Are Internal Combustion Bikes Near The End?

[javashot1]

Very interesting video...
 

 
 
 

[suncoaster]

Sounds like the future. A Jetsons bike.
I will cherish even more the howl of a Jap four, the thump of a big twin, or the growl of a triple internal combustion engine.
The sound is what I would miss in the future..

[Cruizin]

The only thing holding them back is range. If you twist a throttle like me, you would be pushing your bike home a lot . I love electric bikes and battery technology is coming along rapidly.
 
I have test rode a few Zero bikes and the instant power is amazing and you quickly forget about the sound of gas engines as the power band is constant and everywhere. No need to rev it up, max power from low to high and it is simply better technology, gas bikes cannot compare to electric instant TQ.
 
Ten years from now they will be spanking gas bikes on the streets. Maybe even sooner.

[wessie]

A mate rode an electric bike in the Isle of Man TT Zero but they can't do four 37.73 mile laps like the Senior bikes! He had to withdraw as the batteries went in to meltdown. That was 2014 and they were better last year.
 
There have been considerable improvements year on year with the winning lap being an average speed of over 119mph in 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TT_Zero#2015_TT_Zero_Race
 
However, the future for electricity in transport will be to hydrolyse water to make hydrogen which we burn in an internal combustion engine.

[johan]

A mate rode an electric bike in the Isle of Man TT Zero but they can't do four 37.73 mile laps like the Senior bikes! He had to withdraw as the batteries went in to meltdown. That was 2014 and they were better last year.  
There have been considerable improvements year on year with the winning lap being an average speed of over 119mph in 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TT_Zero#2015_TT_Zero_Race
 
However, the future for electricity in transport will be to hydrolyse water to make hydrogen which we burn in an internal combustion engine.

No infrastructure for hydrogen. Batteries. My next car is going to be something with a serious petrol engine. It might be the last opportunity before everything becomes hybrid or small turbo. 
M3/F-Type/Cayman S?

[1moreroad]

Gasoline and diesel have a level of energy storage for a given mass that actually gives it great efficiency. For long trips with small loads (or big ones if you add diesel locomotives to the mix), petrol really is a good energy container in some aspects.
 
I read an idea that everyone should buy an "80% vehicle" and rent for everything else. Only need to carry a big load or trailer once or twice a year? Don't buy a pick up, rent one. Even a motorcycle mag once suggested that you might be better off renting a Goldwing if you only make one big tour a year. Then you could own a really efficient electric vehicle (2 or 4 wheels) and only occasionally rent something different.
 
The problem with this - and with electric vehicles - is that people aren't purely rational, economic actors. We have pride of ownership. We dream about all those trips we'll take even if we only take them once a year or less. There's an emotional aspect to owning the big, bad, burly truck even if we never do more than commute in it.
 
Electric vehicles will only be a success if they can make that same emotional link. Tesla has done a decent job making a cool, in town, luxury car with enough capacity for long distance trips between big cities where most of its customers live.
 
All this is to say that we have an emotional attachment to our ICE vehicles that, so far, electric vehicles can't replace, at least in the next couple of decades.
 
It will be interesting to see what automobiles look like in 20 years after the Facebook generations start designing them. They might prioritize features and "apps" over mechanical power and make a better electric vehicle.