First "cool" electric bike I've seen available for sale.

[abby normal]

agreed.  awesome effort by Brammo.  i'll go check one out as soon as the dealers are
announced.

to get off fossil fuels, this is the first step.

[FastAndLight]

I feel like there was already a thread on here on this bike...but maybe it was another forum. I'm really excited to see how it performs in the real world.  I think motorcycles are the perfect foothold for electric vehicles. And the torque. Can't wait for that.

On the pollution note, there are a few ways to think of it. A million dollar scrubber isn't viable for every tailpipe, but on a billion dollar power plant it is.  Once you have an electric vehicle you can choose how you generate your power, be it installing your own solar panels, wind turbine, charging it from the grid, or paying extra for "green" power from your power company. In short, you have options that you didn't when you simply had to put gas in your bike or car.

[Heath]

hmm the garage I rent at my apartment complex has an outlet that is not connected to my meter or account. I never asked but I am guessing it is connected to the apartment complexes account.  That means free fuel!!

[duccarlos]

The big companies would need to invest to improve the range/recharge time before this technology is widely used. Maybe invest in hydrogen powered as well. It will take a few years, but once the companies realize that they cn make money from these, we will see them all over the place.

[Drjones]

hmm the garage I rent at my apartment complex has an outlet that is not connected to my meter or account. I never asked but I am guessing it is connected to the apartment complexes account.  That means free fuel!!

Yeah, but you'll be pre-paying for all the fuel savings in the purchase cost vs an equivalent gasoline powered scooter.  Electric vehicle costs need to come down another 25% before they're financially on par with gas powered equivalents on a total to own and operate basis.  Getting there but still not quite.

[FastAndLight]

The big companies would need to invest to improve the range/recharge time before this technology is widely used. Maybe invest in hydrogen powered as well. It will take a few years, but once the companies realize that they cn make money from these, we will see them all over the place.

That is definitely true, but we as consumers also need to re-think about how we get power into our vehicles.  Every stop on my list of errands can be a re-charge point with an electric vehicle. Work is a place to recharge, as is home.  The idea of going to one specific place to quickly get more energy needs to be scrapped in favor of a more piecemeal approach with bump charges and the like. 

[triangleforge]

While the focus right now is on batteries, there may be some interesting developments in really high-performance capacitors:

http://news.discovery.com/tech/super-capacitor-power-energy.html

From that article: "If commercialized, the new super capacitor could be fully charged in a second and, coupled to a normal battery, provide enough energy to power a cell phone for weeks or a laptop battery for days."

While I'm sure there are plenty of hurdles before these buggers get fully developed for consumer electronics, much less vehicles, it could completely change the game if it was possible to "refuel" an EV faster than you can now use a gas pump...

[duccarlos]

While the focus right now is on batteries, there may be some interesting developments in really high-performance capacitors:

http://news.discovery.com/tech/super-capacitor-power-energy.html

From that article: "If commercialized, the new super capacitor could be fully charged in a second and, coupled to a normal battery, provide enough energy to power a cell phone for weeks or a laptop battery for days."

While I'm sure there are plenty of hurdles before these buggers get fully developed for consumer electronics, much less vehicles, it could completely change the game if it was possible to "refuel" an EV faster than you can now use a gas pump...

Now that would be insane!

[NorDog]

Now that would be insane!

Will the rider light up if he overshoots a turn and winds up in a pond?

[arai_speed]

diamond based capacitors!  talk about bling!

[Bill in OKC]

I could see myself running out of juice North of BFE where the good roads are. 

[il d00d]

^^^^^^^^  Should be she-bots.  Just sayin....


^{...not complaining, either.}

[NorDog]

I could see myself running out of juice North of BFE where the good roads are. 

BFE?  Boy Friend Experience?

[1KDS]

That is definitely true, but we as consumers also need to re-think about how we get power into our vehicles.  Every stop on my list of errands can be a re-charge point with an electric vehicle. Work is a place to recharge, as is home.  The idea of going to one specific place to quickly get more energy needs to be scrapped in favor of a more piecemeal approach with bump charges and the like. 

...and they all have a electrical meter on every receptacle, and you pay when you leave?

[Meerkat]

Just filed a patent for battery powered Termi emulator. Now an electric bike might be worth it.