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[ChrisG]

Hi,
I'm a lifelong rider (23 years, mostly on the street) considering jumping onto an ebike. I've never owned an EV before. I'll be moving back to NOVA soon after 5 years of working (and riding) in Asia. I'll have a short commute, and I'm seriously considering an Alta Supermoto as a commuter/errand runner/toy. I like the performance, SM riding position, and stealth suburban hooligan possibilities. I think I can live with it's limitations, and plan to have a PU truck and probably a ICE sport tourer for longer trips and cargo. I'd like to hear from some more experienced ebike commuters for advice or anything I'm missing.

Taxes/fees: It looks like I can get a 10% federal tax credit for the cost of the bike, partially offset by a $100 EV registration fee from VA. Is that accurate? Any other factors to consider here?

Insurance and registration: Any difficulties insuring and registering an ebike in Virginia?

Toll roads, HOV, and parking: Do ebikes receive any benefits beyond an ICE motorcycle when using toll roads and HOV lanes in the area? How about EV parking spots?

Charging stations: I plan to primarily charge at home and/or work, but I'm sure I'll want to use public charging stations from time to time. The Altas have an onboard 120V charger that takes ~6 hours to full charge. How does it work at public charging stations with a motorcycle? Can you leave the bike there unattended for several hours, or are you expected to be there throughout the charging process?

Any other considerations I'm missing?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Edited out a typo.

[Richard230]

The 10% IRS tax return credit is not currently applicable to electric motorcycle purchases made this year.  Only for purchases made last year, when it also didn't apply - until Congress changed the law retroactively.  No one that I know knows why.   

Regarding your vehicle purchase: I think both Zero and Alta are fine vehicles, although Zero has a lot more customer history (both good and bad) to draw conclusions upon.  I believe that one of the most important considerations of your purchase is finding a dealer that is enthusiastic about electric motorcycles, has a parts manager that is familiar with the manufacturer's parts supply system and that the dealership has at least one mechanic that knows his electric motorcycle stuff, has been factory trained and loves the bikes.

[ChrisG]

Richard, thanks. That's disappointing about the tax rebate, hopefully Congress restores it for this year. Your advice on the importance of supporting dealers is good, and not something I;d given much thought to. There are a couple of Alta dealers in the area. I'll check them out, as well as Zero.

[Erasmo]

How much km will your commute be?

[ChrisG]

Under 60km round trip.

[mysta2]

I bought a new DSR three weeks ago and so far love it. I ride 25 miles into work every morning (40km) and use about 21% of the battery to do so.

When I bought it from Noble Rush in Redmond WA my friend and I took out one of the Alta's (the supermoto one) and the DSR. We rode both on a 14 mile round trip test ride with a stop for lunch in the middle.

The Summary is that the Alta felt like a garage built electric vehicle built by a motorcycle enthusiast and the DSR felt like a factory built motorcycle built by an EV company.

The list of components and the initial sit on feel of the Alta is more impressive if you already know motorcycles, but they don't really work all that well together. The Zero feels like a much more mature and well engineered machine and the components (although not impressive on paper) work really well together.

I know that the more fair comparison would have been between the FXS and the Alta (but I was interested in the DSR and my friend was interested in the Alta) If you fall in love with the Alta, by all means get one, but I would not make your decision before trying out one of the Zeros.

I still haven't figured out insurance and was told that Progressive does not insure electric motorcycles.

[NEW2elec]

So you were the one who bought that DSR. (mysta2) They wouldn't take a credit card deposit from me to hold it until I wired them the money on Monday but sold it to you on a Sunday. 
I don't hold anything against you what so ever.
But if that dealer were in my state I would have tried to put them through the wringer for telling me they take deposits all the time but come back and say not on "this" bike. 

That's all the venting i will do on it, sorry.
Crap, never mind you got an 18 not the 17 DSR that was 10k.  I didn't see your bike list until I wrote this.


I'm glad you enjoy it.
Also sorry OP,  But in the for sale section there is an Alta SM that just didn't work for his travel distance but might be great for you.  He's in TN so not too far away.
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=8053.0
Good luck.