ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Dragtat on October 27, 2014, 07:31:12 AM
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Hello All,
I will be posting a few of these. I am doing a project for my marketing research class I am taking at the University of Texas. I chose Mission Motorcycles as the topic and I could use all the help you can give. I just need each survey answered, nothing more. Thanks for your time. Please try to answer all of them so I can have a true sample.
Chris
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Curious as to why everyone thinks initial cost is the worst part
Yes but basically every new bike is 10k today
To me it's the used bike cost is still to high
Soon as the range doubles. Bye bye gas bikes
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What you really need in that survey is a choice for "all of the above". ;)
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Curious as to why everyone thinks initial cost is the worst part
Yes but basically every new bike is 10k today
"Initial cost" can include used-vehicle pricing; it's as opposed to "driving costs". It's the cost of buying the bike, not the cost of running the bike.
I paid $17k for my SR, and for that amount you can buy quite a fire-breathing, high-end sportbike (not Ducati high-end, but Japanese high-end). I personally think it's a pretty valid comparison -- my SR has considerably lower weight and higher torque than a Hayabusa, so I think the SR qualifies as a high-end fire-breather.
But most people don't play in that market, and it's not a big part of the market. How may Hayabusas do you see when you're driving around town? There's nothing wrong with the Zero product offering except that it only services the high end -- just like Tesla in the car market. EVs are never going to be a mainstream product until they offer mainstream vehicles. They're just still at too high of a price point.
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At $13k sticker and $14.6k out the door, even my "entry level" 8.5 S was a bit of a tough pill to swallow, especially compared to what I typically ride/drive sourced from the used market usually for under $3k. I'd said may times that I would probably never buy a brand new vehicle because I'm someone who isn't afraid to wield a wrench. So yeah, cost of entry was my main concern. I got over it as there wasn't much of a used market for 2013+ bikes which had the performance envelope I was after, and I felt that the benefits of EV ownership outweighed the initial cost penalty of buying new.
As far as other factors, range wasn't an issue as my main use would be for my fairly short commute, service network wasn't an issue as I knew that these machines had low maintenance needs by design and I do most of my own work where possible anyway, and lack of charging stations wasn't an issue because I knew that I'd be charging at home almost always.
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For me the economics works out because I ride a lot, and as such the fuel savings make it worth while. That is admittedly based on a very lucky second hand purchase of a 2013 Zero-S in the £8000 range. I save on average £1500 a year on fuel and associated costs.
So I reckon after three years it would have cost me the same as a £3500 bike + Fuel&Costs, which I think is a good deal.
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For me the economics works out because I ride a lot, and as such the fuel savings make it worth while.
For me, too. I commute ~50 miles a day, and in San Diego I can ride virtually every day. I figure the bike will pay for itself in four years' worth of not driving the car, if the IRS is correct that it costs $0.569 per mile to drive a car.
But I admit I'm an edge case -- a perfect candidate for a Zero owner. The numbers aren't so kind to most people.
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Phrasing people - "biggest downfall" places a negative connotation on a leading question.
Even a marginal comparative implies a chasm and a downfall between a limited selection of options.
Anything that costs (with no other faults) would qualify in this survey question as "biggest downfall".
This emerging market may, or may not, have individual tangible economic merits, however long term aggregate economics indicate astounding results.