Electric motorcycle survey results | Half of UK bikers surveyed want electric!
A survey has been conducted getting UK motorcyclists' opinion on switching electric motorcycles - here are the results!
BIKESURE has been investigating electric motorcycles, surveying UK motorcyclists for their opinions, and you may be surprised to hear that a total of 50.3% (of those asked) want to switch to an electric motorcycle, or already have.
Further, 43.8% of motorcyclists asked would like petrol motorcycles to be banned entirely on (or after) the petrol car sales ban in 2030 (and banned from the roads by 2040). Now that really is surprising reading. On the flip side of the coin, 26.5% of those asked have no interest in owning one, or are unsure.
Electric road test | Harley-Davidson LiveWire
Bikesure found that the leading reasons for not making the switch to electric are: worries about not being able to travel far enough without needing to recharge (65%), the time it takes to recharge being longer than it takes to refuel (51.1%) and missing the sound of a traditional petrol engine (42.2%).
It’s an indication of the thoughts in the UK towards green power, particularly when Bikesure found that younger riders tended to be more excited for electric bikes than older riders: 58.5% of under 25s, 56.3% of 25-34 year-olds said they would like to own an electric bike - and just 32.2% of over 65s would own one.
Other benefits noted in responses were: Instant torque (57.8%), better economy (43.7%), reducing carbon footprint (38.3%). Concerns were: range (65.08%), recharging times (51.11%), and missing the sound of a petrol engine (42.2%).
Interestingly, one survey participant said:
“I am currently in the process of converting an old Royal Enfield Bullet to run on electric power. I feel there could be a future in converting classic and older bikes as I, along with many others, do not like modern bike styling and I feel this can really put people off.”
I’d be interested in seeing just how many people would be looking for a classic electric motorcycle conversion.
The Electric Motorcycle Future
It’s important to know that Bikesure surveyed 673 people for this study, so it’s a small pool of UK riders, and the numbers aren’t definitive of the exact opinions. I’m sure if we ran a separate survey for Visordown fans, petrol engines would probably be looked upon much more favourably.
Personally, I want to make the most of petrol engines whilst they’re still about, and Euro 10 regulations haven’t restricted emissions down to 1 gram of carbon per year. Get out there and ride, once you can, and buy a few bikes once dealers are back open!
If you want to read the full survey results, the findings from Bikesure are here.
