Last week, I finally said goodbye to one of the longest press loaners I’ve ever heard of. After a year, six months, and nearly 3,000 miles, my 2023 Zero DSR/X tester is finally going home back to California. As I reflect on my lengthy adventure, I think electric motorcycles like this Zero are still a great option, but only if you can live with some rather glaring issues common with most EV bikes right now. Here’s what was great and here’s what sucked during my time with the Zero.
My loan for the 2023 Zero DSR/X was originally for two months, but Zero graciously extended the loan through winter 2023 so I could continue having fun. Then, I got to hold onto it for longer. In Zero’s eyes, letting me hold onto the bike was better than having me ride it to a dealership where it would just sit idle until a truck picked it up.
In doing so, I’ve gotten to experience the electric motorcycle life deeper than any normal press loan would have allowed me to. I got to live with the Zero in a way most journalists would never get to witness for themselves. Now, I’ve written a lot about this motorcycle over the past year and a half and you can scroll through my previous coverage by clicking here first.
Through all of this time, I learned what electric motorcycles do best, but also why the companies selling electric motorcycles are having a tough time right now.
What Was Great
Back when I picked up the Zero in June 2023, I immediately entered a familiar, yet different realm. Yes, I’ve tested electric motorcycles before and I’ve tested electric motorcycles after. But, press events are well-controlled to make the best qualities of a vehicle shine bright. This was the first time I got to choose my own adventure.
When I picked up the Zero, the ZF17.3 kWh battery (15.2 kWh nominal) lost about a percent of charge with every mile. I basically watched the battery gradually fall in real-time. This isn’t really a big deal at all, but just an observation. Seeing what’s more or less a “fuel level” expressed as a percentage has always been an interesting part of EVs and I like it. Over time, I knew exactly how much battery percentage it would take me to make it to and from a destination.
Electric bikes ride just like ICE motorcycles, but they’re devoid of loud noises, don’t subject you to any real vibration, and maintenance is hilariously easy. They also benefit from the instant snap of power electric motors are known for and in the case of the Zero, most of its 545-pound weight was down low, so it actually felt and handled way lighter than that number would suggest.
The Zero DSR/X is one of my favorite motorcycles of all time in terms of acceleration, handling, and well, the whole package.
It never got old twisting the throttle and popping a small wheelie by way of 100 HP and 166 lb-ft of torque. The great thing about electric motorcycles is that you get a perfect and brutal launch every single time. It never ceased being fun to carve corners leaned over enough to scrape my boots on the ground. Zero calls this an electric adventure bike, but it really feels more like a sportbike with a forgiving suspension, an upright riding stance, and tires good enough for dirt play. If I could sum up the Zero’s ride with a single word, it would be: Exhilarating.
Oh yeah, then there’s the noise, or lack of it. Electrics are so quiet that you can enjoy a tranquil ride without being blasted by an engine or its fumes. Look, I’m someone who loves the sound of a great engine. That’s pretty much half of the reason I bought a Triumph Rocket III. But you know what? The peace of a quiet EV was something I didn’t know I’d adore as much as I do.
The Zero did most things well. It had an adjustable windscreen that helped keep my helmet quiet, the heated bars kept my hands toasty even when I rode in the snow, and the cavernous integrated trunk was large enough for me to haul my swimming gear out to the beach with room to pick up some small groceries on the way home. I also liked the bike’s secret trunks up in the fairing which were perfect for hiding stuff on the bike for when I parked in a sketchy area.
The Zero’s base-level storage was good enough that one day, I was able to haul a motorcycle battery and tools in its trunk to help myself revive a different motorcycle.
The software was also top-notch. The Canyon and Sport modes did exactly as they said on the tin and tuned the motorcycle for the most aggressive rides possible. The Off-Road mode’s tuning let me kick the rear end out and have fun in the dirt while the Rain mode kept the shiny side up in slippery conditions. Eco mode also did a great job at reining in my throttle-happy hand, helping me get to the best range of 140 miles on one ride.
Speaking about that battery, the Zero forced me to take things slowly and enjoy the tranquility of a great ride. I rode on backroads rather than the highway and I was content at cruising at 65 mph rather than trying to set a speed record. If I did so, I usually was able to ride 120 miles on a charge and I’d get home with 10 to 20 miles to spare. Zero’s range estimates are accurate so long as you’re realistic about the limitations of the batteries.
Moving back to the software for a moment, I also loved how Zero’s software not only gives you a general idea of what’s wrong with your bike but also allows you to clear codes. No scanners or special tools are needed. I’ve said it before, but all vehicle diagnostic systems need to be this pro-end user.
Then there are the little bits of nice tech, like the fact that you can almost come to a stop on regeneration alone. The bright LED lights also seemingly got the attention of the vast majority of drivers. That’s right, you don’t need loud pipes to save your life. Just make yourself seen and ride defensively.
The DSR/X was such a good all-round motorcycle that it became my primary mode of transportation so long as I didn’t need to travel more than about 120 miles in a single trip. It was just that comfortable, fun, and easy to ride. I rode the Zero immediately after the roads were cleared after a snowstorm. I rode the Zero on days over 100 degrees. I rode the Zero through a severe thunderstorm. Heck, I even tried riding the Zero on a day that was below zero degrees.
On most occasions, the bike never ever let me down, even if I did something questionable or goofy with it. The speed was always there, the handling always inspired confidence, and I’m still sure the Zero helped me become a better rider. How much did I enjoy the Zero? I gave it a name, something I do only for vehicles I become attached to.
