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Another thing to be considered is the 50 mile range isn't really 50 miles. It's only 25 miles from the closest charging station. That is unless the state is going to take more money from us and install more charging stations 50 miles from each other to support the use of these motos. Also, does the battery life drop when more than the recommended weight is carried? Police officers tend to carry more with them than the average person. Or when they have to travel uphill as in most parts of northern California?
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That's the first thing that came to mind for me as well. When I had an 8mi. commute to work I was considering getting a little electric bike to put to and from work. When you think about it, a max range is really twice as far as you're actually going to travel unless you can charge up at BOTH points A and B. A lotta people aren't able to charge up at point B, though. Another thing is that max distance is never figured while at top speed. I haven't checked the current specs, but when I was looking a few years ago, the Zero only had about 25-30mi max distance at top speeds. I would assume heavier people/load would reduce that a bit even if only slightly. Unless you're treating it as a hyped up bicycle, your average moto cop still has a lotta gear to lug around, or am I mistaken and those saddle bags they carry are empty?
Another thought is that those BMWs that I see a lotta LEOs on aren't all that loud. I don't imagine they inhibit hearing what's around you much more than having a helmet on in the first place so I'm not quite sure what the argument about silent patrolling is about. There's one guy that likes to set up his radar point right outside my friend's apartment by campus. He finds a nice shady spot and shuts down when he radars. When be catches someone you can hear him start up and take off. If his bike is off, it's obviously not making any noise at all so you can't get any quieter than nothing, right?
I think the overall idea is spiffy, but I'm not sure that the Zero should be treated as much more than a big bicycle for LEO use. I'm not even sure where this city is. What happens when the LEO tries to make a traffic stop and the perp hops onto the freeway and goes 100mph, leaving the Zero behind (IIRC top speed was 70-75mph) before he can get other vehicles to help him?
