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Yadea is coming to the Western market

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Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#21

Post by Sevii »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #14
imglorp wrote: post #7

The US desperately needs some competition in the EV motorcycle space. There are several players but they still seem boutique and and way over what the price should be.

The US would rather pay off to tarriffs the competition than properly compete. Even the Ford CEO drove A Chinese EV for 6 months and he didn't want to give it up. Also indirectly he didn't think Ford could compete, calling it an "existential threat" https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-ceo-driving-xiaomi-su7-... It's really stupid because Xiaomi isn't making anything truly revolutionary. It's just a lot of consumer t…

There is no way we can compete in a global free market while paying 4x as much for labor. At a comparable level of technology and organizational skill the Chinese will win every competition, labor costs are that important. They have already caught up.

Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#22

Post by 0cf8612b2e1e »

imglorp wrote: post #7

The US desperately needs some competition in the EV motorcycle space. There are several players but they still seem boutique and and way over what the price should be.

My quick searching is finding that 3% of US vehicles are motorcycles.

Sure, more competition is good, but given their safety profile (terrible!) I suspect motorcycles are a secondary mode of transportation rather than a primary. Mopeds for intra city usage seems more high demand than highway speed vehicles that have to drive alongside SUVs.

Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#23

Post by korse »

baseballdork wrote: post #16
tigranbs wrote: post #9

EV motorcycles are a huge struggle! I have been riding motorcycles pretty much my whole adult life, but after trying electric bikes a few times while in the EU, I felt they were like toys. Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender? FYI: I understand they are more efficient and faster, but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun. In the EU market, it is mostl…

Are they faster? I guess at some point it comes down to gearing, but a liter bike is hitting 300km/h and has more than enough torque to loop you from standing still. I'm not sure what an electric motor adds here for hobbyists or speed demons.

They aren't faster in the cases I know of. As an example, the Isle of Man TT Zero was discontinued partially because 2008 predictions of electric bikes reaching parity with gas by 2025 didn't pan out.

Even for small stuff, a minibike with a 212cc 4-stroke can have comparable performance to something like a Cake or Surron and is a fraction of the cost.

Personally I think the electric motorcycle market should try and max performance versus weight. Perhaps something pedal assisted that could hit 60 mph without too much fuss but light enough that it could be shouldered up a few flights of stairs. Range can be low, as in 10-15 miles per charge max but balanced by swappable battery packs.

Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#24

Post by givemeethekeys »

tigranbs wrote: post #9

EV motorcycles are a huge struggle! I have been riding motorcycles pretty much my whole adult life, but after trying electric bikes a few times while in the EU, I felt they were like toys. Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender? FYI: I understand they are more efficient and faster, but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun. In the EU market, it is mostl…

EBikes are quiet and awesome. People who like loud bikes and loud cars are, thankfully an extreme minority where I live.

Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#26

Post by xnx »

tigranbs wrote: post #9

EV motorcycles are a huge struggle! I have been riding motorcycles pretty much my whole adult life, but after trying electric bikes a few times while in the EU, I felt they were like toys. Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender? FYI: I understand they are more efficient and faster, but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun. In the EU market, it is mostl…

> but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun.

Torque is fun

Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#27

Post by 7952 »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #14
imglorp wrote: post #7

The US desperately needs some competition in the EV motorcycle space. There are several players but they still seem boutique and and way over what the price should be.

The US would rather pay off to tarriffs the competition than properly compete. Even the Ford CEO drove A Chinese EV for 6 months and he didn't want to give it up. Also indirectly he didn't think Ford could compete, calling it an "existential threat" https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-ceo-driving-xiaomi-su7-... It's really stupid because Xiaomi isn't making anything truly revolutionary. It's just a lot of consumer t…

Surely the most important area of innovation is not the end product itself but how it is manufactured at scale. That is what made Henry and what will make Chinese manufacturers win.

Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#28

Post by willio58 »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #22
imglorp wrote: post #7

The US desperately needs some competition in the EV motorcycle space. There are several players but they still seem boutique and and way over what the price should be.

My quick searching is finding that 3% of US vehicles are motorcycles. Sure, more competition is good, but given their safety profile (terrible!) I suspect motorcycles are a secondary mode of transportation rather than a primary. Mopeds for intra city usage seems more high demand than highway speed vehicles that have to drive alongside SUVs.

> but given their safety profile (terrible!)

I feel like there's kind of a cycle of unsafety with motorcycles on the social level in the U.S.

There's a societal understanding in the U.S. that motorcycles are unsafe, which results in an increased number of people purchasing motorcycles with the intention of showing off how unsafe (dangerous) they can be. And the cycle perpetuates.

Obviously, motorcycles are inherently less safe in certain ways, like your body is going to fly if you get into a high-speed collision, and that's pretty much unavoidable. But when I visit European countries, it seems motorcycle culture is _so_ much healthier. They are mostly seen as simple transportation tools, a far cry from what I regularly see in the U.S.

Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#29

Post by gwbas1c »

tigranbs wrote: post #9

EV motorcycles are a huge struggle! I have been riding motorcycles pretty much my whole adult life, but after trying electric bikes a few times while in the EU, I felt they were like toys. Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender? FYI: I understand they are more efficient and faster, but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun. In the EU market, it is mostl…

> Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender?

All the more reason to aggressively ban gas motorcycles.

FWIW: Harley designed a "loud" drivetrain for electric motorcycles so they can have a distinctive sound when they switch over.

Re: Yadea is coming to the Western market

#30

Post by cptskippy »

tigranbs wrote: post #9

EV motorcycles are a huge struggle! I have been riding motorcycles pretty much my whole adult life, but after trying electric bikes a few times while in the EU, I felt they were like toys. Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender? FYI: I understand they are more efficient and faster, but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun. In the EU market, it is mostl…

> ...after trying electric bikes... I felt they were like toys.

> ...a motorcycle...it's more about a hobby, fun.

I don't think you have successfully articulated why EV motorcycles are a struggle. If anything you've created further confusion.

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