Electric Motorcycles

So electric motorcycles exist. Jay Leno has one, or at least rode one from Mission Motors in SF.

And another one:

And a review by RideApart in LA.

$14K for a bike that looks like a $3500 enduro painted black. He's not the most positive about it when the engine (battery) dies. That battery costs $9000.

And KTM has an Enduro electric bike made for sport riding. A 125cc 2-stroke would do that really well. KTM even makes one for races. It's rather nice looking too.

Course, if you live somewhere rainy, there's this "bike", which has gyroscopes to keep it upright at stoplights. That would also mean it doesn't lean in corners. I can't imagine that's fun but you're dry in the rain.

And this one, the Enertia from Blammo! Brammo in Ashland Oregon is actually for sale. With a store and everything. Kinda noisy, but it takes 4 hours to charge, top speed is 55 mph, and goes 45 miles. Limited in a lot of ways, but could get you to work, if you had a charger at the other end, since the average person works 30 miles from home.

Of course, most 250cc motorcycles will do 55 mph, no limit on the range, get 70 mpg and can keep up with traffic for less than half the cost of an electric motorcycle. But the electric motorcycle DOES EXIST, at least. So if you want to sacrifice money for bragging rights, well, you can. Honestly, a 500 or 650cc bike will cost less and be far more comfortable. A standard bike with a 4.5 gallon tank gets you 300 miles of range, and you can fill up at stations when you run low, instead of worrying about a charging cable and 4-8 hour wait.

Electric vehicle technology still has a ways to go. Its cutting edge, and its interesting, but still a ways to go.