The forced electrification begins…
The United Kingdom government has benevolently decided since motorcycle owners are choosing electrification options at too low of rates (which, let’s be honest is anything but 100%) it must force citizens to make the choice. That’s right, starting in 2035, the sale of any new motorcycle which burns anything other than your pants when the batteries spontaneously combust will be outlawed.
We don't think all electric motorcycles are horrible, but we do think they should be a personal choice. Check out a cool one made in the USA here.
Yep, electrification is a technology so compelling you must be forced into it. The thing is with motorcycles, all-electric powertrains make even less sense because it’s an issue of packaging. After all, you, the rider, have to deal with those incredibly heavy and big batteries. Not everyone has He-Man legs, so motorcycle manufacturers can’t make EV bikes with good range. That means more stopping and waiting a while for those batteries to replenish.
Last week, the Transport Decarbonisation Plan was unveiled on the other side of the pond, dooming forever motorcycles as Brits know them. Instead of your bike spewing carbon from the tailpipe, the local power generation facility will be spewing it from a much larger stack, which is “removing carbon from the atmosphere.” Someone should tell these geniuses what humans exhale.
This new mandate of no internal-combustion engines for new motorcycles by 2035 also applies to mopeds, those interesting 3-wheel vehicles, quadricycles, and micro cars. The UK is being truly progressive in mandating electrification for these smaller forms of transportation, because after all they’ve got to show the EU they can be even more restrictive and authoritarian in all the “right” ways.
Ostensibly, this plan isn’t just for saving the environment, it’s about saving your eardrums. Yep, quiet electric motorcycles won’t disturb you during tea time, plus since drivers won’t hear them coming, they’ll be much easier to hit without even knowing it.
To get this super-great electric motorcycle rammed down everyone’s throats, along with EV cars, vans, and taxis, the UK government is providing £582 million in grants for companies to develop such vehicles. We’re absolutely positive this money won’t support any type of cronyism whatsoever and will only result in the finest, most wonderful monorail, er electric vehicles ever known to man.
Source: Goodwood Road & Racing
