Comment by carlosjobim
15 hours ago
I've heard from friends who are into electrical vehicles that electrical motorcycles aren't a good option economically, because the gas savings are offset by the cost of battery wear and battery replacement.
A gas powered motorbike in comparison will run for decades without having to do any expensive engine maintenance.
It's the opposite IME, most petrol two-wheelers are massive money sinks past 5 years of ownership. You will likely spend close to original price in maintenance and repairs, with most models developing "unfixable" issues that massively degrade the experience. It doesn't need to be engine related for the costs to add up.
Even if the battery craps out after 5 years (extremely unlikely), it's a wash. That's before considering the fuel savings. Battery degradation is a bit of a meme, we aren't even 10 years into mass adoption of EVs for this to be a common experience.
Never had any problem with any bike, except regular maintenance which is changing oil, changing chain, and changing tires. There aren't physically any parts on a motorcycle which could become a "massive money sink" if it breaks from normal use.
Are you talking about weird vintage bikes or Harley Davidson bikes? Because modern bikes don't have maintenance or factory issues.
> Battery degradation is a bit of a meme
Well, what is the explanation then? If there isn't a major drawback with electric motorcycles, they would already have sold hundreds of millions of units.
Because of no gas cost, cheaper/no maintenance, better performance, better riding experience, less noisy. Which commuter wouldn't want an electric motorcycle? Are hundreds of millions of potential customers in India, Asia and South America simply fools who don't have the hacker enlightenment?
The explanation is that the trusted brands (in 2Ws) are just now rolling-out EVs, the market is very conservative and home charging likely isn't an option if one's renting.
The cheaper variants now have enough range to relieve (urban) range anxiety, wasn't the case a year or two ago. My own model that's 4 years old, the new variant now has 2.5x range, faster charging and much better features. All that for the same price, and without any of the subsidies that used to exist.
These things take time, this is a low-margin business that isn't drowning in VC money.
Yes the burden of the fuel price is much less on a vehicle that sip less than 3L/km