Zero Motorcycles, the leading premium electric motorcycle maker, has just unveiled at EICMA its bold new plan to enter the more affordable end of the e-motorcycle market.
That’s right, to all those who have spent years pining for cheaper Zeros, they’re finally coming.
And this isn’t just lip service. Not only did Zero unveil its first two lower-cost models on a pair of novel platforms, but the motorcycle maker claims it will have six unique models all priced at under US $10,000 in the next two years.
It’s part of the brand’s new “All Access” initiative built around adding more affordable models to the Zero lineup. But Zero isn’t doing it alone. This All Access plan is made possible in large part due to the success of Zero’s partnerships, namely Zongshen, a leading Chinese motorcycle maker.
The newly-announced X line of lower-cost electric motorcycles debuted today, starting with the Zero XE. The company is calling this its “first true trail bike”, and it certainly looks the part. On the tech side, it gets a 4.3 kWh removable battery – one of the largest removable batteries in the industry. That battery powers a 15.5 kW (21 hp) peak-rated air-cooled motor that propels the bike up to 85 km/h (53 mph). The US version will be off-road only, while the European version will homologated for street-legal use as well.
Perhaps most eye-opening, the XE model starts at just US $6,495 and €6,500 – an unheard of price for a Zero motorcycle.
“The new X Line delivers the best performing models in one of the most exciting growth categories from the most trusted electric brand in powersports,” said Sam Paschel, CEO of Zero Motorcycles. “Our mission from day one has been to revolutionize the two-wheeled transportation industry, and we will stop at nothing to deliver on that promise to our growing global community of riders.”
But the prices get even better, with the Zero XB carrying a mere US $4,195 and €4,500 price tag. Of course, the XB is an even smaller bike, closer in line to Sur Ron or Talaria in both look and raw spec sheet figures.
Consider the slightly smaller 7.5 kW (10 hp) motor and the pint-sized 2.4 kWh battery, which is easily removable for charging. The bike also has a slower top speed of just 28 mph (45 km/h). Zero rates it with a range of 47 miles (75 km), though time will tell how accurate that figure proves to be.
Just like its larger brother the XE, the smaller XB will also be available in a street-legal version in Europe but off-road only in the US.
The partnership seems to offer an interesting mix of advantages from Zero and Zongshen. From first glance, the bikes look largely similar to Sur Ron-style machines. They likely benefit from Zongshen’s ability to offer cost-effective electronics such as motors and batteries. But they also carry signature Zero influences, such as the factory-tuned suspension, the high-quality TFT instrument panels, the clearly visible and highly detailed user interface, and the precision throttle response.
Electrek’s Take
The new X-line is absolutely the takeaway message from the EICMA show. The rest of Zero’s lineup largely received cosmetic updates with new colorways, making the new All Access plan the star of the show. Six new models in two years is certainly impressive, and Zero is well on its way with the first two offerings in the XB and XE.
I would have loved to see Zero target an on-road model in the North American market the way they did for Europe, though I understand that regulations regarding licensing provided a unique advantage to bring those bikes in as lower-class homologated models with lower licensing restrictions. Perhaps part of Zero’s plan for the other four models could include affordable on-road electric motorcycles for the US market.
As it stands, the XB and XE mark interesting new additions to the market, not because these form factors don’t exist yet, but because they haven’t existed from a company like Zero. You can buy a Sur Ron or Talaria today, but it’s not going to come with the same level of suspension, the same high quality screen, the same refinements in the software, or many of the other unique advantages Zero is offering.
For many young riders that are drawn to these classes of vehicles, that won’t matter. There’s no shortage of riders flocking to Sur Rons and Talarias these days. But for other riders who want to know they aren’t just getting a basic Chinese bike, but rather a Chinese bike with more sophistication and refinements, there’s something to be said for entering into the Zero family. And for Zero’s part, they’ll certainly be glad to bring in new riders that wouldn’t have looked at a $15k Zero before, but now suddenly like what they see in a $4-6k Zero.
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Stand With Crypto’s bus tour through five battleground states kicked off last week in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Logan Dobson/Stand With Crypto Alliance
LAS VEGAS — In Nevada’s 4th Congressional District, a crypto PAC spent nearly $2 million on ads this cycle to support the reelection of Steven Horsford, a Democratic congressman who’s voted in favor of some major pro-crypto bills.
But watching the ads, you’d learn nothing about that agenda.
“He’s leading on jobs, bringing good paying union jobs to Nevada and rebuilding our infrastructure,” one 30-second commercial says. “He capped insulin prices at $35 a month” and “worked multiple jobs to support his hard-working single mother and siblings.”
The ad wraps up with the disclosure, “Fairshake is responsible for the content of this ad.”
