A new study reveals that 90% of motorcyclists polled are against a ban on the sale of new petrol-powered motorcycles in favour of electricity as a motive force.
Survey Shows Motorcyclists Say 'No' To Electricity
The Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations (FEMA) has released the results of a study into the acceptance of a ban on the sale of new petrol-powered motorcycles in the face of the growing electric motorcycle market.
Polling 23,768 people, broken up into 1,188 women and 22,580 men, the survey concluded in August 2021 and centred around emissions and the possible - and as yet unconfirmed - ban. When asked, 'What do you think about a possible ban on the sale of new petrol-powered motorcycles?’, a staggering 92.91% of respondents rejected the proposal.
However, it's not quite as clear-cut as that. 88.75% said that they would be open to switching to electric-powered motorcycles if petrol-powered bikes were banned from city centres. That doesn't mean that they would be prepared to abandon petrol for out-of-town riding and, in addition, would only switch to electric if the cost was the same as buying a petrol-powered bike.
More worryingly, 53.38% said they would abandon riding altogether if no new petrol-powered motorcycles were available. 38.96% said they would buy an electric bike if there were no petrol-powered motorcycles - either new or second hand - available any more, while only 7.67% said they would buy electric if petrol was still available.
In the face of this poll, it would seem that motorcycle manufacturers have a long way to go to persuade consumers that electric-powered motorcycles are a viable alternative to petrol-power. Barriers seem to be a lack of choice, both of manufacturers and style and price, not to mention the whole range/recharge time issue.
Electricity as a motive force might be the future, but that doesn't necessarily mean that every mode of transport will survive the transition. If there is no market, then there will be no financially viable reason to carry on manufacturing. However, this is a unnecessarily bleak outlook. There is no doubt that, as the technology advances and a lot of the barriers are removed, we will find ourselves accepting electric bikes as we once accepted the new-fangled internal combustion engine over the horse.