When Will Electric Motorcycles be Affordable?

By Alex Olson

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Updated on February 24, 2023

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By Alex Olson
Published on September 14, 2016
Carpark with motorcycles

Lots of people would love to ride electric motorcycles, but they all have the same question: when will electric motorcycles be affordable? The main barrier to getting an electric motorcycle for a lot of people has been the price. Many people want all of the advantages of transportation that doesn’t yield emissions, but the price tag of electric motorcycles is too much of a barrier for many people. There are some electric motorcycles that are relatively affordable, although whether or not people are actually going to find them inexpensive enough will depend upon their own personal pricing standards.

Factors Influencing the Price of Electric Motorcycles

The people who are familiar with the transportation industry know that electric vehicles of all kinds have had a dubious history. The automotive companies more or less junked their own electric cars after developing electric cars that were functional and affordable. There seems to be a constant tension in the transportation industry between meeting the demands of a socially conscious public that wants safer and cleaner vehicles and maintaining a lot of the same industry connections that have existed for much longer. Electric motorcycles are going to suffer in the same way as electric cars due to this frustrating situation.

Some of the factors influencing the price of electric motorcycles are technological in nature and not political or even strictly economic. Obviously, technology, the economy, and politics always interrelate. However, it is still useful to consider all of these different factors apart from one another in order to accurately assess the situation. The price of the battery is one of the most important factors in the price of the overall device. The level of energy density is also important. Battery prices are finally starting to fall in a world in which more and more people are getting electric motorcycles for themselves.

Thanks to technological improvements, energy density is also getting better. As such, it’s going to be that much easier for people to really power their electric motorcycles even with less energy. The energy generation part of running electric motorcycles is one of the hardest parts from a technical and financial standpoint. As the batteries become more efficient and as they come down in price more and more, it should be that much easier for people to afford electric motorcycles.

The Current Price of Electric Motorcycles

As it stands, electric motorcycles will often cost people twelve thousand dollars or more, which is more than some people are going to pay for their used cars. Some of these new measures are cutting the costs of electric motorcycles by a few thousand dollars or so, but this still yields electric motorcycles that are more expensive than some of the used cars that people will buy. People who are in the market for new vehicles that will more or less serve the function of the vehicles that people rely on should probably be fine with the current pricing schedule. However, other people are still going to have to wait for electric motorcycles to become affordable.

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About the Author

Written by Alex Olson 

Alex is an outdoor enthusiast and adrenaline junkie. Born and raised in Omaha, NE he had to actively seek out fun things to do. This led to his love for extreme sports (skateboarding, wakeboarding, skiing, etc.). Anything with a board or wheels he rode it. He lived in Maine as a wakeboarding instructor, in Breckenridge, CO as a ski lift operator, and currently resides in a small town south of Denver. Alex combined his love for micro-mobility and his day job in digital marketing to create this niche website.

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