I think the biggest issue with electric motorbikes is infrastructure because, at least from what I see, motorbikes aren't used the same way cars are.
I think they should work great for commuting, if you don't live too far away. But then, people would want to use the bike for other things, too, like going on road trips.
And that's where it hurts. You usually don't take road trips on the main highways because it's boring as hell. You'll take smaller roads, which often don't yet have any reasonable charging infrastructure. Combined with the shorter ranges, nobody is really going to risk it, so they'll just buy a gas bike. Hell, even with my gas bike's tank which is on larger side (19.5 liters), I sometimes have to cart around "safety gas", which I've had to use once. And no, it's not a dirt bike or anything, the only time it went off the asphalt was to go inside a hotel yard.
I think this is the reason why, at least where I live in Europe, you see next to no "serious" electric bikes, but practically all smaller ones are now electric: these bikes don't do anything apart commuting anyway, so electric is great for that.
> But then, people would want to use the bike for other things, too, like going on road trips.
I have an e-bike, I can take it on the train, go to some random town and explore. You can buy 'S-pedelecs" which are basically mopeds in bicycle form-factor - they have powerfull motors and go 45 km/h.
Then high-end electric motorcycles make sence
But lower end electric motorbikes, I dont get. You camt tale them on oiblic transport, they need a socket to charge, they cant use car-standarss for charging, and they dont have the range. So they seem to be in purgatory.
I agree with your point about taking the bike (bicycle) on a train and whatnot.
My point was about motorbikes. Which, as you say, have all the inconveniences of a full-blown motorbike, without the nice things, and the smaller ones aren't materially better than a souped-up e-bike.
I think they should work great for commuting, if you don't live too far away. But then, people would want to use the bike for other things, too, like going on road trips.
And that's where it hurts. You usually don't take road trips on the main highways because it's boring as hell. You'll take smaller roads, which often don't yet have any reasonable charging infrastructure. Combined with the shorter ranges, nobody is really going to risk it, so they'll just buy a gas bike. Hell, even with my gas bike's tank which is on larger side (19.5 liters), I sometimes have to cart around "safety gas", which I've had to use once. And no, it's not a dirt bike or anything, the only time it went off the asphalt was to go inside a hotel yard.
I think this is the reason why, at least where I live in Europe, you see next to no "serious" electric bikes, but practically all smaller ones are now electric: these bikes don't do anything apart commuting anyway, so electric is great for that.