Carbon Footprint of Electric Motorcycles: Do They Pollute?

Oct 20, 2021

How much carbon footprint do electric motorcycles produce? Are they really better than fuel-powered ones?

carbon footprint

For the uninitiated, it can be easy to think that electric vehicles (EVs) don’t really contribute much to reducing carbon emissions. Some would argue that the electricity needed to charge these electric motorcycles would still equate to burning coal and fossils. 

Using Electric Vehicles for the Environment

The truth of the matter is that an average EV user would be responsible for lesser global warming emissions compared to an average gasoline-powered car user. One important factor to understand is that EV emission equivalence will vary from one place to another. 


For instance, New York has been sourcing most of its electricity from the hydro-electric dams in Quebec since the construction of the 200-MW Les Cèdres–Dennison intertie in 1914. If you compare to someone from Tokyo, which is regarded as one of the megacities with the most greenhouse gas emission , they would produce more when using electric vehicles. 


Another example would be California. The state has one of the highest numbers of electric vehicle users, selling as much as 150,000 units in 2018 alone so it’s understandable that it has the most number of EV charging stations in the US. With most of its energy coming from renewable sources, these EV users are actually helping to save the Earth.

carbon footprint

Lesser Carbon Footprint with Electric Motorcycles

What about electric motorcycle riders? While EV cars are better than fuel-powered ones in lessening the greenhouse gas emissions, using electric motorcycles is far much better. To better understand the difference in energy use of EV cars versus motorcycles is to factor in the Miles Per Gallon equivalent (MPGe) rating. 


In the data provided by the US Department of Energy, a Tesla Model 3 Range Plus has an impressive MPGe of 148 for city driving and 142 for highway driving, achieving a combined value of 141 MPGe. But this value is nothing compared to the Urban Classic, which boasts of approximately 400 MPGe. 


Notably, electric vehicles would have higher city mileage because they can regenerate electricity when they stop at intersections or traffic stops. On the highway, these vehicles would hardly recover lost energy from the drag. Still, the carbon footprint is much lesser, accounting for only 7% of the average emission of a combustion engine. For electric motorcycles in cities with renewable sources of energy, it’s not far-fetched to say that an electric motorcycle almost produces zero carbon footprint.

Looking Ahead

Based on these data, most experts believe that the way to achieve a significant reduction in carbon emissions would be to prioritize the adoption of electric motorcycles. According to the United Nations (UN), shifting to 90% of battery-powered electric motorcycles by 2030 will dramatically reduce carbon emissions by 11 billion tons from now to 2050.

carbon footprint

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Recognition from these bodies strengthens the ideals behind the manufacturing and production of electric motorcycles. It’s particularly encouraging to know the UN Environment expresses its support for countries with national programs centered on introducing electric motorcycles. 


With a lesser carbon footprint from electric motorcycles, there’s more reason for us to think that electric motorcycle riders are indeed nicer . Let’s contribute to help curb climate change. Riding an electric motorcycle will help you enjoy nature without causing it any harm. Let’s ride out to a better future!


For more remember to visit Evokemotorcycles.com



By Mike Belov 05 Jul, 2024
Data logging for electric vehicles offers numerous benefits. Firstly, it enables vehicle owners and enthusiasts to comprehensively analyse and evaluate their vehicle's performance. By recording essential parameters such as engine RPM, speed, throttle position, and braking force, among others, data logging facilitates the identification of areas for improvement, fine-tuning of vehicle settings, and tracking of performance changes over time. Furthermore, data logging serves as a valuable diagnostic and troubleshooting tool, providing crucial information about sensor readings, error codes, and system behaviour during specific events or conditions. This empowers mechanics and vehicle owners to identify problems accurately and make informed decisions regarding repairs or maintenance. For performance enthusiasts, data logging allows customization and optimization of vehicle settings, as continuous monitoring and logging of performance data enable precise fine-tuning of engine parameters, suspension settings, and other components. This approach helps achieve desired performance characteristics while maximizing efficiency. Importantly, data logging contributes to safety by providing insights into driver behaviour and vehicle performance, recording data related to acceleration, braking, speed, and other parameters. This information can be utilized for training purposes, monitoring driving habits, and assessing vehicle performance during critical situations. Thus, data logging proves to be an invaluable tool, offering multifaceted advantages for vehicle owners, enthusiasts, mechanics, and the automotive industry as a whole. When it comes to Evoke Motorcycles, collected data is used for identifying errors and potential areas of improvement in prototypes and other models. If an error or an abnormality comes up in the data, it can be easily noticed and traced to its origin, helping identify the root of the problem. Furthermore, using data brings valuable insights into driver behaviour and its variety. If one behaviour is more prevalent than the other, or there are many, the design or parameters can be manipulated to better suit the driver and make the driving experience much more pleasant and comfortable. In the future, data analytics are planned to be shifted in the hands of AI/ML providing instantaneous criteria and analysis on the go, as the data is being collected. This will fully automate the process and result in much more detailed diagnostics once the AI is sufficiently trained on the past data processes. All of the data is collected and stored within the vehicle, as this surpasses the limitation of servers. If the data is stored within a server in one country, a user in the other might not be able to access it. If the data is stored inside the Evoke motorcycle itself, the user can access it at any point and maintains full control of their own riding data. If there are any issues with the electric motorcycle, or the user would like to understand their riding data better, it can be easily sent to Evoke for review, bypassing any geopolitical limitations that would be otherwise present with the use of servers. The vehicle records up to 10 hours of riding data and is collected every 0.5 seconds. As of 2024, the 120 collected data points make up the five main data pools:
By Mike Belov 28 Jun, 2024
Vehicles, that run with combustion engines or ICEs rely on a jackshaft to efficiently distribute the produced power or simply optimise the conversion of energy to the wheels of the vehicle. ICEs cannot automatically regulate the speed of their rotation. In order to control it, different gears are introduced, to be able to increase and decrease the torque. If the jackshaft is part of a transmission system, it may have multiple gears or pulleys of different sizes attached to it. These gears or pulleys can have different ratios, allowing for torque conversion or speed adjustment. Gear ratio can be calculated via the formula below:
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