What Sucked
As much as I loved Olive — that’s what I named it — not everything was perfect. In fact, there are some limitations that may be dealbreakers.
My charging situation isn’t an ideal one. The vast majority of EV owners can charge from their houses. However, I’m one of millions of Americans living in apartments and lots of us don’t have options for charging. Our complexes don’t have EV chargers and a lot of us have to park in an open lot or on a public street. That means we have to depend entirely on charging away from home.
In my case, the vast majority of the Zero’s charging came from the public charger at a nearby college. I charged the motorcycle roughly 27 times during my loan period. In all but a couple of instances, all of those charges happened either at the local college or the local hospital. On average, I had to keep the Zero hooked up to one of those Level 2 chargers for 2.5 to 3 hours. This meant riding out to the charger, hooking up, having my wife pick me up, and returning later. I did this almost every single time. The one exception was the charge in which I just took a nap next to the bike.
This is the unfortunate reality of charging if you live in an apartment outside of a major city. The fastest chargers in my town are Level 2 units that get up to 6 kW. The Zero can charge in as little as an hour if you buy the optional charger speed upgrade and if you can find a faster Level 2 charger. My bike didn’t have that option, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway since my local chargers were all slow.
One of my favorite rides is the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive, which starts in southeast Wisconsin and snakes its way to a marsh just past Road America. I’ve done it in countless cars, motorcycles, and trikes. But I couldn’t do it with the Zero. Why? I would have needed at least three charges to do the whole ride, which meant at least 6 hours of charging. This is a ride that normally takes almost all day as it is, so it was impossible to do unless I desired to get back home at or past midnight. That assumed all of the chargers were even working when I rolled up to them.
To be clear, this isn’t really so much a Zero problem as it is a problem with electric motorcycles in general, regardless of make. Americans love riding all day and love riding far, but the Zero, like most electric motorcycles, just can’t do it unless you go no faster than about 20 mph.
There’s another downside of this charging situation, and it’s that public chargers are often garbage. Gas cars have it easy. You just stick the pump nozzle into the hole and squeeze the handle. EVs have to make an electrical connection with the charger. If that charger is broken and you don’t notice, the charger will also break your charge port. That’s what happened at around the third-month mark with the Zero. I tried a random public charger, not noticing that one of its prongs was bent.
Well, that bent prong then bent a pin in the Zero’s charge port. I was able to bend the pin back, but the lasting damage meant that about half of the public chargers I tried to use no longer made electrical contact with that pin.
About six months into the loan I started renting a garage at my apartment. Finally, I thought, I’d be able to charge an EV at home. Unfortunately, the garages in my neighborhood are wired so that there are three garages per circuit. So, if you have your EV slow charging on Level 1 (which takes the Zero around 12 hours) and your neighbor fires up their man cave, the breaker will trip, locking the three of you out of your garages.
Again, I want to be clear that these challenges are not specific to the Zero. This is something I would have dealt with regardless if I had a Harley-Davidson LiveWire or a Th!nk City on hand. That raggedly public charger would have broken any EV’s charge port, the Zero was just the unfortunate recipient. But these are limitations you need to know about if you live in an apartment and decide to buy an EV.
With that said, the Zero itself did bring a few of its own limitations to the table. Last January, I found myself in a bizarre situation. The motorcycle’s high-voltage battery died in the freezing cold, which is bad for battery longevity. The 12V battery soon followed suit. First, I had to revive the 12V battery with a charger before the bike would even wake up. But even when I did wake the bike up, the high-voltage battery refused to charge.
I later found out that Zero motorcycles are designed to cease charging when the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. However, there’s a twist as the motorcycle will continue to operate until temperatures reach -4 degrees. So, it’s possible to ride your Zero somewhere in the winter but not be able to charge it once you reach your destination.
In short, most of the downsides involved with the Zero DSR/X, and just electric motorcycles in general, revolve around range and charging. If you ride an electric motorcycle gently, you can get decent range out of them. However, if you’re unlucky and cannot find a fast enough charger, or don’t buy the faster charging options, you will spend too much time charging.
Then there’s the price of it all. Batteries are not cheap, which means that any electric motorcycle with a decent range means paying a lot to get it. A 2025 Zero DSR/X starts at $22,995, and you have to pay $3,000 more for faster charging. You can get a very fun gas bike for less than $10,000, so EV brands have an uphill battle. Sadly, that also means that I cannot afford the electric motorcycle I love so much.
Again, in all fairness to the folks of Zero, this is an industry-wide issue. I mean, the Can-Am Pulse is $13,999 and in my experience, you’re going to get just 40 to 60 miles of range on that unless you legitimately never leave the city.
What Broke
I’m happy to report that, despite nearly 3,000 miles of hard riding, off-roading, and some outdoor storage, the motorcycle survived largely problem-free. As I noted earlier, the bike suffered from that bent charge port pin. I also managed a freak accident where I was off-roading and somehow got a fallen tree branch to pole vault into the side stand, which caused the stand’s spring to eject. I had that back on in a jiffy.
Sadly, in October 2024 I encountered a new issue that I could not figure out. I hooked up to my favorite public charger and nothing happened. The motorcycle wasn’t charging and I couldn’t even get the charging screen to come up. When I checked the battery system status, the motorcycle claimed that nothing was plugged in. Yet, this was the charger I used successfully for nearly a year and a half by that point.
