If electric motorcycle is future savior, then why electric motorcycles are failing. The modern world understands the significance of electric motorcycles. The whole situation of global warming and reducing carbon emissions is pressing every vehicle manufacturer to make this shift in front of conventional gas or diesel-powered large and small vehicles.
But regardless of their importance, these electric vehicles are failing, and people are not buying them as they should. Manufacturers keep telling us that they are the future, but their presence is quite dismal.
In this post, we will find out why electric motorcycles are failing.
History of Electric Motorcycles
Back in 1897, a top guy in the electric vehicle and bicycle industry said that people couldn’t sit over an explosion, and he was spot on. The National Automobile Show in the year 1900 polled in NYC to askes the people what is their preferred vehicle power source.
Electricity won significantly while steam came in seconds and gasoline came in the third spot. Now that is something pretty impressive back in the day.
If that had been the trend back then, imagine what the manufacturers would have been churning out in modern times! But for some reason, electric motors were muscled out by the gasoline engines.
So, we have preferred a growl over a whir for a long time, huh! The electric motorcycle industry had to wait for an entire century before any new advancements were made from that time to now.
What Electric Motorcycles Have to Offer?
Electric motorcycles were a thing back then, and they are a thing now too. But besides preventing you from sitting on explosions, there are some other benefits of riding these electric motorcycles. Let’s have a look at them one by one.
Fast Speed
Electric motorcycles are fast, and they are becoming faster in a pretty quick time too. This is because a lot of research is going on in the industry. It’s not just Ducati and Kawasaki, but tech giants like Google and Samsung are also participating in this R&D.
Have a look at the Isle of Man TT, one of the most iconic motorcycle races in the world. In the year 2010, the TT Zero all-electric registered a lap record of 23′ 22.89. Then in 2014, this time was reduced by a whopping 4 minutes and turned out to be 19′ 17.300.
In comparison, the fastest class superbike registered a lap record of 17′ 12.83 in 2010. And then, in 2014, it reduced the time by just 6 seconds and turned out to be 17′ 06.682.
Now consider the difference between the two types and how much advanced they got within the 4 years. The electric bike got 4-min faster in 4 years than the gasoline bike in the same period that only got 6-second faster.
At the moment, the fastest production bike in the world is already an electric unit. It’s not the Hayabusa, Ninja, or Augusta. It’s the LS218 Lightning that has a top speed of 218 miles per hour.
This record was set with an electric charge that only cost 18 cents. So, this is not the fastest production bike but is the most efficient one too. And that’s all that electric motorcycles can do.
Clean Energy
This is one of the top benefits of making the shift or preparing for it. Gasoline is still a biofuel, and no matter how refined it gets over time, the risk of carbon emissions will always be there. We are not talking about a single bike here. Imagine how many bikes go around on a single road in a big city on a busy day.
You can amplify that times 10,000, and you will get your pollution map for a single state or province. Now, imagine hats going on on the global level. We are eating our planet away, and these problems need to be sorted out. The best solution is to alter the power source of your vehicle and go electric.
Electric motorcycles run on clean energy as they are powered by electricity. You won’t have to worry about your carbon emissions at all. And of course, electricity is cheaper than gasoline, so that you will be saving a few bucks too.
You might not know it, but motorcycles are not suitable for the environment. You might ask why motorcycles are bad. Well, because they are high on emissions, that is twice as much as what cars produce. So, they need to go green.
Quieter
This might be a different story from what happened more than a century ago, but people go for quieter vehicles. Back in the early 1900s, we preferred choosing growl over whir, as we have mentioned above. But this time around, we are more driven towards going for quieter engines that don’t make much noise.
You can imagine the charm of going down the mountain on your electric motorcycle. And all you can hear is the wind and the trees and, of course, some of the friction of your tires.
We have been made to believe that noisier motorcycles are better than traditional motorcycles. Just have a look at all the apples around us. They are machines too, but we never ask for a noisy refrigerator for a washing machine. The same is the case with motorcycles, and quieter is always better.
