SPOTLIGHT ANGELS OR DEMONS?

How environmentally friendly are electric motorcycles?

- Chris Moss

The need to clean up the earth’s atmosphere has never been more crucial. Excessive emissions, primarily generated from burning fossil fuels used by industry and transport to name just a couple, are causing lethal air quality and dangerous increases in atmospheric temperatures. The resulting global warming and climate change is forcing radical rethinking by governments worldwide. In short, we have to control polluting the atmosphere to avoid devastating effects on the planet as much and as soon as we can.

Many of us are making a positive contribution to find a solution, including those in motorcycle manufacture. Euro-dictated emissions regulations have been with us for many years, making petrolengined bikes run cleaner than ever. But they’re still not clean enough to meet future ambitions.

Many see the best answer coming from machines propelled by electric motors, borne out by an increasing number of bike builders introducing them. At the moment, only smaller companies are involved, but the biggest players will be joining the party soon.

With their zero emissions, they seem to offer the very best response from the powered two-wheeler world. But should they be classed as the ultimate contribution from the bike business to reduce environmental damage? Are they, in fact, the total solution?