Zero SR

[bioman_imp]

With its regenerative braking, your buddy could probably leave home on a full charge, ride up Pike’s Peak, then return home fully charged again.

I'm pretty sure my buddy bought the optional extended range version which goes 227 miles. He said most of the small towns in the mountains have a Level 2 charger that will get him good to go in about an hour and a quarter, so basically a lunch stop. He said the primary maintenance task is keeping an eye on belt tension but there's an app that listens to the frequency when you rap on it with a wrench. Pretty cool!

I am very tempted to go electric. I am even willing to sell my 2 gas-powered bikes for it, but it is the range that stops me. 227 miles is certainly getting close (although the Zero website claims a max of 223 miles). However, those are city-miles!! If one rides mainly on highways or without stop&go-traffic, the Zero site tells me that this number comes down to 112 miles, or to 150 miles for a combined city/highway trip. Also, if the weather is colder than sunny California (e.g. in all of Canada during 9 months of the year), the range decreases by a lot!
My wife commutes to work in a Tesla Model 3 - and loves it, but there is a serious difference between theoretical and practical range.

All in all, if the range goes up to a real-life figure of 200 miles (300 kms), I am sold. Until then, I will wait.