Every single person who's ever put batteries in the back of some consumer electronics device immediately thinks, "Why don't they just make it so you can swap batteries in EVs?" I was definitely no different.
I now own a few eBikes including a DIY conversion, a Sur Ron dirt bike and an Onyx emoto. The batteries are just so insanely compact and heavy, it's surreal. The Onyx has a removable 72v/48ah extended range battery which weighs 37lbs (17kg) [1], similar to the weight of the swappable batteries in the article. Let me tell you, that may not seem like a lot of weight, but it really is and it's *just so dense!* It's the equivalent of over 4 gallons of milk contained in two shoe boxes.
Seriously, every time I have to move - or should I say "manhandle" - the batteries in any of the bikes, I audibly groan and make sure to lift with my legs. The batteries are all different shapes, sizes and in various boxes and all shockingly heavy for their size. The sharp edges of the Onyx battery box is a true hazard as its momentum will give your thigh a nice bruise should you swing it, or your car a nice dent.
Anyways, I'm sharing all this to say: Batteries are heavy af. Really. As good as a solution this is for scooters, don't expect it to go much more beyond that. There won't be swappable batteries on your big Zero or Livewire any time soon.
Each scooter has 2 smaller batteries, presumably because of this problem.
I own a Sur Ron too, and I don't find the stock battery weight to be an issue. ~30 lbs isn't unreasonable for the average person to lift. It's amazing they packed a dirt bike into 125 lbs. I'm able to lift it over barriers and load/unload it from my sedan, and it doesn't ride far off from a mountain bike. It's only twice the weight of a top of the line e-mountain bike, but has 7x the power output and goes further. Easy decision. It's the most fun machine I've ever owned.
Zero uses 3.6 kwh modular batteries. I'm guessing they are 40-50 lbs or so which is probably around the upper limit the average person would be comfortable lifting and loading regularly. I'm sure they could be engineered to sell them in smaller sized units, but I don't think they're actually hot swappable.
> ~30 lbs isn't unreasonable for the average person to lift.
I agree, but it's definitely at the limit of comfort, especially for smaller people (which I've witnessed personally). That's literally a third of the body weight of some fully grown women!! Much heavier than that and the batteries are just unwieldy, if not outright dangerous.
Stark's bike is cool, but honestly it's just the first of a wave of e-dirtbikes that are coming from literally every motorcycle manufacturer there is. (Stark's founders also seem to be a bit full of themselves, but that may have just been their marketing department getting a little overzealous.)
(I'd love to share your experience with the Sur Ron, but I only "own" mine in the sense that I was the one who purchased it. My son has been doing all the riding on it! Like you, he loves it. I see another one, or a Talaria, in my future soon.)
I now own a few eBikes including a DIY conversion, a Sur Ron dirt bike and an Onyx emoto. The batteries are just so insanely compact and heavy, it's surreal. The Onyx has a removable 72v/48ah extended range battery which weighs 37lbs (17kg) [1], similar to the weight of the swappable batteries in the article. Let me tell you, that may not seem like a lot of weight, but it really is and it's *just so dense!* It's the equivalent of over 4 gallons of milk contained in two shoe boxes.
Seriously, every time I have to move - or should I say "manhandle" - the batteries in any of the bikes, I audibly groan and make sure to lift with my legs. The batteries are all different shapes, sizes and in various boxes and all shockingly heavy for their size. The sharp edges of the Onyx battery box is a true hazard as its momentum will give your thigh a nice bruise should you swing it, or your car a nice dent.
Anyways, I'm sharing all this to say: Batteries are heavy af. Really. As good as a solution this is for scooters, don't expect it to go much more beyond that. There won't be swappable batteries on your big Zero or Livewire any time soon.
1. https://www.onyxmotorbikes.com/collections/parts/products/rc...