Although I would love to own such a e-motorcycle for daily commuting, as an avid cand daily cyclist I getting more and more afraid of all electric vehicles.
Until now I could usually rely on the fact that motorised vehicles are loud enough so that I can hear even when I can not see them. But with all these new e-vehicles it might happen that they are almost completely silent at low speeds so I as a biker would loose half of my senses. I rely so much on vehicle sounds while riding bike that I feel almost feel blind when I wear headphones and listen to music while riding bike.
So I hope that all those new vehicle will make at least some sound when they drive on the same road as I do.
Unless the internal combustion engine powered vehicle is accelerating or travelling at highway speeds I don't hear the engine. I actually hear the sound of the tires on the road and displaced air. Modern engine/exhaust systems are so quiet that for all practical purposes they are silent.
The only thing I miss with an electric/hybrid vehicle as a pedestrian/cyclist is the reving sound from the engine when a vehicle starts moving without any other warning (not that you can actually hear that in many urban environments). My current opinion is that all larger vehicles should make a noise when they start moving. That might have the nice side effect of making it possible to do away with those stupid backup alarms...
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Although I would love to own such a e-motorcycle for daily commuting, as an avid cand daily cyclist I getting more and more afraid of all electric vehicles.
Until now I could usually rely on the fact that motorised vehicles are loud enough so that I can hear even when I can not see them. But with all these new e-vehicles it might happen that they are almost completely silent at low speeds so I as a biker would loose half of my senses. I rely so much on vehicle sounds while riding bike that I feel almost feel blind when I wear headphones and listen to music while riding bike.
So I hope that all those new vehicle will make at least some sound when they drive on the same road as I do.
My experience:
Unless the internal combustion engine powered vehicle is accelerating or travelling at highway speeds I don't hear the engine. I actually hear the sound of the tires on the road and displaced air. Modern engine/exhaust systems are so quiet that for all practical purposes they are silent.
The only thing I miss with an electric/hybrid vehicle as a pedestrian/cyclist is the reving sound from the engine when a vehicle starts moving without any other warning (not that you can actually hear that in many urban environments). My current opinion is that all larger vehicles should make a noise when they start moving. That might have the nice side effect of making it possible to do away with those stupid backup alarms...
http://www.nhtsa.gov/SampleSounds