Odo 711
Opened the Electricity Bill. It's a 3 month bill, so bear that in mind when I tell you the horror that I had. I've only been charging the bike on this bill for about a 3rd of the period.
It was... The lowest bill ever.
All I can put it down to is that normally I'd be hanging around home but instead I was out on the bike. So no air-conditioning, no big screen telly running all day. The aircon draws 3 kW and the telly draws 200 W. So it's possible... Who knows.
Hey Jason,
ReplyDeleteEnjoying the blog - keep it up!
I've been riding on electrons for a couple of years myself. I have an '07 Vectrix VX-1, which now has nearly 9,000 miles on the odometer.
Although the specs are similar, I must admit I prefer the motorcycle-style vs. the scooter style (I too am an ex-CBR-1000 rider). I put in a reservation for the Brammo Empulse, which seems to be the best of both worlds.
When I first got my bike I made a bunch of videos and posted them on Youtube - if you want to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/user/oobflyer?feature=mhum
I'm looking forward to the next generation of EV bikes - have you heard anything from Zero regarding a 100-mile range bike to compete with Brammo?
Enjoy,
Dave
Oh, one more thing - did you see this article about the Zero in Australia?
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2010/11/30/electric-motorcycle-maker-zero-expands-in-australia/
I thought it a bit amusing that they made the claim that Zero is the first electric bike in Australia - there are quite a few Vectrix's flying around down there ;-)
Hi David and Haruko. Not sure which one of you wrote a comment. I'm kind of hoping it's Haruko. I haven't heard anything from Zero about anything. Neil Saiki has spoken on TED talks and other platforms about the idea that the Zero is modular. The intention being that when better batteries become available they will be an upgrade to the existing bikes. That remains to be seen...
ReplyDeleteI read the article you've linked to, I think there was a link on one of the electric vehicle fora. It's got a fair bit of hyperbole in it.
I'm very impressed by the pre-release buzz surrounding the Empulse. It does look like the bike I want (rather than the Zero which is the bike I actually need). I think that if it had been available here in Oz I would have bought that rather than the DS. I'm sort of glad it wasn't an option. It's major overkill for the kind of commuting I actually do. Still, if it ever does come here I might have to get one. Are you getting the 6, 8 or 10 kWh version?
Hey Jason,
ReplyDeleteIt's David actually - sorry about that - since we share the blog, both of our names appear on the comments - boy she is a cutie though, isn't she
:-)
I pre-ordered the 10kWh version of the Brammo Empluse, as I'm sure you would. You know how frustrating it is when you have to climb into the fossil-fuel-burning-internal-combustion machine to get somewhere just out of range of your EV...
I wrote to Zero last week, and received a reply! I asked if Zero had plans to compete with Brammo and make a bike that could go 100 miles on a charge. Here is the reply from Bryan Parham:
Hi David,
We always aspire to stay on the edge of performance indexes on our electric vehicles. With that said until we publicly announce our new products for 2011 I do not have any news for you. Stay posted with us though and I too am excited to see the real world range of the Empulse! Thanks again for the support.
Bryan
Sounds mysteriously promising, doesn't it? I'll be keeping an eye out.
Oh, I forgot to mention - I actually got to ride a Zero DS last year - at the Sear's point motorcycle races (the first TTXGP). It was fun. If that had come out before the Vectrix I would have bought it. I've been a sport-bike rider my whole life. You can just imagine the comments from my riding buddies when I bought the Vectrix scooter.
Actually, I don't know what it's like in Australia. In Europe and Asia a lot of people ride scooters and think nothing of it, but for some reason in the U.S. there's a stigma attached to scooters - it's as if only women or queers ride them.
I don't give a damn what people think, but I miss my sport bike and I'm really looking forward to riding an electric sport bike.
Today, as I was leaving work, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Chevy Volt parked in the employee parking lot! (I posted a couple of pics on this blog). I plan to find out which of my co-workers bought it - maybe I can scrounge up a test ride ;-)
Take care - keep the rubber side down,
David
I think you're right there is a bit of a bias against scooters. But then again I think motorcycling is a house divided. We need to stand together against the slings and arrows of outrageous car drivers. Harley riders don't like metric cruiser riders. Sport bike riders don't like either (and can't tell them apart). Now on the fora I see the same thing being leveled against electric bikes. I'm less than impressed with my fellow riders. A scooter isn't my taste, but it's sure better than a car.
ReplyDelete