I took the motorcycle back home and had to go on a series of press trips immediately after, so I didn’t have time to troubleshoot. When I finally did come back to the bike in November, I went for a short ride around town and then tried to charge again. Once again I got nothing. This time it was dire because the charge level had gotten to just 10 percent, which meant I could no longer make it to and back from a public charger. I got desperate enough that I plugged the bike into the Level 1 home charger. My garage neighbor hadn’t been home for a while, so there was little risk of tripping the breaker.
But even the home charger wasn’t doing anything. The charger had a green light and showed ready to charge, but the bike itself was defiant, stating it was still unplugged. It was as if nothing was plugged in. When the motorcycle died last winter it showed plugged in, even if it was too cold to charge.
I tried a little bit of everything. I cleaned the charge port, I cleaned the charger, I checked fuses, I tried different outlets, and I even tried resetting the motorcycle. Nothing I did resulted in the motorcycle detecting the charger. What went wrong? Well, it’s possible the charge port itself finally gave up. It’s also possible that the bike’s onboard charger is dead or the home charger somehow died. Some Zero fans told me I might have needed to reset the BMS. Either way, I couldn’t get juice into the bike and eventually, the HV found itself at zero percent.
Would Do It Again
Sadly, Zero picked up Olive on Friday, ending my troubleshooting path. Hopefully, they give me some good news. Maybe I was a goof or something.
One year, six months. That’s how long I got to enjoy this thing. I learned a lot from how much I now love electric motorcycles to knowing just how far electric motorcycles have to go before they can even have a shot at replacing their ICE brethren. Sadly, there’s a long way to go.
Electric motorcycles can be stupidly fast, remarkably good-handling, and superbly quiet. There’s just so much that these bikes do that’s so awesome. That’s why the Zero DSR/X was my daily whether it was blazing hot or snowing. But, at the same time, the coolest electric bikes cost a small fortune, still have limited range, and can be a nightmare to charge if you can’t charge at home. Unfortunately, I can see why electric bikes have a smaller appeal while electric cars continue to go mainstream.
I think what would fix this is both advancements in battery tech alongside lower prices, sort of what electric cars got to go through. As of now, you can buy an affordable electric car that goes a decent distance on a charge and tops up relatively quickly. That hasn’t quite hit the motorcycle world just yet. Hopefully, it will.
Would I do it again? Oh yeah. I’m already asking Zero to pencil me in for a 2025 model this spring. If you can afford the price and the limitations don’t bother you, I’d say do it. Silently wheelie off into the sunset.
I ride an EV motorcycle, only 100cc equivalent, as a commuter. I got it for around $3600 while on discount. That was the only justifiable price for both the spec of the bike and my purpose for buying it. Of course I’d like one with more range and speed, but not for a geometrically higher price. Obviously, a doubling in price doesn’t mean a doubling in spec, there’s a sort of diminishing return; but frankly i don’t want to pay eight times more for maybe three times the capability and i feel EV motos will never be popularized as long as that’s the case.
Great honest article.
I’ve been tempted in the past to grab a deeply discounted Zero before but even then it was just at 5 digits for a 7.2?kW version. They have a great novelty but just like you mentioned, would never work for a long fun ride. Range is just on the too short side to really feel comfortable to me but I can see it as a commuter bike for sure.
I’m also not sure just how far they will get without a revolutionary advancement in batteries as motorcycles have a huge thing going against them, drag. Their Cd is just too high to see the same performance per kWh as a car.
I really liked my electric motorcycle… Just wish I hadn’t been an idiot and kept occasionally charging it while I was recovering from a broken leg so the battery didn’t go kaputt. Now it’s just an expensive paperweight / clothes drying rack. :/
I should try your trick with charging up the 12V and see if that can boost it back to some sort of life.
I think alternative chemistries could really shine with electric motorcycles. If you can get something in the 10-20C range for sustained charging, you can use level 3 chargers and have much more reasonable charge times. (In the 10-15 minute range for putting a decent amount of miles back in the battery)
the old Harley dealer on the south side converted over to Chinese ATV’s and these Zero’s. That was of course a flop and I briefly considered buying ne of the Zero’s at the deeply discounted prices, but I gotta tell you, 10K or not it would have been an expensive and seemingly frustrating gamble with what is still a lot of money to me. I see the Harley Pan-Americas a year or 2 old going for 13K or so. I think I would probably go that route, get the 145 or so HP and hopefully less headaches option out of the deal here.
I put 14k on my Zero and I got it used. It’s ten years old now. I know of Zeros with 10x that miles.
As with most EVs, this cannot easily be the only mode of transportation for someone. So, buy or rent or borrow something else for the longer trips.
And, yes, bigger batteries (or some day cheap solid-state) are the only solution, besides a very strong governor on the accelerator.
And, as with most EVs, the mfr is counting on someone buying it new (or leasing at some insane rent) and taking the depreciation for the next owner, who will buy it at the price that it is closer worth. I am not that sucker.
I still say the batteries should be removable on the motorcycles, like the bicycles, it would be nice to be able to pull up to just about any gas station and pay a fee plus electricity costs for the next battery on the charger versus planning for the return trip. 1 hour is way to much, 3-4 hours waiting on the charging stations that are very sketchy as to whether they function is also a deal killer.
You’ll lose some range replacing the integrated battery with several swappable packs, but kiosks could be widely deployed to handle the battery swaps and recharges. Perhaps they should have converted all those Red Box kiosks to electric bike battery kiosks! 😀
I would not hate that.
https://www.gogoro.com/smartscooter/pulse/
The charger that came with my wife’s EVquinox came with a 120v and 240v plug. The 240v plug is a NEMA 14-50, but you can get different pigtails for other outlets, like a 14-30 dryer outlet. When you attach that dongle, it limits current draw to 24amps since you are now on a 30amp max circuit (versus I think the 32 amps it will use on a 14-50).
