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Comment by mallets | Hacker News Reader

It's the opposite IME, most petrol two-wheelers are massive money sinks past 5 years of ownership. You will likely spend close to original price in maintenance and repairs, with most models developing "unfixable" issues that massively degrade the experience. It doesn't need to be engine related for the costs to add up.

Even if the battery craps out after 5 years (extremely unlikely), it's a wash. That's before considering the fuel savings. Battery degradation is a bit of a meme, we aren't even 10 years into mass adoption of EVs for this to be a common experience.

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Never had any problem with any bike, except regular maintenance which is changing oil, changing chain, and changing tires. There aren't physically any parts on a motorcycle which could become a "massive money sink" if it breaks from normal use.

Are you talking about weird vintage bikes or Harley Davidson bikes? Because modern bikes don't have maintenance or factory issues.

> Battery degradation is a bit of a meme

Well, what is the explanation then? If there isn't a major drawback with electric motorcycles, they would already have sold hundreds of millions of units.

Because of no gas cost, cheaper/no maintenance, better performance, better riding experience, less noisy. Which commuter wouldn't want an electric motorcycle? Are hundreds of millions of potential customers in India, Asia and South America simply fools who don't have the hacker enlightenment?

The explanation is that the trusted brands (in 2Ws) are just now rolling-out EVs, the market is very conservative and home charging likely isn't an option if one's renting.

The cheaper variants now have enough range to relieve (urban) range anxiety, wasn't the case a year or two ago. My own model that's 4 years old, the new variant now has 2.5x range, faster charging and much better features. All that for the same price, and without any of the subsidies that used to exist.

These things take time, this is a low-margin business that isn't drowning in VC money.

It's a plausible explanation, but I find it a bit difficult to believe. Motorcycle companies are mature and well funded, they're hardly in need of any venture capital at their stage.

As for the motorcycle market being conservative, I rather think that there's a lot of people chomping at the bits to try an electric bike. The motorcycle market is much more diverse and playful than the car market, in my opinion. If electric bikes were even "almost as good" as gas bikes, then I'd expect to see at least some percentage out on the street being electric. Or hear people talking about them.

But I don't see them anywhere, or hear anything about them. And they are easy and affordable to buy here. What I see is tons of gas motorcycles, and a whole lot of electric cars, and electric scooters (those that go on the pavement).

I would expect most ladies who commute on a 125cc scooter to much rather go on an electric motorcycle, just to name a very large customer group.

For the established players, it's the battery supply chain that's the main issue. Rest can be locally-sourced or manufactured. Makes them very nervous, having to import when tariffs and rules change everyday.

My city in South India could be an outlier but I see green EV number plates everywhere. Would love to see a state-wise breakdown for sale share.

> My city in South India could be an outlier but I see green EV number plates everywhere.

I too see Green EV number plates more that I used to before. I live in a Tier 3 city in South India.

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