Latest Trend
Slowly but surely, electric-powered motorcycles are becoming the new face. Back in the old days, internal combustion was the trend. But with the “Go Green” army in action, more and more people are following the trend, and this is happening whether we like it or not.
There was a day when riding a fume spewing noisy bike was a trend. But things are changing. Have a look at all the celebs coming to red carpets, not in their limos and SUVs but Priuses. Harley-Davidson has introduced Project LiveWire, which is their line of electric motorcycles.
The pure hog riders will not like this, but the company is not focusing on this new project. They are focusing on a younger audience that follows the trends meticulously. By young here, we are not saying young in age but young in taste.
Top Reasons Why Electric Motorcycles Are Failing
These electric motorcycles are faster than their conventional counterparts. But they also come with their different and unique dangers. What are the problems with electric motorcycles, and how do they harm us in the long run? Let’s find out.
Motor overkill
If you have used an electric motorcycle before, you will notice that its motor draws excessively high energy. It means that there is a constant overload, and there is always an insufficient amount of torque.
Some of the symptoms of this problem are that your motor becomes overheating. This occurs due to sudden trauma on the bike to handle more current than what it is designed to handle.
Excess heat
There are endothermic heating conditions either caused by internal overload or environmental changes. These changes cause your bike mechanisms to disrupt. This is why an electric bike has to go through so much maintenance and care throughout its life.
However, if you keep these conditions in their optimal limitless, then your bike’s shelf life will increase trifold.
Too much heat production due to overload or heat absorption in the environment makes your bike more hazardous. It might become dysfunctional, or its motor becomes a failure. Therefore, you have to keep your bike safe from excess heat.
Humidity and moisture
Yes, that’s right, humidity and moisture in the air can also influence your bike’s overall performance. Moisture can corrode your bike’s metal because its motor is entirely made of steel.
Therefore, chances of any rusting are increased significantly if it remains exposed to a humid environment. With moisture and dampness, insulation failure occurs, and it destroys the motor shafts.
It can also corrode away the bearings. It all starts when too much dampness eats away the protective layer from the surface of your motor and other parts. If you have kept your motor inactive for too long, then you have to keep it warm for longer to keep it running.
And if that doesn’t happen, then its temperature will drop to the dew point. It means that you will have to deal with some serious consequences.
The humidity has to remain under 80 percent to keep that motor running if you use your bike regularly. It will reduce any chances of corrosion, and your bike will be less prone to any damage.
Dirt particles and contaminants
Electric motors are more exposed to dirt due to their construction. When they are installed in motorcycles, they become even more exposed. If you take your bike to a hilly or desert area, it will be more covered with this particular element.
This will make your bike contaminated and will halt the functioning of those cooling fans and various other functioning parts. It will end up overheating your motor, and that’s not good for your bike. It will begin to draw more current and will get damaged more quickly over time.
So, if you think “are electric motorcycles more dangerous,” then yes, they are because they’re more prone to get contaminated over time. And that contamination fails the overall reliability of your electric motorcycle.
But the dangers will become even more devastating when there is too much moisture in the air along with the dirt and contaminants.
These particles and contaminants stick to the surface and form a corrosive layer of a substance that will eat your motor away over time if you don’t attend to this matter in a timely fashion.
Resistance
Another reason why electric motorcycles are failing is resistance. This resistance holds some importance. Low resistance is not suitable for your bike, and it happens when the motor overrides or overheats due to endothermic heating conditions.
This is a problem that is much more difficult to overcome because it’s far more technical. Other factors can also cause your bike to have low resistance.
These factors include physical damage, corrosion, electric motors, and overheating of certain parts over time.
These symptoms can disrupt the overall mechanism of your bike motor windings by halting their overall functionality. It can result in short circuits and hence can lead to fuel leakage by damaging the electric motors.
