Where are all the electric enduro motorbikes?
Some of us have been waiting years now for that breakthrough moment.
When an electric motorbike can match its smelly noisy cousins for light weight,
power and distance.
Imagine this baby available for less than current prices.
No clutch.
No gear changes.
No stalling.
Instant torque.
Impossible to drown.
No oil changes, or cleaning air filters.
Left hand rear brake.
Infinitely adjustable power settings.
Where do I sign up?
Electric motorbikes are doing well in other areas.
An electric motorbike has done the quarter mile in six seconds.
Another one has reached 254 mph or 408kmh.
And there are some quite decent electric road motorbikes and scooters now.
But enduro motorbikes pose a real challenge with the demand for light weight,
plenty of power, and a decent range.
Things did look promising with the Alta Redshift a few years ago.
The motocross model weighed a hefty 120kg (265lb), but had a claimed output of 50hp.
Alta claimed the battery could last 25 minutes of racing, or up to four hours cruising in the woods.
But it was bloody expensive and they went bankrupt.
KTM brought out the E-ride a few years ago then it mysteriously disappeared.
Now it's back again and the claimed weight of 108kg is pretty good,
around the same as a two stroke enduro motorbike with half a tank of fuel.
But that's at the expense of range and power.
Owners of the new model report one to two hours riding depending on how hard you ride.
And the power output of 24.5hp is around half that of a 300cc two stroke.
Probably the final contender is the Chinese-made Sur Ron Storm Bee.
It's definitely on the heavy side at 127kg for their offroad version.
It has a claimed maximum of 30hp, and a claimed range of 100km sitting on a steady 50kmh.
We need several big changes to make this sort of enduro motorbike a reality.
The biggest hurdles?
Heavy weight.
Limited range.
Not enough power.
Long charge times.
Too expensive.
And often just plain ugly.
But this could all change soon.
First, battery technology.
The current ones are still bulky, heavy, don't store enough energy and take too long to charge.
But this could all change soon.
Elon Musk reckons we will see dramatic improvements
in the current lithium ion batteries in coming years.
Otherwise a more recent technology, ultracapacitors,
might pave the way to much more effective batteries.
And there's also a lithium titanium oxide battery
that can be potentially charged in under 10 minutes and last almost forever.
Second, the electric engines.
The faster they can spin, the more power you.
But cooling becomes a problem.
Telsa has lighter more powerful engines on the way as they manage to keep them cooler at high revs.
And two Italian companies are pioneering liquid-cooled engines for the same purpose.
Third, prices will get cheaper.
Eventually.
Unfortunately research and development is expensive,
so it's almost all happening in the automotive world.
Eventually it trickles down into the motorbike industry.
And then eventually into dirt bikes.
But we will need to see quite a few breakthroughs,
and big sales, before decent electric dirt bikes are cheap.
Four.
The ugly factor.
These bikes have really been hit with 'ugly stick'.
Repeatedly.
Are they letting the interns design them after too many hash cookies?
Who knows...
I went to a recent motorbike exhibition and was these electric horrors.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes us to adapt
to a different style of look as electric dirt bikes become popular.
With a bit of luck the Japanese might come up with a good looking e-bike.
This is Yamaha's prototype.
And Honda is working on this motocross version.
And for those who will miss the noise,
you can just plug your headphones in while riding to hear this.
Or make your own sounds.
What do you guys think?
Keen to see decent electric bikes?
Or will that smelly noisy old bike have to be pried from your cold dead fingers?
Keen to hear your thoughts!