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[Curt]

S 7.2      $10,995
SR 14.4  $15,495

Extra battery would add $2,500:
S 14.4    $13,495

That does seem to fill the gap nicely, so it's surprising they don't offer it. Even if they don't advertise it, they should still allow people to custom order it.

It obviously had to do with how Zero wants to market their bikes in the U.S. My guess is that they want the SR/F and S models to appeal to the longer range customer while focusing the smaller battery and less expensive models to commuters. Zero may feel that not having a 14.4 S in the U.S. market likely increases the numbers of the newer SR/F and SR/S platforms that they sell here.

I think you're onto something here. They're trying to allocate the market across a set of configurations that will maximize profits. A 14.4 S could possibly cannibalize sales of more expensive models. It could also appear under-powered for the weight, get reviewed by the wrong person, and compare poorly with ICE bikes in its class.

[TheRan]

But is the additional cost really that significant? Adding the 14.4 configuration to the site wouldn't cost anything and I doubt Zero spend a huge amount on advertising, do they even mention capacity in the Google ads (I have adblocker so I've never seen them) and do they have an ad for every single configuration that currently exists (that includes both the 7.2 and the 14.4 in Europe, and the 3.6 and 7.2 in America)?

There are obviously people that want a 14.4 non-R so it's not like it wouldn't sell at all, would they really need to sell that many to cover the cost of advertising?

It obviously had to do with how Zero wants to market their bikes in the U.S. My guess is that they want the SR/F and S models to appeal to the longer range customer while focusing the smaller battery and less expensive models to commuters. Zero may feel that not having a 14.4 S in the U.S. market likely increases the numbers of the newer SR/F and SR/S platforms that they sell here.

But they do have 14.4 models, you just have to pay more for the R motor and controller. They actually market the SR as their longest range motorcycle with the Power Tank. For $6k extra you're not getting any extra range from an SR/F over an SR. A 14.4 S/DS would probably end up being another $3k cheaper, enough to add the Power Tank. "Same price, even more range" sounds like a good marketing point to me.

[PNWBoy]

You keep handwaving this cost away, but it's a real cost.

They have only so many hours to do everything, and you're asking them to do more, for little profit.

-Crissa

Zero has yet to make a profit.

[Auriga]

You keep handwaving this cost away, but it's a real cost.

They have only so many hours to do everything, and you're asking them to do more, for little profit.

-Crissa

Zero has yet to make a profit.

They're a private company, I don't think we can say that. All we can say is they continue to take in investor money

[PNWBoy]

You keep handwaving this cost away, but it's a real cost.

They have only so many hours to do everything, and you're asking them to do more, for little profit.

-Crissa

Zero has yet to make a profit.

They're a private company, I don't think we can say that. All we can say is they continue to take in investor money

No, we can say that - they've never made a profit.

The CEO of Zero himself stated that in an interview with ADVRider earlier this year.

Link to quote:
https://youtu.be/nsTnU2-Lkt0?t=56m0s

[Crissa]

You do knot that a transaction has profit even if the company is still in the red, right?

You still make 'profit' in each burger even as you still owe on the grill.  What else do you call revenue over transaction cost?

-Crissa

[Richard230]

Not making a profit seems to work for Tesla and their stockholders. While I don't get the concept, apparently Zero's investors do. 

[EDoggN]

Does anyone know about the tax credit for 2021?  Its my understanding the existing 10% Federal tax credit will expire 31-Dec. When will we know if it gets extended or if a new incentive is put into place?

[Richard230]

Does anyone know about the tax credit for 2021?  Its my understanding the existing 10% Federal tax credit will expire 31-Dec. When will we know if it gets extended or if a new incentive is put into place?

It will be up to our dysfunctional Congress to make that decision when (and if) they manage to approve a new federal budget for 2021. And that is going to be a real crap-shoot, depending upon the politics of the situation at the time. So I sure wouldn't want to depend on that. My recommendation is that if you want that 10% tax credit from the IRS, buy your electric motorcycle before December 31. Perhaps as a Christmas present for yourself.     Otherwise you will have to keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best. How are you at winning lotteries?   

[Crissa]

Not making a profit seems to work for Tesla and their stockholders. While I don't get the concept, apparently Zero's investors do. 

Tesla has made a profit the last four quarters.

-Crissa

[NoMoreIdeas]

I stopped by my dealer yesterday. I couldn't get a whole lot of info, but there is a required minimum order for 2021 models and the guy at the counter didn't see any new model names on the order placed for next year. Sounds like it's BNG for the start of 2021, and maybe an announcement in October of some new technology coming out next year like how they announced the SRF.

[princec]

Zero have to be exceptionally careful of the Osborne effect.

Cas

[shayan]

Here you go, 2021 SR with BNG: https://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2021-Zero-SR-5014080621

[EDoggN]

Strange that the new model was released without an update to Zero’s website.

[TheRan]

That can't seriously be all 2021 has to offer, right?

Looking at the site they do show a few different designs (the SR is supposed to be black with red striping so weird that this one is red with black). The DSR is black with gold graphics but I think that may have already been available, the DS is still beige like my 2019 but has some slightly different tone of beige stripes on it. The S is blue on blue (probably my favourite) and the FX and FXS are still grey and sandstone respectively with very subtle graphics.