Electric Bikes and Scooters, the FUTURE of 2 wheelers

Electric motorcycles and scooters are plug-in electric vehicles with two or three wheels. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery which drives one or more electric motors. Electric scooters are distinguished from motorcycles by having a step-through frame, instead of being straddled. Electric bicycles are similar vehicles, distinguished by retaining the ability to be propelled by the rider pedalling in addition to battery propulsion.

Electric scooters with the rider standing are known as e-scooters.

In 1988, Ed Rannberg, who founded Eyeball Engineering, tested his electric drag motorcycle in Bonneville. In 1992, the January issue of Cycle World carried an article about Ed Rannberg's bike called the KawaSHOCKI. It could complete a quarter mile (0.25 miles (400 m)) in 11–12 seconds.

In 1995, Electric Motorbike Inc. was founded by Scott Cronk and Rick Whisman in Santa Rosa, California. In 1996, EMB Lectra was built by Electric Motorbike Inc., which used a variable reluctance motor. It had a top speed of about 45 mph (72 km/h) and a range of 35 miles (56 km). About a 100 of these were built.

In 1996, the first mass-produced electric scooter, Peugeot Scoot'Elec, was released. It used Nickel-Cadmium batteries and a range of 40 km (25 mi).

On 26 August 2000, Killacycle established a drag racing record of completing a quarter mile (400 m) in 9.450 seconds on the Woodburn track in Oregon. Killacycle used lead acid batteries at a speed of 152.07 mph (244.73 km/h). Later, Killacycle using A123 Systems Li-ion nano-phosphate cells set a new quarter mile record of 7.824 seconds breaking the 8 seconds barrier at 168 miles per hour (270 km/h) in Phoenix, Arizona, at the All Harley Drag Racing Association (AHDRA) 2007, on 10 November 2007.

In 2006, Vectrix introduced the first commercially available high performance electric scooter, the VX-1. Following insolvency and initial bankruptcy reorganization, the Gold Peak battery group purchased the company in 2009. Vectrix expanded product lines, offering the VX-2 and the three wheeled VX-3. But Vectrix ceased operations in January 2014 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, with its remaining assets auctioned off the following June.

On June 30, 2013, Carlin Dunne riding a Lightning Motorcycle-built electric bike beat conventional motorcycles at Pikes Peak. He clocked a 10 minutes 00.694 seconds at the 12.42 miles (19.99 km) course.

On November 20, 2018, VinFast from Vietnam introduced two electric scooter models in Hanoi, with 4 model: VinFast Klara A1 (Lithium-ion battery), VinFast Klara A2 (Lead–acid battery), VinFast Ludo and VinFast Impes.

In 2020, Ola Electric Mobility, a division of Ola Cabs, planned to construct world's largest electric scooter factory near Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The company aims to produce 10 million vehicles annually.

In 2020, Odysse Electric, an Indian manufacturer of electric motorcycles and scooters became India's first on-sale sportsbike-inspired electric bike maker

In 2020, Juan Ayala, an urban planning design professor at Rutgers University, invented smartphone app based rentable e-scooter systems.

In 2021, Bobfleet, the electric motorcycle division of Bob Eco, launched its electric motorcycle to replace petrol fuelled motorcycles on the African continent.

In 2022, VinFast of VinGroup from Vietnam introduced 2 new models: VinFast Theon S and VinFast Feliz S.

In 2023, Bobfleet introduce its next generation model: Model X gen2

Power source

A restriction on the range of electric motorcycles and scooters is the requirement to cram enough electrical energy into their small frames.

Most electric motorcycles and scooters are powered by rechargeable lithium ion batteries, though some early models used nickel–metal hydride batteries.

Alternative types of batteries are available. Z Electric Vehicle pioneered use of a battery with lead electrodes and an electrolyte of a liquid low sodium silicate compound, a variation on the classic lead–acid battery invented in 1859 and still used for electrical power in internal-combustion-engine automobiles, that compares favorably with lithium batteries in size, weight, and energy capacity, at considerably less cost.

