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[NEW2elec]

They had a good showing at Pikes Peak I hope they put it to use.

[shayan]

I hope so too. Atleast some firmware updates would be good. Maybe an app to tweak parameters like regen etc would be a good start!
Strangely on victory's website even though the Empulse TT is a 2016 model, in the accessories section, there is only a 2017 Empulse TT. It may not mean anything but it may as well. I'm waiting to see if i can get my hands on something for my TT!

[Richard230]

My observation is that Victory seems to respond to H-D's marketing.  When H-D came out with the LiveWire, Polaris bought Brammo and introduced the Empulse TT.  Then when the LiveWire faded away, so did Victory's enthusiasm for electric motorcycles.  If they don't announce a new 2017 version of the Empulse that actually has some obvious improvements by the end of the year, then I don't know what they are up to.  My guess is that they are waiting for H-D to introduce a production electric motorcycle and when (and if) that happens, Victory will follow with their version.  In the meantime they just seem to be playing around, getting the feel of electric power with their racing program and following through with in-house development. It just doesn't seem to me that Victory is making much of an EV commercial marketing push right now. I have heard that their dealers are not all that excited about having to sell and service the Empulse TT - which is the same reaction that I get from talking to BMW dealers.

BMW plans to bring in the C-Evolution to the U.S. market next year.  If that catches hold, perhaps that will cause Victory and H-D to move forward with their plans.  But I am not holding my breath for that. I don't think Zero is leaving very much meat on the electric motorcycle bone right now. 

[shayan]

My guess would be that Victory would definitely want to put its racing experience to use somewhere. Pikes Peak, IOM etc. The project 156's tech definitely went into the Octane. This time the Empulse RR definitely performed very well on Pikes Peak. So a good guess to make is that, the knowledge gained there would go somewhere. If not it would not make sense for Victory to invest in these arenas for their electric motorcycle program. It may as well be that they may not launch anything this year but wait a full year to launch something else. I could certainly be sure that it may not be a response to H-D, even though they're the closest competitors

Zero definitely has the lion's share in the market. But if Victory or any other manufacturer (could be Zero too) can come up with an electric motorcycle like the way Tesla came up with the Model S (great components, great range, supercharger) etc then that's going to be the real gamechanger.

The best thing that can happen to electric motorcycles is the DC fast charging option. That would effectively eliminate range anxiety. Even with an 80 mile highway range, its great to be able to charge to 80-85% in like 15 mins while the rider takes a break. Unfortunately Energica is the only bike offering that at the moment. I do hope that comes in as an option from the other manufacturers. Energica has plans to setup DC fast chargers in CA just like how Tesla started off. That would be the key to make range anxiety go away.
Unfortunately Energica bikes are way too expensive
I know they're launching a new concept for EICMA 2016. If thats a bike for $20k with DC fast charge, it could be the best deal

[Richard230]

Well, Lightning is still around and it costs about the same as the Energica.  But I have no idea if they have actually sold any yet.     I can't think of any reason that they couldn't sell a few at $40,000, so there must be something else going on.  Maybe the Lightning LS-218 is not approved by DOT for use on public roads?   

[shayan]

Oh yes, Lightning Motorcycles. It indeed skipped my mind. I really hope they dont reach the same fate as Mission Motors. I really feel sad about Mission Motors, after all the poaching that Apple did, they scrapped their EV program. I think it was the one that really looked futuristic, more futuristic than Brammo Empulse. I am not sure if they ever sold any bikes and if they, whatever happened to them!

Lightning does look great. But so doesn Energica Ego

You're right though, maybe they arent DOT approved for whatever reason! Safety concerns because of its speed maybe?

[Ranga]

Lightning has soldd at least one production unit a few years ago, but they've been out of the headlines ever since.  I doubt they have a 20k option in the works the way Energica does.

As far as Apple's poaching from Mission, I find it much more likely that some of Mission's employees left them because after 10 years of hype they still didn't have a production model.

[shayan]

Does Energica have a 20k model in the works?

Mission did fail to put out a production model but i think they were doing good with their race program. Its really unfortunate on many levels though. It kinda had the potential to be like Tesla. Where a company starts with a model thats targeted for that kind of a niche consumers.

[ElectricZen]

Well racing can't be cheap!  One needs to only look at the movie charge to see it is no small venture.  I fear that too many manufacturers, especially in the electric motorcycle industry, feel that they have to show their chops in racing to be taken seriously like the ICE manufacturers have done.

 But development of EVs is also an extremely expensive endeavour.  How do you do both and not run out of money?  Then there is the whole production side of things.  Just cause you can make one good race bike doesn't mean you can mass produce and working production model. 

You can't draw parallels between the EV industry and the ICE industry.  Just too fundamentally different!  I see this mistake all the time.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[shayan]

I do think racing matters to a good extent whether its EV or ICE. U can always use racing as an R&D arena (which is what its been used for by many companies). Developing a good firmware and BMS can always be done by testing things out in racing. Why racing matters is because the vehicles go through all sorts of extreme loads on components and drivetrains which cant really be done with road testing. And its how all these function under hard stress levels that determine the quality of the product.
Agreed that not all of the production models will go through high stress in normal day to day conditions. But when there is a situation where it needs to be able to take the loads, it should have the capability to.
Racing is also a medium for showcasing the technology and putting the brand name in the market.

To give the most recent example, AUDI left endurance racing to venture into Formula E because it intends to invest in electric technology and utilize some or good amount of what it learns from racing into production vehicles. So we should definitely not count out racing entirely is my thinking 

[Low On Cash]

I have a very reliable source at Polaris and there will be no more Electric Bikes or even 2017 models unless something changed.   

[NEW2elec]

Low was not only right about the TT but all of Victory is now dead.  Putting all their efforts into Indian.  I wonder if they sell off the old Brammo?  What a waste.

[Low On Cash]

My dealer has one on stock they lowered to $14K - I  put a standing offer of 10K - you have to remember these are going to be hard to sell knowing the parts are limited with no support from dealers.

[JaimeC]

Bye-bye Victory. 

http://tinyurl.com/jfns9kl

[Haag13]

So is Polaris going to offer an Indian Empulse (yeah right) or is the old Brammo line done?  I'd guess that latter.