This according to Honda, from my friend who is in the industry. They will have changed completely to electric. Makes me think we may be in the "lull before the storm" as Tesla, Zero, and other small players dabble in electric vehicles while the big players are quietly developing our next generation of motorcycle/car.

I think Honda will continue selling piston engine bikes as long as the sell. Who knows where battery technology will be in 10 years? Maybe you will get 300 miles per charge and a 10 minute charge to capacity. If that happens, electrics will be very viable.

Most of the big players have taken their cues from Tesla, Fisker and others. Most of your high-end premium super cars are now all electric. That technology is trickling down to mainstream larger brands, 2023 is when GM and Ford targeted to roll-out much larger EV/hybrid fleets. Mercedes is updating it's Alabama plant as it moves its entire fleet to EV/hybrid by 2022. VW/Audi/Porsche same thing.

Except battery technology is still lagging so an arbitrary cutoff date appears grossly premature.

Will they still be charged by electricity from fossil fuel power plants?

From a technical point of view, however, an electric bike is still intriguing. An electric motor makes torque from the moment it starts to turn. It could conceivably be put right in the rear wheel and eliminate the clutch and transmission. In turn, this would make more room for batteries. Maybe in 10 years the range and time needed to charge will be respectively increased/decreased enough to make them truly practical.

A shoebox-sized gas motor and generator to charge batteries ...

The old rule was you never buy a GM vehicle in the first or second year its out. Past history has shown they are full of bugs and just aren't working. Think early Corvairs, or their ill fated diesel V8s. Just undependable. Too many recalls and costs to rebuild the mistakes.

While I'd like to buy and drive a Volt, I don't trust them. We're well into the 2020 model year. I don't think things or my trust will change that much over 2 years. And I'd guess the prices will go up even more than they have been. Which means the few all electric cars out there will be in high demand. There will be no discounts. Its an east coasters dream. Everyone stuck using smelly, dirty public transportation.

Gasoline prices up in the $10 or $20 a gallon range.

As much as I love the internal combustion engine, anyone can see the writing is on the wall. It’s days are numbered due to government regulations. Won’t be too many more years that the only gas engines will be available in heavy duty trucks and heavy haulers. And even those will be phased out when battery tech allows it.

Once they refine the technology and have wide infrastructure to support it, I'm fine with it.

But we are just past the infancy of electric cars, like the toddler passing into little kid stage. Still plenty of growing and refining to be had.

So what are the power plants that recharge all these electric vehicles going to run on? Coal? Natural gas? Nuclear?

And there's the rub.

Well, that sucks.

I call BS. Honda will still be making gas engine bikes in 2030.

quote:

Originally posted by jigray3:
So what are the power plants that recharge all these electric vehicles going to run on? Coal? Natural gas? Nuclear?

And there's the rub.

Yes all of them plus add the renewables wind and solar. The grid wants to get to the point that it is mostly powered by renewables with fossil fuel and nuclear contributing only when necessary.

Just need to develop energy storage.

No company can tell you what it will be producing in 11 years. A good amount of motorcycle riders like to hear the sounds the engine produces and electric doesn't do that.....also what about using engine braking in the turns and such, another weak point with electric motors.

Plus you have to charge them with electricity, which is either fossil fuel or nuclear. I do predict we will see a good amount of electric bikes for commuters, but a good amount of the people that do it for sport, are still going to want gas

quote:

Originally posted by comet24:
I call BS. Honda will still be making gas engine bikes in 2030.

Maybe.... maybe not. For instance Volvo announced a couple years ago that all development of internal combustion engines had ended.

quote:

Honda Powersports rep confides; no more piston engines in Honda motorcycles by 2030.

Wanna bet. This guy apparently doesn't have a clue how all this works. The internal combustion engine will be around for quite some time regardless what happens with electrics.

An interesting prediction from one of the greatest IC engine manufacturers in history. I wonder if the prediction has been fully focus group tested by Honda Motors. It may be that even if that is the truth, being truthful may not be the wisest approach. They are telling their customers, who obviously have selected their expertise in IC engines, that they're expecting them to shift their purchasing allegiance to a new line of products.

I could be all wet, but I doubt this forecast is really in line with R&D and production planning. This implies, as previously noted, that they'll stop reacting to consumer demands. Which I doubt. It sounds good, and a green image is apparently important for companies to develop.

It could also be that the profits are higher with electric vehicles, and the forecast is as much hope as anything.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
A good amount of motorcycle riders like to hear the sounds the engine produces and electric doesn't do that.....

They can clip playing cards on the fender struts with clothespins. Problem solved.