It was a point of discussion across much of our news stories last year, and it seems going into 2021 that the electric revolution is very much upon us when it comes to vehicles on driving experiences - including those with two wheels.
Regular readers may remember that back in October, Driving Experience pointed to the kings of motorcycles, Harley Davidson, and their development of two prototype electric motorbikes, as driven by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in their hit Apple TV+ series Long Way Up.
The release of prototypes by such a well renowned name is at least showing progress, although many manufacturers are already some way ahead of the curve - Zero Motorcycles for one. The US firm, previously known as Electricross, have only been in operation since 2006, but have been pioneering the progression to electric power on two wheels.
Their first model, the Zero S, entered production and the market exactly 10 years ago, and a decade later, even with several subsequent upgrades in power capabilities, it still remains their flagship model by some considerable distance.
The current iteration of the Zero S is its most powerful yet, kitted out with a ZF 14.4 11 KW battery, and a 100% electric powertrain, generating 59 bhp that helps it reach top speeds of around 86 mph - that’s quite an astonishing performance we’re sure you’ll agree!
However, it is by no means an inexpensive investment; a new one of their standard models will set you back about £18,090 after deductions for plug-in grants. But when you consider that the Zero S typically costs about £2.70 to charge up - equivalent to the price of a takeaway coffee - there’s a real benefit of cost per charge value at play here. And that’s got to be better for both the planet and your pocket in the long run.
With the launch of our new range of Motorcycle Experience days here on Driving Experience in the last quarter, we’re definitely keen to try and get more electric or hybrid powered experiences for bikers available. Happily, one of our latest experiences we’ve added for budding junior motorcyclists, in the form of our Junior Motorcycle Novices Two Hour Taster, offers such an opportunity.
The bikes on both this and our Junior Motorcycle Trials package, which are held in the beautiful Ribble Valley countryside up in Lancashire, are special OSET electric bikes, which are world leaders in being both powered on electric batteries and being the ideal size motorcycles for those young riders aged 7 - 12, to get a taste for the excitement of off-road biking.
Hopefully it won’t be too long before we’ve got more of the motorbikes of the future to offer our adult riders too, but if you want to arrange your next motorcycle day with Driving Experience you can do so right now by heading on over to our dedicated Motorcycle Experiences page and booking from available dates and gift vouchers.