EGen says its lithium-iron phosphate batteries are up to two-thirds lighter than lead-acid batteries and offer the best battery performance for electric vehicles.

In 2017, the first vehicle in the US to use the new Lithium Titanium Oxide (LTO) battery non-flammable battery technology was a scooter called The Expresso. This technology allows a battery to charge in less than 10 minutes, and is capable of 25,000 charges, the equivalent of 70 years of daily charges. The technology, created by Altairnano, is used in China, where over 10,000 urban buses run on these batteries.

Charging

All electric scooters and motorcycles provide for recharging by plugging into ordinary wall outlets, usually taking about eight hours to recharge (i.e., overnight). Some manufacturers have designed in, included, or offer as an accessory, the high-power CHAdeMO level 2 charger, which can charge the batteries up to 95% in an hour.

Battery swapping

The Fuel-Cell Battery-Swap Land Glider, designed by Todd Bank, at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, 2005

Manufacturers like Zero Motorcycles and recent entrants to the scooter market Nanu EV, Gogoro, and Unu have designed machines that allow quick battery swapping, to allow charging without the vehicle needing to be near a charge point, or, with a spare battery or an available battery network, to allow continued travelafter a battery is drained.

In the mid-1990s, Personal Electric Transports-Hawaii (formerly Suntera, now P.E.T.) was making a 113 km/h (70 mph) capable 3-wheel enclosed-electric motorcycle called the Sunray – designed by noted solar EV pioneer Jonnathan Tennyson. The Sunray's battery cartridge was on rollers and slid out of the front of the vehicle so it could be swapped out for a freshly charged battery at a battery-swap station conveniently located along a highway or in a city. P.E.T. also had streamlined 2-wheel seated motor scooters called Caballito's – designed by Budd Steinhilbur, who was a well known designer of the Tucker 48 automobile. Budd's Caballito's were also adapted for battery-swapping at P.E.T.’s future battery-swap stations. In 2000, P.E.T. added light-electric motorcycle and scooter visionary Todd Bank to their team and P.E.T. secured major funding from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to design and prototype the first battery-swap station's for light-electric vehicles and NEV's. P.E.T. prototypes and designs are now on display at museums across America.

Battery swapping is popular in India, with Sun Mobility planning modular batteries. "A moped would require one, a rickshaw two and a car four.

Hybrid

Honda has developed an experimental internal combustion/electric hybrid scooter. Yamaha has also developed a hybrid concept motorcycle called Gen-Ryu. It uses a 600cc engine and an additional electric motor. Piaggio MP3 Hybrid uses a 125cc engine and an additional 2.4 kW motor.

Fuel cell

There are several experimental prototypes using fuel cell technology. ENV developed by Intelligent Energy is a hydrogen fuel cell prototype. The motorcycle has a range of 100 miles (160 km) and can reach a top speed of 50 mph (80 km/h). Suzuki has also developed a concept hydrogen fuel cell scooter based on the Suzuki Burgman. Yamaha has created a hydrogen fuel cell prototype called FC-AQEL, which is considered equivalent to a 125cc vehicle. Honda has also developed a hydrogen fuel cell scooter which uses the Honda FC Stack.

Government promotion and incentives

India

In January 2013, the Indian government announced a plan to provide subsidies for hybrid and electric vehicles. The plan will have subsidies up to ₹ 1,50,000 (Approximately US$2,200) for cars and ₹ 50,000 on two wheelers. India aimed to have seven million electric vehicles on the road by 2020. But the scheme was launched in April 2019 by the name of FAME, or Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric vehicles.

Indonesia

The Indonesian government announced in March 2023 that it would allocate a total of Rp 7 trillion (US$455.88 million) to incentivize electric motorcycle sales through 2024. These funds will subsidize 800,000 new electric motorcycle sales and 200,000 conversions of existing internal combustion motorcycles to electric. Each new electric motorcycle sale will receive a Rp 7 million subsidy.

Taiwan

The premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Liu Chao-shiuan said in 2008 that the government-financed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) will help domestic manufacturers mass-produce 100,000 electric motorcycles in four years.