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[Richard230]

A couple of hours ago I heard a report on the SF news station KCBS that on November 2 the California Air Resources Board will be voting on a proposal to provide a credit to electric vehicle manufacturers in the hope that they will be able to lower their retail prices.  CARB says that they want to encourage the sale of electric motorcycles and have plans to discourage the sale of ICE motorcycles in the future by increasing smog regulations to make it tougher to sell these polluting vehicles in the state.

During the two-minute bit of news the reporter interviewed Nancy Garcia, SF Moto's Sales Manager, the only Zero dealer in the SF Bay Area that I am aware of. She said that she would welcome anything that would increase the sale of Zero motorcycles. It was mentioned that the shop sells between 60 and 80 ICE motorcycles a month but typically only two Zeros during that same time.

I will post more information when I hear more details regarding this proposal.

[Specter]

The cards are starting to line up here.
Hopefully Energica gets things rolling and can hop on this, brand new, out the gate ready to dominate.

I have a feeling that a LOT is hinging on the elections and what the end result of that will be.,

Aaron

[flynnstig82r]

As a prospective e-motorcycle buyer and enthusiast, I love it out of pure self-interest.

I’m not totally sold on the environmental sustainability argument, though, since big battery = lots of manufacturing emissions. ICE bikes are pretty fuel efficient, and most bikes don’t get ridden more than 30k miles in their lifetimes. EV cars take somewhere around 70-90k miles to break even, and I see no reason to think that motorcycles would be much different. That probably won’t be a popular opinion around here, but it comes from 6 years of academic study of transportation policy and planning.

E-motorcycles are way more sustainable than any car, though, and subsidies might attract buyers who wouldn’t have considered switching from cars to ICE bikes. I would never have started riding motorcycles at all if it weren’t for Zero and Energica, wouldn’t have considered it for one second.

[Motoproponent]

I think the motovator is the emissions for ICE bikes. They emit a significantly greater about of carbon particulate than cars do. The "dirtiness" of the exhaust is significantly worse on bikes with modified exhausts that eliminate the emissions controls.

CARB has tried to control emissions and manufacturers comply but the needle doesn't move in the direction CARB wants it to because of all the "off road use only" straight pipes with the loud-pipes-save-lives crowd.

Bolstered by the success of the car mandates and with no motorcycle enthusiasts among legislators and lobbyists there isn't a lot of sympathy.

If anything, HD will kill it (probably won't be necessary if Trump gets back in the white house, He'll definitely kill it on HD's behalf). Otherwise we'll have 49 state bikes and CA Edition ones again like in the '80s

[Richard230]

I think the motovator is the emissions for ICE bikes. They emit a significantly greater about of carbon particulate than cars do. The "dirtiness" of the exhaust is significantly worse on bikes with modified exhausts that eliminate the emissions controls.

CARB has tried to control emissions and manufacturers comply but the needle doesn't move in the direction CARB wants it to because of all the "off road use only" straight pipes with the loud-pipes-save-lives crowd.

Bolstered by the success of the car mandates and with no motorcycle enthusiasts among legislators and lobbyists there isn't a lot of sympathy.

If anything, HD will kill it (probably won't be necessary if Trump gets back in the white house, He'll definitely kill it on HD's behalf). Otherwise we'll have 49 state bikes and CA Edition ones again like in the '80s

I think your comments are correct.