Hey Guys,
I'm doing a little study with respect to electric mobility, focusing on electric motorcycles. I'm sure you've all heard about the Mission Motors superbike at some stage, here a quite snippet with Jay Leno:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyYAJgEblrA
Most of us will not be able to afford this bike, and I'm wondering what people would be happy to pay if there was a complete electric engine-motor upgrade kit that you could 'simply swap' into your bike. You would have to replace the fuel tank and the internal combustion motor with a battery and an electric motor, both made specifically to suit your bike. The electric motor would be as powerful as the internal combustion engine, but mileage would be limited to about 100 km before having to recharge.
Amongst others, advantages of electric are:
- clean and silent (possibility of accessing zero-emission zones that are being enforced throughout the world in national parks or inner cities)
- recharging for 100 km costs less than 0.5 USD in energy, and less than 3 USD in battery (battery has limited lifetime)
- cost will likely reduce in future due to progress in (battery) technology (air-Li batteries, etc.), while the price of oil will likely increase (peak oil, etc.)
- motorcycle does not loose function when submerged under water (Offroad riding)
- no hazardous fumes, bike can be parked in your bedroom, no oil leaks
- because it's a kit, you could switch back to your internal combustion engine and sell the electric motor and battery if needs change
- center of gravity does not change during operation as is the case with a fuel tank and an internal combustion engine
- environmentally smart and responsible
Would be nice to hear what you guys think,
Cheers!