It seems like every day there’s a new article or video about electric motorcycles. If you don’t closely follow the industry, you might be under the impression there are a ton of options out there just waiting to be bought.
Not really. This week we’re going to a take at what’s actually available right now in the U.S.
If you want an EV motorcycle you can buy today in most or at least a good number of major U.S. metro areas that is capable of sustained interstate speeds of 70 or more miles per hour, your choices come down to basically two brands: LiveWire, which is owned by Harley-Davidson, and Zero Motorcycles.
Those two American brands have the most U.S. dealerships and are the brands that are more likely to have models sitting on showroom floors that can be bought right away.
Next up is the Italian brand Energica, which has a growing U.S. presence. It offers the biggest batteries and charging speeds in the industry that are currently in the hands of customers. However, due to its supply constraints and smaller dealer network, it may require patience to get the one you want.
And that’s it for what I would call anything approaching mainstream availability.
By the way, I’m purposely not counting electric scooters or motorcycles that are basically the equivalent of 125cc or less ICE bikes, like the new Kawasaki Ninja e-1 EV or BMW CE 04 maxiScooter.
Some of you are probably thinking hat about all the videos I’ve seen on Can-Am, Damon, Evoke, Fuell, Verge and other EV motorcycle brands?
Yep, there’s a bunch of stuff planned or just starting to reach the U.S. market. There are also what I would call cottage brands like Curtiss and Lightning that are currently making an extremely limited number of EV motorcycles.
If you’re considering an electric motorcycle perhaps the first thing to consider is what’s your tolerance for risk? Depending on the model, are you willing to wait anywhere from a few months or a few years to take delivery?
Is it worth it to you if you end up being forced to ship or tow your bike to another city or state to get it properly serviced?
More importantly, are you confident the brand will deliver, survive and be able to service your bike if something like a battery or circuit board goes bad?
It’s an exciting time with lots of new EV motorcycles in development. But that’s a lot different than being able to buy a bike today that you can start riding immediately and still be confident that if anything goes wrong there will be a service department nearby that can deal with it.
My main point here is don’t just plop down a deposit because a company is making big claims and has a splashy website.
That’s easy. How easy? I created the concept motorcycle just above this line in about 30 seconds using Bing’s Image Creator.
Do your research and if you’re considering buying from a startup be sure to understand its financial situation and odds of actually being able to successfully bring the bike to market. Follow up questions include: What’s the warranty? Where will you be able to get it serviced? Will you be able to test ride it before buying?
If you’ve got questions about EV motorcycles, drop them in the comments. Whether it’s me, or another EV Rider motorcyclist, chances are good someone will know the answer.