I do not share your appraisal, and think the glut of manufacturers for the 2020 model year is going to make it difficult and possibly harder to promote these vehicles. Most of these companies are still not prepared for manufacturing at scale, let alone marketing the bikes well or helping people see past the price point and its relationship to battery capacity, range, and durability.
People say that electric motorcycling is the future, and then they avoid a purchase by saying the bikes are too expensive. This literally becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where they never become the present because no one grapples with the price point or trade offs, and also the motorcycles never become affordable because they don’t achieve sales scale on a single manufacturing pipeline.
I mean it: more vendors filling in a market with small batch models does absolutely nothing to make the bikes more affordable. There has to be a manufacturer making models that altogether sell enough to achieve volume pricing on battery pack assembly and other components, and not a single model proposed from the new manufacturers is positioned to do that.
I think they are achieving mass market adoption in China, Brian. You do make a very good point about at the boutique electric bike companies not really helping the situation.
Do you know that Zero have effectively sold all their 2019 stock already? Even dealerships that aren't really trying have sold old stock recently and there is very little on the shop floor. Things feel different to how things were only a year or two ago. Zero have a nice problem in their hands; they can't keep up with demand!
In fact, if you are in the market for a new Zero at the moment, your choice is limited to ordering an SRF! At least they are coming off the production line at the moment. A local dealer to me has a 2019 S and a DS as demonstrators. I took one out today for a test ride. If I wanted either model new, it just isn't possible. That dealer is willing to sell their demo bikes, but many aren't right now because it reduces the opportunity for future sales. Interesting times!
What's selling in China is a totally different market with a totally different pipeline of cell/battery-architecture being made for it.
It's possible that the new models tap into that, but only the Lightning Strike is signaling that in its pricing.
Any arguments about Zero's stock must be tempered by the awareness that Zero is probably managing their pipelines carefully to avoid a mess with the SR/F rollout. I don't know what the other 2020 models will be like, but that could also be a factor, where they want to slack in production lines to retool or deal with issues.
I can't say I disagree.
What I'm taking from this is it's the lack of concrete information and poor communication from Zero, that is causing frustration. It even rhymes!
Let me see if I can get some more info from a credible source within Zero. If I do, then I'll post it here and we can make sense of it. I just think they're flat out at the moment. It reminds me of the Golden Rules of Flying: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. In that order. Sometimes there just isn't time to communicate when the workload is too high. In those circumstances it is more important to fly the plane and know where you're going. If you can't even manage to navigate, then just flying the plane is the priority.
I'm pretty relaxed about it. There are other, much larger manufacturers, doing a worse job of it than Zero at the moment. I mentioned BMW somewhere and I've no doubt there are others. Some might say that it is part of the strategy. People always want what they can't have. This generates hype and more sales. Apple do it to such an extent that they manage to get people queuing around the block for each new launch. I don't like it, especially from Apple who have the resources to produce as many iPhones as they like but continue to restrict supply for weeks or months after launch. They're not short of a bob or two either!
That's why it's nice to have at least two bikes. If one is broken you can still ride the other. I've got my Honda and that is plenty to keep me happy until the SRF arrives. It is also helping me to be patient while the replacement charger arrives for my 2014DS. I'm getting that done gratis, even though the last charger that broke was replaced three and a half years ago. It would cost me the best part of a grand to get it sorted otherwise. It beggars belief how a piece of electronics that only charges at 1.3kW can cost almost 900 quid! At least it takes less than an hour to fit one. If you know what you're doing, of course.
Zero, like BMW, are a victim of their own success. You can't get an S1000RR until January because the new GS models have been selling like hotcakes. Production of the S1000RR has been pushed back and limited, to get all those GS orders fulfilled. It probably takes a long time to expand production facilities and I don't blame manufacturers for being hesitant to do so. A good year could be followed by a few bad ones.
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Topic: Decided to get the SR/F (Read 1041 times)