Enertia (Brammo) motorcycle

"Today Brammo announced a staggering 33% price drop on the Brammo Enertia. The once $11,995 electric motorcycle now retails for $7995 before tax credits. The federal tax credit brings it down to $7195 and aggressive tax incentives in states like Oregon will see $5695. 24 month 0% financing is also available with $2000 down and $250 / month."

http://plugbike.com/2009/11/10/brammo-enertia-now-7995-or-less/

Brammo is bringing out the Enertia for around $11,495. It's already late but I do notice that its specs have been creeping upwards over the last couple of months (used to be 50+mph now 60+mph) - I hope this is due to great engineering changes not worried marketeers wanting to eek out more attractive specs. Also, Best Buy is a minority share holder with a reported $10M investment and a deal to distribute the bikes (not sure if that's an exclusive deal or not?). So, at a minimum the company can be said to be worth $20.1M. What are these guys smoking !? (and can I have some?)...

1) How many bikes do they need to sell to be profitable?
2) When might they become profitable?
3) When might their investors wake up and start getting nervous and putting pressure on management for better results?
4) How many folks will buy a $11,495 motorcycle that does around 55mph and has around a 30 mile real world range?
5) How many folks will feel comfortable purchasing their transportation from a big-box consumer electronics store - that hasn't always had the best reputation in advice and pricing it gives to customers (anyone remember the fake website that you accessed when in store vs. the website you accessed from the internet?)

My guess is that either (a) Brammo will become the next Vectrix - maybe filing for bankruptcy in 18 months to three years or (b) they really do have the "killer-app" product and are using the Enertia as an entry into the marketplace with some "too good to miss" follow on product. I give odds at 10:1 of (a) over (b).

What are your thoughts? What am I missing? Why might Brammo succeed where Vectrix failed?

Yes, this is somewhat harsh commentary - but I hope Brammo fans can appreciate the fact that this is genuine curiosity. The folks that run Best Buy aren't dumb - they see something here. Surely they've done their due diligence. So, what am I missing?

Does anyone know if the Brammo Enertia is actually in the hands of a paying customer yet?

The only thing I heard was that the Portland Best Buy has one on display (but that's not the same thing as a paying customer riding one).

If anyone knows of one on the road and of a customer review I'd love to read it.

Thanks.

http://brammofan.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/brammo-enertia-regen/

1. 1. Not enough energy to be regenerated off the rear wheel of a lightweight motorcycle....
2. 2. Regen turns your motor into a generator – which means it’s working when it might otherwise be resting. ...
3. 3. Control – regen is a variable parameter and probably requires an additional hand control to be done properly....
4. 4. Range – in most cases, you’ll experience greater range by “free wheeling” and coasting with no regen than you would if regen kicked in when you let off the throttle....

BTW - I'm at the eGrandPrix right now, and all the bikerdudes are asking about engine braking and are concerned about how electrics normally coast rather than engine brake. The closest to engine braking is regen, of course.

On today's EVCast they had a question asking essentially: What's the big deal about the Brammo? It's $12000 goes 50 miles/hr has a 30 mile or so range.. you can buy several brands of scooters with 50 miles/hr and similar range, for far less $$$'s, plus seats 2 (versus Brammo's 1 person seating), plus more cargo capacity, ...

The question is why would you spend big bucks for a Brammo when you can get equivalent performance for lots less..

Here's the podcast entry, you'll have to go way towards the end of the show for their discussion

http://evcast.com/members/evcast/blog/VIEW/00000001/00000280/EVcast-254-We-Are-The-Lunatic-Fringe.html

What do people think?

Thanks David for creating this subforum. Thought I'd just put some basic Brammo information in the first post:
Brammo's Website: www.brammo.com
The Enertia website: www.enertiabike.com

Looking forward to the bike's debut at Best Buy in Portland, Oregon, next month.