I think the portable chargers that come with EVs (including EV motorcycles) should have multiple current draw settings built into them. I think a lot try to pull 12amps, which is just pushing it too close on a 15 amp circuit that isn’t dedicated. Some garages have a 20 amp outlet (and some chargers come with a 20 amp plug) but I’d like to see you be able to limit the charger to 7 or 8 amps. For a motorcycle battery, in most cases it should be enough to keep it topped up, and you can run an extension cord from somewhere convenient. For a car battery, that’s a really slow charge, but if you are relying on a 120v charger you are probably in a tight spot, and being able to plug it in overnight at a super slow trickle versus it tripping every breaker you try for a regular slow trickle might be the difference between making it to a charging station or not the next day.
The Bosch charger that came with my Smart EV had selectable amperage, and it was smart enough to not allow you to draw more than the circuit would allow. For example, it would let me set 12 amps on my porch plug but not 16.
The one I have now (can’t recall the brand) is just hardwired for 10 amps.
I would think that 10 would be pretty usable. I wasn’t able to see what the Zero one is rated for from a quick search. Split garage circuits shouldn’t have much trouble even with 10 and whatever else is on there, but a big fridge/freezer starting up is probably enough to trip a 15 amp breaker.
12a at 120v, 6a at 240v for Level 1 (1.4kW) (like mine without a type 2).
Level 2 public charging the base model is now 6kW, some can be modded to do 20kW
Thanks!
The charger is built into the vehicle. Connecting cord from house to car is simply a glorified extension cord…
You’re a glorified extension cord
Here is why they haven’t caught on. They’re too darn expensive. Not just electric motorcycles, but electric vehicles in general. They’re 40 to 50% more expensive to purchase, and the jury is still out on if they are lower maintenance cost.
Electric vehicles use less gas, sure, but they eat up tires, and some of the maintenance is dealership only, for example, software problems
Add in range, anxiety, and questionable, charging options, and it’s a hard no for many people
That’s not really accurate. The cost of cars in general has gone up considerable and the cost of a model 3 is now almost at parity with similarly sized gas powered cars.
‘Almost at parity’ is doing a lot of work there. Then subtract the steep depreciation, high likelihood of being totaled in a crash because of complicated frame structures, then the ‘dealership’ only maintenance that is required, and then software failures and then tell me you have a good deal.
I’m a very big fan of EV‘s, but they’re just too expensive, and then there’s the cost of ownership. That’s why Hertz got out of the electric car business
You are going to claim that “almost at parity” is false, but then you are going to throw out specific numbers (40 to 50%) without any evidence? Ok.
Some hyperbole is expected in a chat format. But the point still stands, electric cars are no more expensive than the equivalent gas car.
Is this a typo, or a complete change of course to your argument?
Typo. Thanks for pointing it out
Well… then you’d just be wrong and haven’t provided any evidence backing up your claim.
…politicians.
Oh, and Edmunds has a “true cost to own” that adds everything up over 5 years.
2020 Model 3 Long Range: $43,233
2020 330xi: $57,817
2020 Camry XSE AWD: $41,961
2020 Camry XLE Hybrid: $37,382
Yeah, I’m not sure what comparison you are doing to get your made up numbers…
I would always place my bet on a Toyota hybrid if I cared about such things, which I don’t.
I just looked it up in my local dealer. A Prius is in the $36,000 range, and a Camry the $29,000 range. 23% more expensive for the hybrid. I did not look at electric yet.
For a fact, Hertz got out of the electric car business cause they’re too expensive and appreciate too fast and crash repairs are too costly
Sort out these problems and electric cars will be attractive. For me. YMMV
^depreciate too fast. I’m a ‘victim’ of auto correct. Again
This is false. Hertz rents EVs still.
…politicians.
Depreciation isn’t a cost if you’re using it. Also depreciation isn’t that bad.
The point I’m trying to make, but apparently has been overlooked, is that electric vehicles are noticeably more expensive than the equivalent ICE vehicle. And in this case we’re talking about a motorcycle that is well over $20,000,
It’s not a good value, for me. Your decision might be different.
> The point I’m trying to make, but apparently has been overlooked
This highly depends on the specific class of vehicle, but I’d say it’s generally false. But feel free to actually post some MSRPs of comparable EVs to ICE cars.
You have to include the Musk factor – there may be rough parity in price but it would have to be significantly cheaper for me to overlook the Musk musk. I realize that some wouldn’t care (or may find his involvement an incentive to buy).
Half a new Model Y or a whole Hertz Model 3 is a tough pill to swallow. Yeah, the electric motorcycle is a niche product so it’s going to be more expensive. Too bad since this would be a great weekend toy or a fun 2.5 season commuter. 120 miles would cover my daily commute well.
There aren’t incentives the way there are for EV’s. Utilities can offer incentives to charge off peak for EV’s since they don’t need to throttle baseload power plants as much. Those big plants were meant to run. Stuff is less efficient working under design load. Lots of big batteries charging means the plant doesn’t throttle down as much, which saves the utility money. Motorcycles don’t have the use pattern cars have, which is probably why they’re not included.
Or, I can keep riding my 91 BMW K75S that I paid $3,000 for a dozen years and 120,000 miles ago. Maybe if I start having problems with it or have to service it more it will make sense to replace it… with another 20+ year old bike for a few grand.
Exactly. Neat toys, but that’s what they are in the US. Not primary transportation like elsewhere in the world.
