[sgt]

You are clearly not a biker... otherwise you might have understood why EV motorcycles are years, maybe decades into the future.

If you refer to e.g Asia where motorcycles are possibly your only transport, then sure; your argument is valid. But this is HN, and in Western countries a motorcycle is basically a hobby. Heck, they are often even more expensive to run than cars.

So as to why EV bikes are not even close to being ready:

(a) The range is abysmal, and the availability of charging simply isn't there in areas that many bikers venture (away from traffic, hundreds of miles into the hills). Motorcyclists try to avoid the interstate and main highways if possible. You rarely see a Zero bike for this and many other reasons. A proper ride may be 12 hours per day for hundreds of miles, for days on end.

(b) Battery mass. The energy per mass unit in even the best batteries make it very impractical with motorcycles that really need to be as light as possible.

(c) Longevity. A lot of bikers own not just one, but many motorcycles. You may have the latest BMW R1250GS, but also a garage littered with anything from KDX 200 to DRZ 400 and Honda CBR1000RR. Those bikes can still be used for years to come, and it doesn't make sense to scrap them. PS - bikes are generally not that reliable though, but that doesn't necessarily affect longevity too much as owners love to tinker.

[seanmcdirmid]

It is kind of inevitable in the long run if cars move on to being EVs, where will bikes fill up if there are no more gas stations?

That being said, I’ve only ever seen one EV motorcycle in China once (not just a big electric bike), it had unreal acceleration, I’m not sure it would be safe to ride.

[toast0]

It'll be a long time before the whole car fleet turns over, and then you've got gasoline powered box vans and what not, too.

But as (or if) the liquid fuel demand drops, you'll probably see the density of stations drop too. Both fewer pumps per station and fewer stations. But I suspect most areas will have some gasoline availability for at least my lifetime. Worst case, auto parts stores will carry 5 gallon jugs prefilled with stabilized gasoline. That would get a motorcycle around quite a bit.

For old-timers who hang onto their classic gasoline powered cars, they might need to plan trips around fueling stations, like natural gas drivers and EV drivers currently do. (EV is easier, you can always bring a 110V charger and wait a long time)

[sgt]

Thing is... there will likely always be gas stations catering to vintage vehicles and such. Bikers will have to pay premium for bio-ethanol or such meant for exotic and old cars. Luckily motorcycles are generally decent (not great) on gas mileage, so it might work out OK.