With the ever-rising pollution and Global warming, the shift to electric vehicles will become a necessity more early that we actually thought. But we need not worry, because, despite a few cons, there aren’t any drawbacks of riding an electric motorcycle. So, today we are going to discuss, how our riding experience will change for the better in the future.Inexpensive riding:
The Initial cost of buying an electric motorcycle may go up but the running cost will always remain practically nothing. You can even install a separate solar panel at your home to charge your bike for way less money than you spend on petrol. Since the e-bike will have almost no moving part, besides the DC motor, all you have to do in the name of maintenance would be either tire and brake fluid change or tightening of the chain. The absence of the clutch will also invite more people to start riding a motorcycle, who were earlier afraid of the complications of gear shifts.
Environment-friendly:
The biggest advantage would be to our environment. With millions of gas guzzlers replaced with smooth and quiet running electric machines, even New Delhi’s sky will start looking blue in a few months. The air will become clear, the particulate matter will get reduced and there will be no smog during winters. If you’re thinking that more electric vehicles will require coal power plants to produce more electricity and essentially increasing carbon footprint, then you’re not fully right. Wind and Solar energy are on the rise, especially in our country and by the time e-vehicles become dominant a sustainable infrastructure of renewable energy source, will already be in place.
Electronically smart:
Even a mid-range e-scooter like Ather 340, has features like onboard navigation and live location tracking, which even the Duke 390 doesn’t have. So imagine what an electric supersport like the Emflux One would have up its sleeves. Advance features like Variable traction control and Riding modes will become more common as these bikes take over.
Better batteries:
Either e-vehicles will act as a catalyst in making batteries better or they will just enjoy the process. Better and efficient batteries will become a reality in the future. We are talking about energy storage devices which will steer themselves away from the side-effects of having a higher C-rate and will churn out a great “cycle-life”. Such batteries will not just be a boon for the transport industry but to the whole mankind as well.
Electric vehicles have been around even before the early 20th century, but due to lack of R&D in such a source of energy, it failed to compete with the conventional oil. In the modern world, the electric vehicles inherently can be regarded as a premium mode of transportation due to their simple mode of operation and ease of usability. Combine to them the increasing popularity of sports like Formula E and Moto GP electric, and we have a whole new generation of kids who would want to grow up and ride only an electric bike.
Still, there are several advantages like instant torque and blazing acceleration, but that’s a talk of another topic. For everything related to Bikes, stay tuned to BikesMedia.
By: Yetnesh Dubey
The Future Of Electric MotorcyclesOriginally Posted On- 4th March'18.
Before you jump on my neck with a knife, give me a chance to explain. I am talking about buying an Electric bike, not today, not 5 or 6 years in the future but eventually when it will become mandatory to drive only an electric vehicle. I am talking about this today because just like every other human being, change scares me. I can't imagine the thought of letting my petrol drinking sweet machine go away, forever. After a night full of bad dreams, I started writing about electric motorcycles and let me tell you, all though electric bikes used to be awful 10 years ago they have made a great stride in that time.
*** Zero S e-motorcycle from Zero Motorcycles Inc.
The major advancement, which was made in the field of performance, focused electric 2 wheelers, happened in 2006. In this year Zero Motorcycles Inc. was formed in America by Neil Saiki, a former NASA engineer, in Santa Cruz California. The company makes motorcycles in the Street and Dual sports segment. Most notable model in the street version is Zero S, which kick-started the fame of the company. The motorcycle had a top speed of 153 km/h and could do 130 km/h all day, without breaking a sweat. It had a range of 81 kilometers. Zero S had no ABS and was sold on the road at approximately 9000$.
*** Emflux One from Emflux Motors, India.
Now let’s compare Zero S with what we saw at Auto Expo 2018. The Motorcycle’s name was Emflux One which had state of the art components like, Pirelli tyres, Ohlin’s Suspension, both at the front and back. It had Dual channel ABS, carbon fiber body panels as an option, Nvidia Tegra GPU and CPU for battery management.
Surely you can see that we have come a long way from 2009. The advancement in this field has been exponential not just for Zero motorcycles which began several years ago but also for Emflux ONE, which began in 2016. The Range of Zero SR highest model, which comes with a power tank, is approximately 359 kilometers. That being said, there’s no need to trust the motorcycles manufacturers on their entire word. That’s why the company has already given the data for highway riding, meaning if you’re riding at 117 km/h from the start of the battery to its very end, then you’ll have a range of 118 km/h. This is pretty good for a bike with 157 nm of torque available at the very bottom of the rev range. If numbers don’t mean anything to you, then consider this, The 2018 Harley Fat-Boy has a torque of 144 nm.
*** 2018 Harley Davidson Fat Boy
Even the Indian made Emflux ONE has a top speed of 200 km/h and a range of 200 kilometers as well. This will be reduced to 130-140 kilometers if the bike is pushed hard enough. The torque on this thing is somewhere around 84 nm, as the GPU controller limits it to conserve battery.
*** UM Motorcycle's THOR
If the advancement made by Emflux isn’t worth your interest, then UM motorcycles latest electric bike, The Thor, will surely satisfy your needs. With a range of 270 kilometers and a 5-speed gearbox, the only thing which you will be missing from your petrol bikes would be the exhaust sound. Company’s officials say that they don’t want their customers to lose out on all the benefits of having a clutch, that’s why they have made world’s first manual electric bike.
Range, manual transmission and state of the art equipment, these are just some of the areas in which electric motorcycles have made advancement in the past 9 years. Sure, we don’t feel like letting go of our petrol engine bikes today, but after 9 more years, it will be pretty easy. The switch to electric bikes is inevitable, and we need not fear it at all. As It will only make our riding experience more fun. For everything related to motorcycles stay tuned to BikesMedia.
By: Yetnesh Dubey