from $50 a month. My guess is that most dealerships make money from the workshops more than the bikes but some do stock those little cheap electric motorbikes. It looks like most of the new electrics are coming from new start-ups, so maybe dealerships are tied to the big brands for now.

[Ser Olmy]

Seriously, though. Cheers for posting that, a really good read.

No worries, and thanks

Your "130,000km" isn't typical. Some people have bikes as weekend toys over summer, like a jet ski, so price might still be an issue. As commuter bikes, they're still expensive, the up-front cost would put a lot of people off. Financing might be the best way to go. After 130k, is the battery still holding up?

I'd like the option of an electric motorbike dealer in Wellington. eBike shops are popping up all over the place and online, even renting from $50 a month. My guess is that most dealerships make money from the workshops more than the bikes but some do stock those little cheap electric motorbikes. It looks like most of the new electrics are coming from new start-ups, so maybe dealerships are tied to the big brands for now.

Yeah I'm not typical some riders do more km than others, and everyone has different use cases and cost/benefit comfort zones. My point was that it's worth taking a few minutes to look past the up front cost and run the numbers - after some number of years and km of ownership the cost/benefit may favour electric over gas. There are also intangible benefits (or detractors depending on personal taste) to consider like lack of noise, gears, fumes, etc.

The battery is holding up better than expected after nearly 2500 cycles. I should run a capacity test but feels like it's down ~7%. Battery swap is easy enough but that's several years away yet, a new one is US$6k (+shipping +gst) so I'll probably pick up a wrecked low miler to get a battery with a bunch of other spare bits attached to it.

A dealer of full size electrics anywhere in NZ would be amazing, and probably have to be near Auckland for enough volume. Which while not ideal for a Wellingtonian it isn't tooooo onerous as EV maintenance schedules are significantly lighter than gas; there's a Wellington based HD Livewire owner that uses the Auckland dealership for servicing. I don't think there's anything stopping an existing dealer adding an electric brand, just need the space and startup capital.

Interesting you posted a pic of a Damon, they offer their bikes as subscription rentals or for purchase outright (I stumped up for a reservation back in 2020, current ETA 'late 2023'). They're one of the more promising startups, raised big chunk of money, built a factory and are in the process of fitting it out for volume production. I dare say you're right, service not sales is the real money maker for dealerships. Damon is going for the Tesla model, direct sales, no dealerships, mobile service departments. They may become the Tesla of the motorcycle world, a startup that survives, enters volume production, and very much ruffles the feathers of incumbant brands barely paying lip service to electrification (HD and Ducati excepted).