That bike IS my daily, primary transportation. I have not purchased a car since the late 90s and even that was a 1968 BMW 1600 that I later sold for eight times what I paid for it. To me, cars and trucks are the toys as they are just so much more expensive and have costly/labor intensive maintenance. Sure, I have an old VW camper van for when I need to run to Home Depot or… go camping… but a reliable motorcycle, heated jacket and gloves are all I have needed for 34 years now.
I’ve had a Brammo Empulse R for almost 10 years now, and it’s a fantastic commuter bike. I’ve cycled through several gas bikes while I’ve had the Brammo, and it was usually the one I grabbed the keys for when I wanted to ride, because it always just works, and is smooth, comfortable, quiet and doesn’t roast my legs in the summer.
I’ve seen an Empulse R for sale and have considered buying it more than once. Just need to figure out how to get a reliable charge without pretending to be a college student every Friday. 🙂
The charging is definitely a hurdle. I’ve always been lucky enough to have a garage with enough juice to power it up. I think it’s a great bike, and I’ve enjoyed mine thoroughly. In my experience, it’s the most motorcycle-y of the electric bikes. The only annoying point has been the DC-DC convertor, but it’s an off-the-shelf part that’s pretty easy to source a replacement for. My only other bad experiences have been dealer-related, but that’s not exactly a concern anymore…
Maybe a battery bank in the garage that you can limit draw on, so that it plays nice with your electrical setup. Even a couple of solar panels to help bump it if you have a way to mount them without angering the landlord/other tenants?
Oh oh no, please don’t give me any bad ideas like that. All I need is to become obsessed with energy storage. 🙂 As it is I’m always super happy to use the little EcoFlow power station I have. It’s one of my favorite “tools.” Now imagine scaling that sucker up!
One of those nice, big 6-11kWh battery bricks that can slow charge using some PV panels and maybe occasionally wall current… Of course, you’re talking about an amount of money that will buy a couple of fun project cars, but maybe you can get some sponsored swag to “long-term test”?
I’m sure we could have some long conversations. My current obsession is to build the ultimate boondocking travel trailer.
Small enough to fit in any of Canada’s provincial parks, but able to run for a week or more with no generator. Using a lithium bank and solar, but keeping my real bathroom and an actual bed. The Jayco Jayfeather Micro series piqued my interest with the 51gal fresh water tank.
So yes, get the lithium, get the solar, make your own damn charging station! With blackjack! And hookers!
This basically sells me on an electric bike as a commuter. Something like the Can Am or a FXS would suit great as I commute about 13 miles each way, on 50mph roads, and I have a garage with 100amp service to store it.
If the bike supported V2L so it could work as a home battery backup when I get the occasional power outage, it’d be perfect.
I have zero desire to get a gas bike as I leave early in the morning for work and I’m sure my neighbours and sleeping family would not appreciate it.
Every bike I’ve owned has been a commuter that I used for some Sunday drives occasionally. I think I’ve only ever put more than 100 miles on a bike in a day once. This would cover everything I need out of a bike, if I was in a position were I commuted more regularly. Really, it’s overkill for any commute I’ve had, and I’d take the savings for one with less range. The really budget conscious bikes (the $5-6k bikes that keep launching but failing to meet their promises) are in line for price with the 300-400cc gas bikes, but I’d be happy to forego maintenance on a gas bike if the electric one could meet the minimal capability I need (which this Zero does, but those budget ones have yet to come close).
I’m willing to spend $16k (CAD) on a bike if I’m using it to commute. Hell, what I’d save in fuel every month would probably eat the payment.
Maintenance on a modern bike is pretty minimal to be honest. Change your oil and keep it topped off on fuel and even long distance bikes really need a lot of stuff done. Maybe and air cleaner every 10K miles or something if the one you have is not something you can blow out and reuse by design. Spark plugs are cheap and easy to get to on most bikes.
I actually wonder if the instant torque of the E bikes tear up Drive belts/chains and rear tires more. Certainly the E-Bicycles seem to need constant fiddling with to ensure brakes function, and chains work, but I suspect cheap Chinese design to be more the cause of that than anything else. Also the kiddos e-bike range has dropped from 70 to 50 in a years use. I know this is the estimated range of the system, but if it is accurate than the 269 dollar battery may need replacement after this summer.
I did attempt to monitor rear tire wear. Certain Buells are known for wearing out rear tires in about 4,500 miles due to their monster low-end torque. This has way more torque but the rear tire did hold up very well over approximately 3,100 miles. Mind you, I rode this thing hard and put it away wet repeatedly.
The battery also didn’t show any noticeable degradation. Indeed, I didn’t ride it that many miles, but I did subject it to being dead in subzero temps, always charged it to “110%,” and subjected the battery to a bunch of other conditions that the owner’s manual warns would damage it. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend doing what I did, but the battery in the Zero is seriously robust!
You are aware that quiet bikes exist, right? And that you don’t need to hit the rev limiter in the neighborhood? 🙂
Gas bikes just don’t interest me. Dunno why. I’ve had ATVs and dirt bikes growing up, no desire for a gas street bike.
For some reason electric bikes interest me, though.
They do? Could have fooled me. Here in God’s Waiting Room, FL bikes seem to be exclusively the loudest possible Hogs ridden by cosplaying retired Hell’s Accountants, or liter bikes revving to 11-billion rpm ridden by squids on meth.
This is exactly how I use my electric motorcycle. I wish it could do V2L, though.
That’s not all that different from plenty of gas bikes. Loads of gas bikes have range in the ~100-150 mile area, so if it had a 0%-100% read out, it would lose about a percent of fuel with every mile.
