You've got to take it for what is worth but anytime you buy something out of the mainstream that sells to a limited group you are taking a chance that things might not work out well. I have been doing the EV stuff literally for decades. It sure has changed from build/convert yourself to something you can use as a daily driver, actually depart for a destination and return. That wasn't the case years ago.
People expect everything to be perfect these days because the quality and reliability of consumer goods is pretty darn good. Used to be if you got 100K miles out of a car (including rebuilds of things like engines) you were doing pretty good. Now a days, 100K isn't anything to really stop you from buying a used model.
In the case of the Empulse, it is something I have wanted to own since I first saw it. However, it you followed Brammo, you could tell from the start the company had issues with developing what it was bringing to market. I would have never considered a Brammo product at the original selling price and they always seemed to be delaying release of their products well trying to raise money. You mentioned Elon Musk and Tesla which suffered through a similar startup with the original roadster---delays, problems, out of cash. If Musk hadn't hit a home run with the Model S, we wouldn't be talking about Tesla today. Even now, I don't believe Tesla is out of the woods. That depends on the Model 3, which if not received well, will doom Tesla.
Back to your question as to why I bought. The sale of Brammo's motorcycle products to Polaris seemed to solve many problems. A large dealer network, good distribution system and lots of cash from the new parent company. I thought the Empulse would be a carry over product until Polaris came out with a updated model that would fix some of the quirks (my opinion) in the existing model. However, I was a bit underwhelmed with the Victory Empulse when first reviewed and disappointed that a base Empulse, not the R, was at the $20K mark. When Polaris shuttered Victory, the Empulse became a victim. Polaris has been testing the EV waters for a number of years with their own products such as the EV Ranger. They also own GEM which builds mainstream electric LSV's. IMO the death of the Empulse was not so much the fault of the motorcycle but because of the collapse of Victory due to internal marketing problems, selling against their own Indian brand, loss of identity for the Victory cruiser style bikes and the costs of the new European emission and safety standards. All that being said, after all the rebates, dealer incentives etc., I was able to buy a brand new Empulse TT for $6375 plus tax, destination etc. This was less than I paid for my old Vectrix for a much better product. I still am hopeful that Polaris will honor their commitment for parts and service on the Empulse TT past the initial warranty period. If they do (and it will be hard with a dying dealer network) I will have scored bigtime. If not, I am out some money it the bike fails and cannot be repaired. But until that time I have the privilege of driving one of the finest EV motorcycles you could have purchased.