Fairshake was the largest crypto-aligned super PAC in the 2024 election cycle, spending piles of cash to support crypto allies and vote out antagonists across the country. The group brought in $170 million, accounting for a huge chunk of the amount raised by crypto-related PACs and other groups, which totaled more than $245 million, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Crypto has accounted for nearly half of all corporate money flowing into the election, according to a report from nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen. No other sector is close. That includes oil companies and banks, which have historically been big political contributors. Crypto even outpaced Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, who spent tens of millions of dollars to try to get Republican nominee former President Donald Trump back in the White House in his contest against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
A big part of the crypto industry’s strategy when it came to distributing cash was to identify key races and then flood the zone.
Horsford received an A grade based on his public comments and his voting history while in office. His campaign received money from Fairshake as well as individual donations from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, venture capitalist and longtime crypto investor Reid Hoffman, and billionaire twins Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss.
Nevada is home to two of the thirteen “critical elections” singled out by Stand with Crypto, a designation the group defines as races that are “critical to the future of crypto in America.” In addition to Horsford’s election, the other Nevada race is the Senate contest between Democratic incumbent Jackie Rosen and Republican challenger Sam Brown. Both candidates received an A grade.
According to data shared by Stand with Crypto, 385,000 Nevadans are crypto owners, and more than 16,000 people in the state have signed up to be advocates for the group, which made a stop in Las Vegas in September as part of a multi-state tour.
The other races deemed critical were for Senate in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin and Maryland, and for specific House contests in Colorado, Iowa and Oregon.
To reach potential voters, Fairshake isn’t talking a lot about crypto. Nor are its affiliate PACs, which have names like Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress. They’ve collectively spent more than $135 million this cycle, mostly on ads.
“Not mentioning crypto assets explicitly is probably a savvy move to avoid alienating voters who prefer traditional currencies and might be put off by connections to crypto,” said David Nickerson, an associate professor of political science at Temple University who worked in the analytics department for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012.
The biggest single target of crypto money this cycle was Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic chair of the Senate Banking Committee. Brown backed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in holding hearings on whether digital tokens were tied to terrorism.
In December, Brown told journalists that he wasn’t concerned about the crypto industry’s rumblings against him.
“Bring ’em on,” Politico quoted Brown as saying to a crowd of reporters.
Some $40 million of crypto money has been directed at defeating Brown, and one PAC has paid for five ads designed to boost awareness of Republican rival Bernie Moreno, a blockchain entrepreneur. The race is crucial in determining which party will control the Senate.
Protect Progress, a PAC affiliated with Fairshake, has given more than $10 million apiece to Senate candidates in Arizona and Michigan. In Arizona, the group favors Democrat Ruben Gallego, who is vying for the seat being vacated by Kyrsten Sinema. In Michigan, the preferred choice is Elissa Slotkin, who is currently a Democratic House member.
Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California lost in the primary for Senate after Fairshake spent over $10 million in ads against her. Defend American Jobs spent more than $3 million to support Republican Jim Justice in West Virginia, who has been declared the winner, replacing exiting Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
On today’s episode of Quick Charge, we find out what a one-ton Tesla Cybertruck looks like, check out some clever, off-road Kia overland EVs, witness the electric rebirth of Plymouth with a plugin street rod, and more!
We’ve also got a bunch of new, $300/mo. EV lease deals and talk up the rapid rise of the Ultium-based Honda Prologue, which is rocketing up the sales charts!
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Tesla appears to be doubling down on its new “Oasis” Supercharger station concept, which consists of larger stations powered by solar and a microgrid battery system.
Although, this new one is a bit less ambitious.
Last month, Tesla announced its “project Oasis” (pictured above), which should become one of Tesla’s largest Supercharger stations with several pull-through stalls for trucks and trailers, but the real differentiating factor is a large solar array and battery system that enables the charging station to operate off-grid mostly.
CEO Elon Musk has been saying that the goal of the Supercharger network is to be powered by solar and batteries and mostly off-grid since 2016, but Tesla has yet to make this common.
The announcement of the Project Oasis gave us some hope that it might finally happen, and now it looks like Tesla is planning a mini Oasis.
Marco RP, who tracks Supercharger projects, reported on the new construction plans submitted for the Coalinga, California station:
The project is about 50 miles north of Project Oasis – also on Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
We call it a “mini Oasis” not because it has fewer charging stations than Oasis; it actually has the same number of planned stalls, 168 stalls, but because it doesn’t have as much solar and batteries to enable off-grid use.
Oasis has 11 MW of planned solar power and 39 MWh of energy storage.
This new project in Coalinga has less than 1 MW of solar and 15.5 MWh of energy storage. In the case of Oasis, the grid complements Tesla’s microgrid, and in this new project, it’s Tesla’s microgrid that complements the grid connection.
But Tesla could eventually expand its solar array and battery storage system at the new station.
This new station also includes restrooms, which Tesla has sometimes deployed at bigger stations.
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