Seems like the worst part of the experience was that you didn’t have at-home charging. The temperature note isn’t really valid as 99.99% of riders won’t be riding that cold. The chargers being broken is the second most valid complaint.
That was just an observation, not really a bad thing. The only gas motorcycle I’ve gotten to watch the fuel gauge fall in “real-time” so to speak was my old GL1100. That needle started falling the second you left the gas station! Oh yeah, you can have range anxiety on a gasser, alright!
The charging is sort of a big deal if you don’t live in a house or your apartment complex isn’t nice enough to give you a garage. These are marketed as urban bikes, yet a lot of people living in urban areas don’t have charging at home. They don’t live in houses or have garages with chargers. When I shared an apartment with a girlfriend in Chicago we parked on the street. People with motorcycles just put covers over them every winter because they have nowhere else to park them.
Sure, but that’s mostly because most gas bikes don’t have the granularity of a 0-100% scale for the fuel gauge. On an analog gauge, you won’t notice a 1% change. On a digital gauge, most of them are broken up into 8ths or 16ths. Even at 16ths, that’d be equivalent to 6.25%, so you’d have to way six times as long for it to tick down. If your gas motorcycles had a 0-100% fuel gauge in arabic numerals, I’d guarantee you’d notice it going down a lot more than you do now.
I agree, but I don’t think that changes anything about the bike. The ownership experience of this bike (well, all electric vehicles) depends a lot on your home set-up. So, despite the bike being exactly the same for two different owners, they can come away with a very different experience. Hence why I have a hard time making it a negative about the bike. It’s weird. That being said, I don’t think electric bikes are near as good of an idea compared to electric cars.
I moved that section and added a bit for clarity. It wasn’t meant to appear as a con. I actually like how granular charge indicators are! But yes, I’m sure I would be just as fascinated to see a fuel gauge with that much accuracy.
To be very clear about the “what sucked” area, as I note, a lot of what sucked had nothing to do with the bike itself, but with the state of technology and infrastructure. There isn’t much these companies can do about the battery situation. As Can-Am’s engineers told me a couple of months ago, they have but so many levers they can pull right now.
They can add batteries, which adds that desired range, but that also adds weight and cost. Electric cars have been largely able to get away with the extra weight, but riders aren’t going to want a 1,000-pound adventure bike. If you take batteries out you can get a lighter, nimbler bike that costs less, but now you have a bike that can barely leave a city core.
Of course, the best solution to the tech and infrastructure thus far is either to live someplace where you can charge at home (difficult/expensive in the city) or have an employer that has a charger. At any rate, that’s why I support the battery-swapping tech that’s slowly creeping its way toward the mainstream. I may not have a place outside to charge, but I can bring a battery inside to charge!
I think these things will really catch on once the manufacturers figure out how to chop down their prices, but that will probably come as the technology improves.
“I’m one of millions of Americans living in apartments and lots of us don’t have options for charging.”
This is more like a 100 million+ as over 50% of homes can’t safely charge EVs (per many news outlets including EV companies). Adding EV-capable charging to an home owner’s residence (or apartment owners) minds is about to be around 0% as this is absolutely getting cut from the federal budget and many states won’t likely keep their own incentive programs without federal funding as well. Energy company’s will continue to offer rebate programs, but they will be limited only to keep that “green energy” mantra alive in their regular paper mailings they send you. This is also Musk’s desire to try and control that sweet, sweet EV energy sector.
Am I pissed about this? Absolutely. I hate the outward visibility we are about to see with the money changing hands so publicly and in a monopolistic way. Am I shocked like this is anything new? No. It’s just blatantly in our face now with even bigger smug looks. But am I saddened….not really. As this site has said and I’ve thought for decades, Hybrids and PHEVs are the perfect near future for us. Unfortunately the majority of Americans couldn’t fathom owning a “dorky” hybrid two decades ago and it’ll be another decade until EVs are truly seen as a normal option via … (Guess what?)…. infrastructure.
The Zero is something perfect for me…in 5-10 years. The one EV car I want isn’t sold here (Honda e – it’s perfect nostalgia for my wife and absolutely ideal for our driving in DC) but we also don’t have the budget to upgrade our electrical system – 120Amp box last updated in the ’70s in a ’30s row home). It’s why we fenced in our backyard and street park. I also put a deposit down on a Scout, but I’m assuming that’ll come in the 5 years I need to figure out the power situation and upgrade our fleet. This is obviously my situation, but it’s not an outlier for the majority.
I’m currently living in the UK and while I still only have eyes for ice vehicles the electric vehicle market is much broader with solid options. IF we were to get an electric vehicle in our household it would probably be the Hundai ioniq 5 (also available in the US) but my personal favorite in the Honda e. Just a polished and IMHO a cohesive designed EV. Damn nice looking in the flesh too. Honda did it right in the design on these. Renault and Puegot have some very interesting EV options as well and I would love to see the new “Turbo” 5 on the pavement next year!
I’m glad that the previous owners of my 1950s house had the foresight to upgrade the panel in the early 90’s. 200 amp service for a small 3 bedroom with an extra 220 circuit that isn’t in use right now. Doing renos next year and I’m having that run extended into the garage for future use.
I am in the same boat with BOTH of my existing houses, in Maine and in Florida. $10K++ in electrical upgrades to add a charger to be code compliant.
New house I am building in FL will have a dedicated 50A circuit in the garage though. I have no interest in an EV today, but no reason not to spend the money to future-proof the place.
