Hey from Arizona!

[CBR2200]

My name is Kirk.  I live in Goodyear, AZ, about 20 minutes west of Phoenix.  I have been riding motorcycles since 1990.  I've owned mostly Hondas, plus a few Suzukis and one Yamaha. 

I can't wait to see and touch the Empulse in person.  I learned about it yesterday and have been reading everything I can find since.  I actually had a trip to CA planned to test ride/purchase an Enertia the week after I got the price drop email last year.  The next day my wife FINALLY green lighted our PV solar panel project that she had been thinking about for six months, so there went my "green" budget.  We overbuilt our solar project in anticipation of driving some type of plug-in something in the future.  Now I'm saving again and the Empulse has me really excited since it's more my type of machine than the Enertia.

I recommend Brammo go on a test ride tour with the bikes when the new model is ready for sale.  If they were available to see anywhere in AZ I would be commuting on one right now instead of getting free electricity.  

It looks like Arizona doesn't have any tax incentives currently?  Can anyone confirm this?  I'm having some difficulty sifting through conflicting information.

 
Kirk

[Brammofan]

Hi Kirk -- welcome to the forum and yeah, that Empulse is scary cool.

A good starting point on the tax incentives is here.  Arizona has some "incentives" listed, but it defines them pretty broadly, like "HOV lane exemption."  There appears to be an exemption from the Arizona Use Tax... but not for electrics!  It's just for propane, nat gas, and hydrogen.

It looks like AZ isn't very EV friendly, at least when it comes to tax incentives.  Hey, in Missouri they were supposed to charge me an extra $75 for licensing my EV, so at least it doesn't appear there's a disincentive like that in your state. 

[Phantom]

Welcome to the forum. Nice avatar.

With your PV project in place, it is seems only a matter of time before you get an EV. I hope you get the Empulse.

[CBR2200]

We will definitely be driving some kind of plug-in vehicle sooner or later.  I think "battery" technology is on the verge of a major Earth-shattering breakthrough.  A friend of mine is working with a power cell that, if it develops as expected, would power a car for several hundred miles per charge and will be smaller than an average suitcase.  As a consumer I think of myself as a "smart early adopter" meaning I do a lot of research and usually buy second or third generation technology, waiting out the hype and growing pains.  I feel like Brammo is at that point now or will be soon with their electric motorcycles.  I'll be waiting quite a while before considering an electric car though.  Batteries are not efficient enough yet to reasonably power a heavy vehicle.  Luckily for me as a motorcycle lover, batteries are good enough for a 400 pound bike, albeit with short range.