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[dkw12002]

I agree with Doug. You know fairly accurately how far a fully-charged bike will go, so why would you find yourself in a situation where you were trying to go farther? Just plan your trip. If you keep to that simple plan, there is no range anxiety. That applies to charging at your own home or perhaps at work or some other always-there and always- working outlet plus when you don't need the bike for another several hours of course. It would be nice if we had fast-charging capability along with lots and lots of charging stations, but that isn't the situation. I'm not sure range will ever not be an issue. I mean what if your ex-girlfriend asks you to stop by, but you live in California and she lives in Florida? You could drive a gas car or bike, but you would be silly to take an electric car or bike and count on finding charging for such a long trip whether that was every 100 miles or every 300 miles. That problem is not going to be solved no matter how big a battery pack you have. That could change of course, but I don't see it likely to change while we have gas cars, (cheap) gasoline, and gas stations all along the way. You would be smart to just take an ice car. I know most of use have another motorcycle or car besides the Zero. The government would probably have to furnish the infrastructure...maybe at rest stops on the interstate for charging, but even then what if when you get there the dang charger is taken or broken....more anxiety. That ex-girlfriend can't wait for you forever.   

[Doug S]

Okay, one more post and I swear I'll shut up. Sorry for hijacking the thread so badly.

First, Richard, I guess I worked through that before I ever bought the bike. I knew my primary mission for the bike was commuting, so I wanted to be 100% certain that my bike would be able to do ~50 miles mostly freeway driving, day in, day out. I researched, read everything I could find, tried to estimate how much effect my weight would have on the bike (I'm a big guy), asked the dealer and everyone I could think of, and really made myself sure that it would be okay -- worst case, I might wind up riding 60 mph on a southern California freeway, but by hook or by crook, I could make it work. There WAS some anxiety the first time I rode to work, but I figured I could always convince the boss to let me plug in at work if I really needed to. But when I got to work, and was reading 72% charge on the display, I knew I was golden.

dkw12002 has a great point when he says that most of us have other vehicles, and don't rely on the EV as our sole means of getting around. It's very important to acknowledge, as I really think I do, that EVs have their limitations...but then, ALL vehicles do. I can't haul plywood in my 528i, nor could I move (which hopefully I'll never have to do again!). But if either of those needs arises, there are other ways of meeting them, in particular renting a vehicle for a temporary need.

Here's something that happens to me with some frequency: I'm at work, and the girlfriend calls or texts and says "let's get some dinner". I'll tell her, "I'm on the bike, either I can ride home and pick up the car, so I'll be a little late getting there, or you can drive down and meet me at my place." How hard is that to manage? What's all the drama about?

[AustinSZF8.5]

... renting a vehicle for a temporary need.

My last post too and then I'll shut up.

Doug, nail hit squarely on the head above. Furthermore, I think one huge thing that EVs need in order to succeed is for people to reassess what qualifies as a "temporary need." I think if most people were to take the time to think about how they use their vehicle, they'd find, as I did, that most of what would cause them range anxiety are those "temporary need" situations. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but most people have daily use profiles that are well within the capability of the current generation of EVs. How often do people really drive more than 100 miles per day? How often do they drive more than 50 miles per day? How often do they take long trips out of town? Given the frequency of these longer trips, would they SAVE money by renting a long-distance capable vehicle instead of maintaining one (including maintenance costs, insurance, depreciation, etc.)? Speaking in terms of cars here as motorcycles are generally pretty expensive to rent, but if I can rent a comfy new mid-size car for $29/day with no mileage charge for my next road trip, what's the point of storing one in the garage and paying insurance and all the rest on it until you need it?

Anyway, for daily use, I've found (and I know I'm preaching to the choir here) that an EV is far and away the best tool for the job. If the general public can be convinced to think for a minute (hah, right), I think many and probably most would come to the same conclusion and realize that range anxiety is a myth.

[DynoMutt]

Suggesting perhaps only a minor difference between an operation that takes 5 minutes vs. one that takes 5-8 hours is not a gross misrepresentation?  Who's the delusional one?

[DynoMutt]

Yet another false equivalence.  Pilots also have to file flight plans and thus have to have a fixed starting and ending point.  They have to buffer their trips on both ends to handle contingencies.  These time allowances are not free, hell, they're not even cheap, and they're DEFINITELY NOT convenient.

One is taking a much more significant risk to their time if there is a failure to properly assess their use of power during a trip, which can happen VERY easily, as power use is greatly impacted by speed traveled.  There is a great deal of good reason for people having range anxiety with EVs with the dearth of QC infrastructure that exists in most places in the country today.

[Doug S]

Wow, Dynomutt, how are you finding so much meaning in my words that simply isn't there? I never said a motorcycle ride was the same as an airplane flight (though I will point out that a flight plan is often not required, especially for a casual VFR flight). All I said was that if we REQUIRE people to manage their affairs, that's proof that it's POSSIBLE to do so. If you can't manage using an EV as a personal transportation device, it's not the vehicle's fault. And again, I never stated that an eight-hour charge is the same as a five-minute fillup. Do you need to take a refresher course in reading comprehension?

And what's with the personal attacks, calling me delusional? You mad, bro?