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Zero registration for electric motorcycles

Victory Empulse TT electric motorcycle dial poised historic events
MBW rides the Victory Empulse TT electric motorcycle

If electric motorcycles are ever going to gain a foothold in the market they need a rider incentive like in Vietnam where they waive registration fees.

Some countries have similar tax incentives to encourage riders to switch from internal combustion engines to electric power, but there are no such incentives in Australia.

That could change after the car manufacturing industry closes down in the next couple of years as the government won’t feel obliged to prop them up.

Vietnam traffic - electric bikes
Vietnam traffic

In Vietnam, electric scooters and motorcycles are becoming popular with the National Steering Committee of Traffic Safety revealing that 70% of EVs across the country are motorcycles.

However, riders on electric motorcycles must not exceed speeds of 50km/h and the motors must be no greater than 4kW.

A range of motorcycle manufacturers, including BMW, Harley-Davidson, Yamaha and Victory have electric motorcycles, but are holding off markets such as Australia because of our lack of infrastructure and government incentives.

Meanwhile, Italian has developed n urban “fat-wheeler” e-bike in co-operation with Ducati.

Ducati Scrambler electric bike
Ducati Scrambler electric bike

The Ducati Scrambler comes as a 25 km/h e-bike with a 250W motor and 26V 11Ah battery. Coloured in Verde Ducati this Scrambler is an e-bike that will be sold at Italwin dealers as well as Ducati dealers in Italy at €2640.

  1. The difference that most people are afraid of is what happens when the tank runs dry, a short walk to the servo or flag down a motorist and ask for some fuel has been the deal with petrol power and I am sure everyone has run dry at some time. But what happens with electric vehicles? Do you knock on someone’s door and ask to borrow an outlet? How about a cupa while you wait the hours it takes to get a reasonable charge?
    That said I’d be tempted to use an electric bike for my commute to work provided it was more sports tourer than scooter or cruiser or push bike for that matter. And I’d need free secure parking and charging before I’d make the leap.

  2. I have secure parking and power outlet at work – so all I need now is a good subsidy or even a ‘loan’ of a test bike. My 32km commute is a mix of 60-80-90 kph roads, with a bit of congestion is spots. That ride would be a good test of the bike’s endurance and real-world recharging times/facilities.

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