Gone in 60 said:
... marketing the upcoming Verge electric motorcycle -
Verge Motorcycles – The Hubless Electric Motorcycle
They're claiming a 217 mile range, but at a cost of $35k to purchase. Not something I'd consider, but it is very unique...
Practical considerations aside, the Verge motorcycle is fascinating for the audacity of the design. The advantage of using a "hubmotor" to open up more volume for batteries is pretty clear. I put "hubmotor" in quotes because this one is a sort of "hubless hubmotor."
Focusing the motor mass as far out on the radius as possible makes sense. The bearings required to do this must be impressive. I would love to see the disassembled motor, wheel, and bearings, or a cutaway drawing.
The problem of unsprung mass is a valid concern for hubmotor designs generally. I think the concern is often expressed in terms of the effects on handling. But I think a test ride over uneven pavement could answer that question pretty quickly. What I'm more worried about is the potential long-term effects of impact loads if it is ridden often on bumpy pavement. There must be some really precise tolerances/clearances in that motor, so I hope they have tested extensively in a realistic environment to ensure they hold up.
On the practical side, there are not many good arguments for electric motorcycles. When I lived in northern CA I had a couple co-workers who commuted on Zero motorcycles, but I found motorcycle commuting unenjoyable. Lane-splitting helps, but heavy traffic sucked the joy out of motorcycling for me, so I found it was not worth the risk. Maybe for a nicer commute (less traffic) a used Zero would make sense. When I lived in FL I did commute quite often on the Royal E-field.
For electric autos, there are some good arguments. The economical approach is to buy a used EV worth less than half its original price, but with most of its range (life) still remaining. It's not hard to do. I did this first with a 2013 Leaf and I put well over 130,000 miles on it, essentially maintenance-free. I recently bought a 2017 Bolt with only 20,000 miles on the battery (replaced under warranty/recall). It gets almost 300 miles range in summer and 200 miles in winter, and I bought it for under $13k USD.
I hope to get many more miles on the Bolt than I did on the Leaf. Every mile on the Bolt saves a mile on my more expensive and maintenance-intensive gas vehicles. An EV as a second or third car makes a lot more sense than an EV as an only car. They are not the best x-country vehicles, but the Bolt can probably handle well over 95% of my driving needs which are short and medium length trips. Oh, and access to the Tesla network with a $200 adapter is a nice option, just in case I want to go further.
One final thought: Even if the cycle life of the battery is advertised as 1000 cycles or 2000, etc. that usually means when the battery is down to ~80% original capacity. But you can use the car or motorcycle well beyond that point, especially if it has decent range to begin with. When my Bolt is down to 80% original capacity (range) I will still be able to do almost all my driving with it.
