Enertia Plus upgrade offer to current Enertia Owners

[Phantom]

I received the below e-mail from Brammo concerning the upgrade.
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Dear Enertia Owner,

Today Brammo announces the Enertia Plus, featuring the Brammo Power® battery pack, delivering up to 80 miles of range. The Enertia Plus is available for immediate pre-order and deliveries will commence in 2011.

The 2011 Enertia Plus Specifications


Battery 6.0 kWh Lithium Ion

Avg. Range 80 miles / 128 km

Weight 324 lbs / 147 kg

MSRP $8995 - Read on for special Enertia owner pricing.

As an Enertia owner you already appreciate the time and effort Brammo spend developing and integrating the very latest EV technology into our motorcycles. The Brammo Power® battery pack is another great example of this. However, the number and nature of the changes to the Enertia Plus means that we cannot economically offer a simple battery swap upgrade to Enertia owners.

The good news is that any Enertia owner taking delivery of an Enertia Plus in 2011 from a Brammo authorized dealer will receive a Brammo loyalty rebate of $2500.

The expected MSRP for the Enertia Plus when deliveries start in 2011 is $8995. Just like the Enertia, the Enertia Plus will be eligible for all applicable Federal and State EV tax incentives.

[BrammoCommuter]

This is disappointing.  I was lead to believe when I bought my my Enertia last year that it would be upgradable.  I was rather counting on it.  My commute is 25 miles on L.A. freeways and I barely make it some days (depending on the speed of traffic).  I could use that extended range but I don't need, nor can I afford, a whole new bike.

Besides its not very environmentally friendly.

[Brammofan]

Welcome to the forum, BrammoCommuter (love that username).

It's definitely disappointing, yet it's also an indication of how fast battery technology is evolving.  Do you plan to take advantage of Brammo's loyalty rebate? 

As far as the "not very environmentally friendly" comment, could you clarify what you mean by that? 

[Gavin]

Replacing batteries isn't wonderful for the environment, but they can be recycled and such.

Replacing a whole motorcycle is even less wonderful...batteries need to be recycled, metal needs to be (hopefully) melted down and recycled, various parts are hopefully reused...but usually most parts just end up in landfills. Even if the whole bike is recycled, well that took time and energy to do.

 (it takes energy and causes pollution and a using of resources to build any vehicle...a car, a motorcycle a bike etc etc...the best thing always to to use that vehicle to it's maximum lifespan and then recycle it. Replacing your car every year or two is bad for the environment. Replacing a perfectly good Enertia after a year is also not great for the environment. Though selling it to a friend and the friend riding it for a full lifespan would help).

The bigger question is: while Brammo is not updating the batteries on the older enertias, well can either newer enertias or enertia plus models be updated...and can a customer like BrammoCommuter update his old enertia himself? Basically would need new batteries and a new battery management unit right??

Hopefully, while Brammo might not be committing to updating the old bike, there must be DYI options for some smart people to attempt.

Gavin

[thespecialone]

Assuming someone is eligible for tax incentives then here are the basic numbers, I am not factoring in timing differences between payments and receipts. This is merely to illustrate the basics.
 
 
New Enertia $7995
Less 10% Federal Tax Credit
Less State EV incentive, say $1000 in Oregon
 
$6195 total after tax cost
 
 
New Enertia Plus $8995
Less 10% Federal Tax Credit
Less state EV incentive say $1000 in Oregon
Less manufacturer loyalty rebate $2500
 
$4595 total after tax cost
 
 
Bottom line if you sell your Enertia for say $4000 then you will be $2195 out of pocket.
 
You can purchase a new Enertia Plus for $4595
 
So now you are in total $6790 out of pocket
 
At the start of this, you were $6195 out of pocket
 
 
The “upgrade”  has cost you $595.00.
Even if you only get $3k for your Enertia you would still be only $1595 out of pocket.
 
In addition you get a brand new bike with a full 12 month warranty.
 
I believe this is a great deal and we made it that way so that between now and when the  Enertia Plus becomes available in 2011 people will continue to purchase the Enertia and then "upgrade" at a later date.
 
As for not being environmentally sound - the Enertias are sold to other users who go on to use the bikes for the remainder of their economic life. They are quite possibly people who could not afford a new electric motorcycle and would have purchased a used ICE bike....so this process increases the number of electric bikes in use and the number of people able to enjoy the pleasures of Brammo ownership.

[werm_works]

What about for the Empulse? Do we get a loyalty rebate?

[Brammofan]

No, it's just for the Enertia Plus.

[Courcheval]

One way to allow upgrades would be to sell extra disposable batteries that could plug into the motorcycle with, for example, a usb connector.

I would see those battery packs ideally placed in the Givi containers on the back of the motorcycle. With battery evolution, those packs could be sent to Brammo that would recycle them and new ones would be offered in exchange.

In France, the electric auto industry is offering batteries for lease on E.V You buy the vehicule and rent the batteries, so that they keep updated with the latest technology...might be a path to explore too...