This is false. Only a third of Americans live in rentals or apartments.
I also have no idea what you mean by monopolistic… No EV company has more than half of any of the sectors.
It’s not false as it also includes homes that are “owned” that do not have off-street parking (I would know as I live in one.) Theoretically I could remove my backyard for a parking pad, but again I don’t have the money.
Tesla is working at being a monopoly in the power segment. They are the only dedicated company that has charging infrastructure, they have also managed to make their chargers the new standard for the industry, and the guy who owns the most shares is now going to be in a government position to make policy decisions that will carefully carve out competition. It’s a future chess game Elon is playing.
Apparently the people behind the companies which make electric motorcycles have no problem wasting money, because that’s exactly what they are doing right now.
When you are given money to make something happen…and likely quickly… you use that money to do something, but it typically doesn’t work out. How many automobile companies existed in the 1900’s that didn’t exist into the next decade or two?
“I later found out that Zero motorcycles are designed to cease charging when the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. However, there’s a twist as the motorcycle will continue to operate until temperatures reach -4 degrees. So, it’s possible to ride your Zero somewhere in the winter but not be able to charge it once you reach your destination.”
So why not add a couple of heating strips to the battery pack powered by the charger to preheat the battery if it’s otherwise too cold to accept a charge? It might add 10-15 minutes to an already long charge time but it’d be better than being stuck altogether.
When I read the headline I thought the article would be about how Zero seemed to have lost track of things and that’s why you had the bike for 1.5 years, i.e. “here’s why they haven’t caught on” where “they” = Zero. 🙂
Hahaha I was just coming here to say exactly this
They are never going to get free of the “urban shuttle bike” moniker and that’s if you have your own driveway and power outlet. The technology isn’t there yet and the price is 3 or 4 times what it should be.
Thanks to both you and Zero for exposing the reality of the present. In not perpetuating a lie there may be some consumer trust at some point in the future.
I’ve said it here before, I’ll say it again:
There is currently no viable bracket for these things.
An electric car brings some objective plusses vs an ICE car: insane performance for the price, that costs orders of magnitude more money to get (just close to) on an ICE car, while keeping the practicality and every day driver-ness of an ICE car, or almost. There are clear disadvantages in some aspects, but those can be overcome by the advantages.
An electric motorcycle doesn’t bring anything at all vs an ICE motorcycle. It is beaten silly in practicality by a commuter ICE motorcycle, its performace is eye-wateringly caricatural vs 99% of the ICE motorcycles costing half the price, it weighs more, is slower, and can only fulfill the function of making an expensive statement. Statement of what exactly – I’m not sure.
And it’s killed at the bottom of the bracket on the city-commuter market by increasingly efficient electric scooters.
Anyone venturing into making one of these and planing on succeeding should pick one, and try to work from there: low weight and performance at the expense of laughable range, decent range and creature comforts at the expense of laughable performance – and it will still probably fail.
The one and only bracket I haven’t seen anyone cover, and whch might actually succeed, is the serious playbike market:
That’s about it.
As someone who both ride motorcycle and bicycles, I completely agree with everything you said and have said more or less the same things. Dirt bikes/trail bikes are 100% the use case for electric. I would also add to your argument that electric bicycles fill almost everybody else’s needs. They have more or less the same range as any electric motorcycle on the market but are substantially cheaper.
You can already buy extra batteries to swap out, something you can’t do with the current crop of EV motorcycles. Plus, newer models are coming out with dual battery models, so in some cases they have greater range as well. Seem like a no-brainer to me. Full size EV motorcycles make less than zero sense to me with their abysmal range.
Have you ridden an electric motorcycle? I owned a Livewire for a few years and I found it had a few key advantages over ICE bikes.
It is far easier to go fast on an electric motorcycle than an ICE bike. ICE bikes take effort to launch and require you to be in the correct gear for peak performance. For EV bikes, all of the work to go fast is done for you. You twist the throttle and the motor and software handle the rest. If you are someone with average riding skill, it is far easier to go fast on an electric bike than an ICE sport bike.
Electric motorcycles are quiet. You do not attract law enforcement attention. You can enjoy going fast on your bike without worrying about tickets, getting arrested, or pissing off other motorists.
The lack of a hot engine is a huge plus in warm climates. You don’t know how much heat a motorcycle engine produces until you ride an electric motorcycle. The heat might be nice on cold days, but it sucks on hot days. This is probably the most underrated benefit of electric motorcycles over ICE bikes.
Obviously, EV motorcycles have their limitations (price and charging time/ease of charging), but they can be a lot of fun.
I have not ridden one indeed. And I’m sure they can be a lot of fun. All bikes, even the lamest ones, are fun 🙂
The advantages you cite are real, but not enough in my book.
I know of one electric motorcycle company that has been in business forever: Oset. And they have found their bracket and are cornering it magnigicently. Playbikes for kids. Well made, well thought bikes.
I remember I called them 15+ years ago asking about battery range and such, and the guy’s comment was “In our experience, there is no 5 years-old kid’s attention span or stamina that would outlast a battery charge. They tire out before the battery does“.
This is the one place where electric can really work – a motocross bike is quite intensive to use and not that simple or inexpensive to maintain (all other things being equal). If anyone builds an electric motorcross bike that lasts even the equivalent of half a race and is not heavier than an ICE one, it will sell.
I’m going to respectfully disagree that engine heat is a positive. I generally ride on 80+ degree days (I can’t believe Mercedes rides in sub freezing weather, much less that anyone needs a motorcycle that can be ridden at -4 degrees…), so less heat is good. Also, I have a few exhaust pipe scars on my right leg – those wouldn’t have happened on an electric bike.