Vibration
If you notice that your electric motorcycle has started making noises and vibrations out of nowhere, you need to stop right there. You should take them to the nearest electric bike mechanics and run those tests to check the causes behind those noises and vibrations.
Some riders don’t take it too seriously, but this is also one of the reasons why electric motorcycles are failing. Reasons behind these conditions are whether the motor isn’t properly positioned or isn’t placed discreetly. Riding too often on bumpy surfaces can also lead to these vibrations.
If these vibrations keep going, your bike will become more vulnerable and lose its bearings over time. This can also make your bike rust, and you are dealing with double trouble.
To prevent this from happening, you need to check only your bike and its conditions and always go for a test ride before you set yourself on those long routes.
Electric Motorcycles: Future or Failure?
Electric motorcycles are here, and they serve a serious purpose. Conventional motorcycles are not suitable for the environment.
With many manufacturers shifting towards more environmentally safe practices, vehicle manufacturers have been seriously under fire to make this shift happen.
Many of them are working towards making a shift, and many have also introduced electric motorcycles without much success. People are not buying these environmentally-friendly electric motorcycles.
Maybe their complex design and development make them pricier, which is why electric motorcycles are failing. Or maybe they need more maintenance and care to last for long. So these bikes need more love and attention.
And in today’s busy lifestyle, that is not going to happen much. No matter what era you are in, low maintenance and budget-friendly options have always been a hit, no matter what you do.
Now, these electric motorcycles are neither budget-friendly, nor they are low maintenance. And these are the primary two reasons why people are reluctant to buy them.
Manufacturers might have been making these electric motorcycles better with every model coming out each year. But there are still some serious gaps to be filled in. but these gaps will only be filled in when manufacturers see any hike in sales.
The same thing happened a century ago with the internal combustion engine. People asked for these engines instead of electric motors, and manufacturers kept building on newer models with more advancements.
The same thing needs to happen with electric motors. With more advancements, electric motors will become more refined, and the problems that we have mentioned above will be rectified.
FAQs
Are electric motorcycles more expensive than their gasoline counterparts?
Electric motorcycles are more expensive as compared to their gasoline counterparts. The technology is new, so it is going to cost more. However, some of the newer models are coming with a slightly cheaper price tag.
Are electric motorcycles suitable for beginners?
Electric motorcycles are suitable for beginners because you don’t have to deal with clutching and shifting. This becomes a lot more fun when you are riding in heavy traffic or similar urban scenarios.
Are electric motorcycles safer than gasoline motorcycles?
Electric motorcycles might be safer for the planet as compared to gasoline bikes. But they do come with their risks and hazards.
For instance, these bikes are prone to overheating, especially if they get dirty. But with more research and development, these bikes will get better over time.
Why are electric motorcycles faster than gasoline motorcycles?
Electric motorcycles are faster than gasoline motorcycles because they can develop their torque faster. So you can reach 0 mph to 60 mph in no time.
It is always going to be faster than what a gasoline-powered bike can achieve. But they do lack top speed because there are still some technological advancements behind their gasoline counterparts. But they will get there eventually.
Is it easy to repair or maintain an electric motorcycle?
It’s neither easy nor cheap to maintain an electric bike. This is one of the primary reasons why electric bikes are still failing.
You have to visit a specialized electrical mechanic who understands working with these electric motorcycles. And the service is not going to be cheap either.
How are electric motorcycles quieter?
Electric motorcycles are quieter because they don’t have engines with a lot of moving parts in them. With more moving parts, there will be more noise.
And there will be more vibrations. Electron motorcycles have electric motors in them. Not many moving parts will make noise or vibrate, so they are quieter and less vibrational.
Conclusion
Despite all the facts and all the hype, there is a reason why electric motorcycles are failing. And that is because this industry still has to go a long way.
It would have developed if we had chosen the right path 100 years ago, but now we have to weigh model by model and year after year as new technology is introduced. Electric motorcycles might be a failure today, but they are the future too.
