How affordable is it going to be?

Before I ran out and bought one I would want to know how much oil it takes to generate the electricity used to recharge it and compare it with the quantity of oil that a conventional car requires. That electricity doesn't just magically appear at your outlets. I do hope that the Volt will compare favorably on that basis with the foreign built hybrids, but so far the American catch-up attempts have been underwhelming.

I would think if you get your electricity from coal it would be pretty cheap to run, until you need to shell over a few grand for new batteries (they're shooting for 100,000 miles per battery change, but last I heard they haven't found anyone capable of mass producing these batteries). If your electricity comes from natural gas it may not be worth your time. Our electricity locally is imported so it's drastically expensive compared to other places.

As for the Volt, GM execs have stated that the point is not to make a car that is cheaper to run, but one that is cleaner. Any money saved by not buying gas will mostly likely be offset by replacing the batteries, buying electricity, etc. Plus the car itself isn't expected to be in the same price range as a Cobalt or other compacts, despite the fact that they're comparable in size and performance. I would opt for a bike or a smart-car if I were trying to save money.

The GM Volt, which is not a motorcycle, is expected to cost $30,000 to $40,000. Couple that with battery and other parts costs and availability and we have the exact point made at the beginning of this thread. The next new thing is expensive, unproven and not a prudent investment risk to a lot of people. I'm not opposed to it though.

Smaller and lighter is often more fuel efficient. Thing is, they are usually classified by insurance companies as some kind of sport bike. That makes them more expensive to insure than bigger and heavier cruiser bikes.

Take the Suzuki SV650 for example. Suzuki calls it a standard bike. Many insurance companies call it a sport bike. It is very similar to the Suzuki V-Strom, a sport bike. It's small, light weight, 650cc and can do wheelies. As my insurance guy put it, "The more wheelies it can do, the more it costs to insure." The difference between insuring an SV650 and a Boulevard S50 (a cruiser with a larger engine size) is nearly $1,000 a year.

Stone, call for an insurance quote on a 2008 Hayabusa. I dare ya.



I'm going to get a sticker for my helmet that reads,
"I ride a small bike to compensate for the size of my huge bird."

We were going to purchase an Aptera...but will probably cancel the order due to my fear of motorbikes. They are classified as a motorcycle, and one must have a motorcycle license to drive one.

How about a $110,000.00 Tesla? All electric and great performance...

When the price comes down to around $2,000--Hah!--I might consider it. But I'm not out to be a 'conspicuous consumer.'

Hey folks. Nice to meet you all. I own a 1300cc Suzuki Hayabusa. Its an amazing bike. You can feel the power and also you will be having a good control over that. You can ever take a sharp turn at high speed.

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sam
Wide Circles

The Enertia is an electric motorcycle. It's top speed is 50mph and has a range of 45 miles at 25mph. It uses 6 lithium phosphate batteries. The sale price is $12,000 to $15,000.

The battery builder, Valence Technologies Inc of Austin, Texas, claims the batteries in the Enertia do not have charge memory. What this means is that some batteries, after being charged at half charge or only charged half way for so many times, will remember the charge they were given and only hold that much charge on all their future charges. You can end up with batteries that only take half charge and run down prematurely. The Enertia also uses a Battery Management System that draws an even amount of charge from all 6 batteries at once and distributes the charge to them likewise.

The Enertia is a fine looking bike. Too bad it fills only a small niche market. How many of you can make do with traveling 25mph over 45 miles to get where you need to go? How many will pay $15,000 to do it? Even if my commute were the 29 miles their sites says is the average American commute, a combustion bike is still cheaper to own and operate.

And welcome to you, anonymous Sam. Like everywhere, the Fool Moon motorcycle community is growing. Do join in.

If I own the bike outright, with no loans, I wouldn't be required to maintain insurance on it.

I'd be afraid to ride one of those beasts anyway. The thing will do 200mph + in the blink of an eye. Hell, I'm still a bit intimidated by the 600 race bikes. That's only because I haven't ridden them enough, but still, when you can take a small bike like that and have it accelerate faster than something 15 times it's price, the intimidation still remains.