I can appreciate the sound of a 4 cylinder at 10,000+ rpm. I rode a CBR 600 for a very long time and really enjoyed that bike. That bike was very smooth and sounded great near the redline.
I enjoyed the auditory experience of my Livewire, though. It is much more engaging than you would expect. There are quite a few mechanical sounds that are present when riding. Some of the sounds are intentional (i.e. mechanical components specifically designed to make a certain sound) but some are not. I haven’t driven a Taycan yet, but from audio clips I have listened to, the Livewire sounds a bit less artificial.
I could say quite a few good things about electirc motorcycles, but realistically, they will not be popular unless prices come down substantially.
I completely agree with you on this. Electric motorcycles absolutely commute better than a gas bike. No worries about overheating an air-cooled ICE bike in summer stop and go traffic. No worries about clutch wear or hill starts in traffic. You don’t roast in the summer at slow speeds. Regen braking is great. The lack of noise and fumes when stopped at a light or in traffic is a huge bonus. Maintenance is also a big bonus. My Brammo has only needed tires, and a couple of oil changes for the gearbox, which cost me all of $7 for a bottle of oil each time. Charging it up cost pennies before I got solar, and is effectively free now. It’s also a hoot to ride with the instant torque and easy launches.
I’m a year-round motorcycle commuter, with a 100 mile a day round trip. I have been waiting for the electric motorcycle that can take the place of my Honda NC700X, and I’m sure I’ll still be waiting when I retire. The battery technology is just not there to compete with a Honda ICE bike that gets 70mpg and runs forever, without even starting to talk about the price difference.
That’s a very different (some might say much more extreme) commuting situation than I have. I would even posit that it’s different than the commuting situation that *most* people have. So, no, absent a massive leap in battery technology, it’s not going to work for you. But in my experience in commuting on a number of different motorcycles, FOR MY PARTICULAR COMMUTES (mix of surface streets and highway, ~40 miles a day including a lunch run) the Brammo is the hands-down, no-question winner.
You nailed it. The Zero, like that sweet LiveWire, does a perfect launch every single time without any real skill required. No heat during the summer, but heated bars during the winter. No clutches to wear out, simplified maintenance, and still decent range if you’re not trying to race someone.
To me, the LiveWire is the best sounding electric motorcycle ever made. Riding it in 2019 also reminded me of my Buell Lightning. I remember joking about how the LiveWire’s dev team must have copied a Buell because it was just that fun and agile.
I agree that it’s the perfect commuter, especially if you can charge at home. Though LiveWires can fast charge, which the Zero cannot. My problem has always been the price. That initial $30k price was a shock (ha) and while it’s better now, LiveWire still isn’t really selling many of them. I wonder how cheap these things need to get before Americans will buy them?
So these really still are in their infancy, reading the couple issues with charging, not just the last one you couldn’t figure but the cold weather one, and the cost of the whole thing, it’s like some new startup, but Zero has been around longer than most in this space so that’s a little worrisome.
Where I think these really work is the Gogoro tech, urban quick swap battery stations, no wait, no charging at home, just pull up, swap the battery scoot away. Not so much for full on cycles, but for scooter sized it looks to be the right solution.
Energica (RIP) bikes are able to DC fast charge. This dramatically cuts down on the time you spend waiting at chargers, assuming you can find an EVgo/Electrify America/Tesla Magic Dock. Still sucks to be hanging around waiting for your bike to charge, though.
I had no previous knowledge of how much these were, the whole time I was reading this, I was like, damn, this seems pretty great, lots of range, no noise, very cool.
Then I read 25 thousand dollars and started laughing.
Maaaaaybe 8K and they might have a chance.
I could deal with all the EV-specific limitations you talk about here, but not with that price.
Most I’ve paid for a bike was about $12k, and that was a brand new 4-cylinder sportbike.
At $26k you’re in exotic bikes territory, that’s Panigale and MV Agusta money for something that should cost maybe a third of that.
It seems to me that the people who would benefit most from this EV (and most others) live in urban areas, and the people who have the hardest time charging this EV (and most others) live in urban areas.
On the flip-side, the folks who live in rural areas need long-range EVs and charging stations dispersed across huge areas with small populations (which are exactly the charging stations that will be last in line for maintenance, and make very little money for their operators even when they are working).
Charging infrastructure is the reason that I can’t see EVs outselling hybrids for at least another 20 years.
One benefit is that there are a decent number of EVs out there with 300ish miles of range, and if you charge at home overnight, you can leave your driveway every morning with effectively a full tank of gas.
I’m in traveling sales with a mostly rural territory, and I very, very rarely exceed 200 miles in a day, so the range limitation/public charger issue mainly comes in on road trips – which, then, are mostly going to be Point A to Point B things along major highway corridors, which are getting to be reasonably well covered by Tesla.
I’m not a huge EV evangelist, I wouldn’t want one as my sole vehicle, especially, but I can see how the numbers can be made to work for most people, and, frankly, I could definitely make one work myself as a daily primarily for business use, if I sprung for a home charger install. But, that’s with something like 3x the range of this motorcycle
I’m not a bike guy but can’t you buy a pretty nice gasser for 10 grand less…that’s a BIG price gap.
I think battery tech is going to have to show dramatic improvements before electric cycling will feel as free as ICE cycling and that’s important here where motorcycles are largely viewed as luxury toys versus primary transportation. If you can double (or more) the range, thereby also reducing the frequency of aggravating charging stops, all of this becomes tenable.