Depending on your particular motorbike interests, you may already be well aware that there are companies and conversion kits around to help you turn your vintage two-wheeled friend into an EV. It's a novel way to keep classic designs relevant and operational on the road, particularly since older parts (and seals and gaskets, if you aren't willing to make your own and no one's making decent reproductions because you're a weirdo and you like weird things) can be difficult and/or expensive to source.
It can also have environmental benefits, not to mention the added gratification of instant torque that you tend to get with EVs, even if their top speed is significantly limited. It's not cheap, though; but then again, neither is buying a new bike, most of the time. But converting a bike you already have, and maybe even one that's been in your family for some time and has great sentimental value to you, can be an intriguing option. Or it would be, if there weren't also certain drawbacks to give you pause (beyond the up-front conversion cost, I mean).
Battery technologies have come a long way in recent times, and you have companies out here like Donut Labs that are working on solid-state batteries. But changes like that, even once they're able to be produced reliably, take time to roll out and adopt. What do you do in the meantime that can address some of the many pain points of battery vehicle ownership?
You can apparently do what the German company Second Ride is doing. I'm not just talking about taking advantage of a very specific loophole in German law that allows vintage Simson mopeds to be EV-converted and allowed to reach top speeds of 60 km/h because that's what was legal when they were originally registered (compared to the legally-allowed modern moped top speed of 45 km/h), though that's definitely an interesting loophole. It's also a very specific one, and as such, won't really help you if you're not located in Germany.
No, what I'm talking about is much more universal, and could theoretically affect riders pretty much everywhere we exist. What is it? Making designs open source and baking good right-to-repair characteristics right into the architecture from the start.
Don't get me wrong; Second Ride is still here to sell you their conversion kits (and services, if you prefer not to do it yourself) and make money. However, they don't want to gatekeep who can make accessories and integrate their designs into usable, functional upgrades for others to develop.
Or, to use another analogy: Second Ride has some pie, they want you to have some pie, and they also want you to be able to bake your own pie and share it with others. Or sell it! That's up to you. The point is, it isn't strictly locked down and disallowed from exhibiting any and all growth that wasn't thought of directly by Second Ride.
And that, in my opinion, is cool and mind-blowing AF. It's not often I watch a video and go "Oh my god, OH MY GOD, holy s**t, that's amazing!" over and over aloud as I'm watching. I'm sure that my bunny, who is sleeping nearby because it's the middle of the day and they do that, probably wishes I would stop yelling.
But what do I mean, beyond the broad strokes? Let's get into it.
Let's Start With the Batteries
In modern times, concerns about EV battery recycling are definitely a thing. After all, we collectively understand from literal decades of consumer electronics ownership that batteries, even the rechargeable ones, eventually cease to hold an adequate charge. Or they swell, or otherwise become unusable.And then, you have to find a good way to dispose of them.
If you're a responsible person, that might mean that you try to find a way to recycle them in your area. Some big consumer electronics chains, like Best Buy, offer recycling programs for batteries if you drop them off. But what if you don't have anything like that nearby, or you don't have the time, or you just don't care? Off to the landfill they frequently go, which most actual human people (who are not bots trained exclusively to fight you on the Internet) would agree is not great. Beyond the reclamation of resources used to make those batteries, you probably don't want that stuff potentially leaking into the water table. None of us does. But I digress.
Buying new batteries isn't always cheap, but it's especially expensive when you start to think about battery packs for, say, comparatively large electric devices, such as EVs. This is true for many reasons I won't get into here, but that leads us right back to what Second Ride is doing. Essentially, an important question the company is asking is, what if it didn't have to be that way?
Current (no pun intended) EV battery packs are made of groups of cells, which are then frequently spot-welded into place. This keeps them secure, but it also means that over time, as the cells wear out, they're not exactly meant to be user-serviceable. There are valid reasons for this regarding safety, but of course anyone who's been alive for more than five minutes probably also has good reason to contemplate the concept of planned obsolescence, and how it's frequently used to make products that don't last as long as they could so that over time, you'll spend more money to replace them instead of repairing them.
What Second Ride is exploring now is a battery pack design with cells that are more akin to the ones you probably have in your TV remote right now. They're held in place by a simple pressure prong system, and you can remove and replace them as needed. With safety considerations accounted for, this could be an important additional step to make EV ownership a whole lot more attractive, whether it's on two wheels or four. If your battery pack's architecture could indicate to you which cells are no longer holding a charge or working properly, then you could easily swap them out for new ones, balance the cells, condition the battery pack so everything's working nicely together, and be on your way.
It would be better for your peace of mind, better for the environment, and also much better for your wallet. Plus, making the battery packs and the rest of the design open-source and actively encouraging (rather than discouraging) owners to get in there and work on their vehicles could help to rebuild an important sense of connection that we've lost with our vehicles.
It's About More Than Batteries, Though
Second Ride is also working to build what it describes as "the Wikipedia of Retrofitting," where users who join the community (which, yes, has a Discord) can contribute to their vehicle database. This will no doubt help Second Ride develop its own kits, but it will also serve as a valuable information repository for others who want to develop EV tech for those vehicles, as well.
It's not just about the company; it's about advancing vehicle culture and keeping DIY knowledge alive and accessible regardless of where technology is at. I can't possibly overstate how cool I think that is.
Yes, I know some people regard vehicles of all types as nothing more than tools to get from point A to point B, but to me (and to many of us), the technology (throughout time, not just the new stuff) is fascinating. And while there will always be some people who simply aren't interested in learning more, there are likely a lot more who do want to learn, but who are simply frustrated and discouraged by how inaccessible (and non-DIY-friendly) a lot of modern vehicles (and especially EVs) are.
So, how do you build connections and interest? By both allowing and encouraging people to get in there with their hands and do cool stuff, or even to just get the satisfaction that comes from working on something yourself and knowing that hey, I did that.
Maybe you mess it up the first time, but you learn! And if you keep going, maybe you get it right down the line. As a serial DIY-er, I'm here to tell you that man, absolutely nothing beats that dopamine hit from nailing something cool and knowing that you did it yourself. There are other kinds of joy, sure; but that one, it is singular.
