This just popped up on my twitter account.. Zero Motorcycles has long promised a street bike, and now it's available. $9950. Further it's qualified for the recent $1000 federal EV tax incentive.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/04/07/zero-motorcycles-unveils-the-zero-s-w-video/
top 60 mph speed .. 4kwh battery (58volts @ 70Ah) .. 60 mile range .. integrated charger ..
Note their non-street dirt bike has a 2kwh battery. Either this has a larger frame or they did something like forego the quick change feature to get more room for the battery pack.
Press release: http://sev.prnewswire.com/auto/20090407/LA9577307042009-1.html
The weight is 225 lbs, more than the non-street dirt bike.
Looks good - I'd like one.
As far as pack goes it looks like they've just mounted two of their packs in parallel.
There's no mention of expected lifespan of the pack nor the specific chemistry. It does have a battery balancer.
$10K is expensive. (OK, I had to say that...)
I notice they claim "fastest in their class" - which is of course true. Except the Vectrix is still the quickest in all classes of production electric motorcycles (as far as I know). Got to love marketing! (And we're only talking a 2mph difference!)
John H. Founder of Current Motor Company - opinions on this site belong to me; not to my employer
Remember: " 'lectric for local. diesel for distance" - JTH, Amp Bros || "No Gas.
From what I've read, the Electric Motorsports GPR-S is faster than either the Vectrix or Zero S. They claim top speeds of 70mph. I don't see the advantage of the Zero over the GPR-S, except maybe a bigger, more well-established company backing it.