Why aren’t there more Electric and Battery powered motorcycles

Electric and battery powered motorcycles are the future. Electric motors are not a passing fad as the older generation who couldn’t see the future fade away (there are many exceptions though – fantasy, sci-fi and the creatives) leaving the more educated and open minded generation who can see opportunity and understand protentional that does not physically exist. 

Mind you many of the talking heads on youth biased social media aka influencers are not the best or brightest let alone experienced enough to help technology or the environment progress. Hamstrung by the masses who demand entertainment, small minded opinions and simple to digest outrage or fake acts of kindness rather the taking time to see the bigger picture or being genuine. I digress again as there are many credentialed influencers and talking heads as well. 

I liken it to the realisation that lethal radiation exists and deadly viruses do exist. Sure you can’t see them but their results are plain to see. Yet it is often decried as conspiracies. 

So why aren’t there more electric motorcycles, motorbikes and scooters? 

I have some answers which I hope will be copied and pasted across the internet as the current ones floating around indicate this limited mindset I just wrote about above. 

The reason there aren’t more electric motorcycles, motorbikes and scooters made is is…42! (Only kidding). 

As of August 2022 the reasons why manufacturers are not making more electric motorcycles, motorbikes and scooters are : 

The biggest markets for motorcycles, motorbikes and scooters is not ready for the power demands of millions of batteries demanding to be charged. As I write this there are power shortages in China due to their devastating drought. India and Southeast Asia are not exactly enjoying a surplus of power generation either. Of course, batteries also take a relatively long time to recharge hence inefficient. 

That said, the world is moving towards generating energy from renewal resources aka wind, water and solar but the change will take time. Imagine in a near future where you would only buy/rent a house or apartment in the suburbs or city if it could generate it’s own power? The electric companies are so afraid of this and that the power grids are so old that they will actually need to spend money to upgrading things rather than on fancy marketing. 

The population of the biggest markets for motorcycles, motorbikes and scooters cannot afford to make the transition to electric versions of the same thing. All manufacturers are changing an excessive amount of money for a technically simpler engine. Who can or wants to pay more for something that does less? 

The other part of the world largely described as the ‘West’ do not view the motorcycle or scooter as an  essential part of their transportation infrastructure. Motorcycles are for fun and ‘cafe racing’. And there is nothing wrong with that! As a result the manufacturers are still charging a excess for a model that does less than a petrol powered version.  Further more the ‘West’ uses the more convenient electric bicycle as the ‘work horse’ transport for food and package deliveries. Arguably, this is also more fun at a lower speed. 

The factories and technology are not ready to make electric motorcycles or scooters and their batteries in mass quantities due to limited resources. Of course this will change in time! For example, our battery tech is 30 years old and no one as been able to develop anything better or cheaper – yet. 

The setup for a manufacturer to change from making ICE – Internal Combustion Engines to electric motors and/or batteries is admittedly high since this skill set not exactly common knowledge. That said I’m quite sure it would be less complex that dealing of hundreds of small parts manufacturers that make up existing ICE infrastructure. 

So hope that provided some explanation to why there aren’t many electric motorcycles being made at the moment.