On November 2nd, at this year’s China International Motorcycle Exhibition, American electric motorcycle brand Zero announced its official entry into the domestic market, and brought three styles of electric motorcycles, including street bikes, GT tourers, and retro scramblers.
In terms of prices, the retro Zero FEX is the lowest at RMB 128,800; followed by the touring Zero RS at RMB 178,800; and the highest-priced model is the GT Zero SR/S, starting at RMB 198,800. Would you spend nearly RMB 200,000 to buy an electric motorcycle?
Now, let’s take a look at the specs for the most expensive GT model, the Zero SR/S:
- Maximum power 82 kW, peak torque 190 Nm;
- Offers two range options, with a battery capacity of 14.4+ kWh or 15.6+ kWh, and ranges of 251 km and 271 km, respectively;
- Equipped with 3-6 kW fast chargers (yes, the power is lower than that of car AC charging);
- Showa SFF-BP suspension + Brembo calipers + MSC vehicle stability system;
- 5-inch TFT color display + three driving modes + smartphone app connectivity.
Streetcar Zero RS:
- Maximum power of 55 kW and peak torque of 166 Nm;
- Battery capacity of 14.4+ kWh, achieving city endurance of 251 km, high-speed endurance of 124 km, and comprehensive endurance of 166 km;
- The intelligent interconnectivity is consistent with SR/S.
Retro Zero FEX:
- Maximum power of 35 kW and peak torque of 106 Nm;
- Battery pack of 7.2 kWh, city endurance of 161 km, high-speed endurance of 64 km, and comprehensive endurance of 92 km;
- Supports 220V charging, which is the same as the charging interface of electric vehicles today;
- Vehicle weight of 135 kg.
Interestingly, in the electric vehicle field, at the same price point, electric vehicles generally have larger horsepower than gasoline vehicles. However, the power parameter data of the three Zero electric motorcycles at the same price point are not as good as gasoline motorcycles.
Let’s take the most expensive SR/R as an example. The 82 kW power parameter is roughly the level of the 10-15 level medium-displacement motorcycles such as the Triumph 765 RS, Kawasaki Z900, Yamaha MT-09, and KTM DUKE 790 in gasoline motorcycles, and it is far from the quasi-liter class models with a price of 200,000. For motorcycles with a stronger emphasis on entertainment, this is indeed regrettable.
I do not deny that the future trend of two-wheeled vehicles will definitely be towards electrification. However, if we simply change the power source from fuel to electric, there is actually no substantial development significance for two-wheeled vehicles. We should pay more attention to the changes in the “route” that electrification can bring to motorcycles.
Electrification has brought higher efficiency in vehicle utilization, over-the-air upgrades for the entire vehicle, more concise driving operation logic, and the concept of intelligent cockpits to automobiles.
For motorcycles, if electrification only brings power output characteristics, but also brings inconvenience in energy supplement, poor endurance, and even high prices, it is obviously not worth it.
Therefore, how to use more “electrified” features to impress those who are going to buy a high-horsepower motorcycle is still a major challenge for ZERO.
Fortunately, now there are more and more manufacturers entering the electric motorcycle market both domestically and internationally. Will there be a product like the “Tesla Model 3” entering the electric motorcycle market in the future? We are waiting and seeing.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.