Electric Road King mock up
#11
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#14
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Mountain Top, Alabama
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Sure, go ahead and invest a billion dollars or so into it, then about a year later announce massive layoffs across the land and blame it on "Lack of sales due to lack of consumer interest" as the execs that made the decision get big fat raises and bonuses.
No, please, lets not go there. Forget that ugly ****...
No, please, lets not go there. Forget that ugly ****...
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bullet 10 (12-13-2018)
#15
If it's inevitable that the moto and auto world will eventually go all electric this is not a bad concept to keep that classic styling. A Telsa fast charger charges a Tesla to 80% in 30 minutes so I would assume this would be quicker. The problem I see here is total weight. I would think the batteries would be heavier than the motor it replaces. I would also want to know what they do with the gas tank; is it empty just for looks or is it more battery capacity. If it's the latter then it probably makes the King top heavy.
I would much rather have a gas powered King but if they eventually cease to exist I would entertain one of these. However, I am sure support for gas-powered vehicles will still be around for the rest of my life so this becomes a moot point for me. That complete transition from gas to electric will not take place during the remainder of my lifetime.
I would much rather have a gas powered King but if they eventually cease to exist I would entertain one of these. However, I am sure support for gas-powered vehicles will still be around for the rest of my life so this becomes a moot point for me. That complete transition from gas to electric will not take place during the remainder of my lifetime.
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as for styling, it's not as horrible as I would have thought. Still looks decent. Maybe have the bags deepened, and add extra battery capacity there (internal false bottom for the battery packs) to increase range
#18
My first smart-alec comment is to ask if it will have a sound system that goes "potato-potato" in time with what would be engine rpm if it had a gas engine. And I would be forced to refer to it as the Road Princess. Now, for the serious stuff. Electric vehicles in general will only be special use vehicles, NEVER be the mass market success of conventional vehicles. To be REPLACEMENTS for gas buggies, they must be "seamless" or "invisible" equals of the vehicles they replace. In what comes next, the battery experts will tell me I don't understand batteries, my answer is that they don't understand the motoring public. Few will easily accept a vehicle that goes 150 miles on a full charge but then only goes 120 miles on each subsequent charge. My gas vehicle can go the same distance on every 100% refueling, until an EV can do that, I don't want it. Now, the real BIGGIE, more for cars than for an electric Harley. Battery technology may improve to where a 6 minute (same as a typical gas stop) full recharge is technically possible, but that doesn't consider the power needed to the charger to do that. Tesla has a 100KWh battery that is supposed to give a 200 mile range to one of its vehicles. Again, 80% isn't good enough, it has to be 100%, 200 mile recharge. So, do the math to pump 100 KWh into a battery in 6 minutes (without any consideration for frictional losses) and you come up with ONE MEGAWATT per hour rate for 6 minutes. What town or city grid can handle 100 cars (on a Monday morning rush hour "refueling from the weekend) recharging at once? What sort of cabling and connectors are required for that rate of power transfer? How big an explosion will there be when the typical soccer Mom is distracted on her cell phone and screws up some part of the process? As we see them TODAY, EVs will never become main stream transportation. Perhaps quick change battery packs might be an answer but that would require a UNIVERSAL, one style fits all battery. A universal battery doesn't seem very practical either because a Tesla Model S and an electric version of the Fiat 500 would NOT accommodate the same battery. The "true believer" enthusiasts have a different view, but typically they also believe in MAGIC.
#19
........ which were retrieved from the 'excess inventory' bins @ Polaris when they shut Victory down.
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