I've been looking at electric motorcycles for a few months now because I'm spending a ton on gas for my daily commute. I saw the Silence S02 and the Super Soco TC Max, but I'm not sure if it actually makes sense for me to switch right now. Does anyone have experience with them? I'm worried about the range on cold days and whether there are enough charging points in Madrid.
The key point is to calculate whether your daily commute comfortably fits within the real range of those bikes, keeping in mind that you lose quite a bit in winter.
The Silence S02 gives you around 200 km theoretically but in cold Madrid it can drop to 140-150, the Super Soco is around 130-150 depending on the model. If your round trip is 60-80 km, it makes sense; if it's 100+, you're going to spend your life looking for charging stations. What nobody tells you is that if you work somewhere with parking, negotiate letting you run a cable there while you work - that completely changes the equation, because you're charging without doing anything while you're working. As for coverage in Madrid, there's decent infrastructure but it's pretty concentrated in central areas; before you buy, check your charging provider's app and see exactly what's on your route.
Range in cold weather typically drops around 20-30% depending on the bike, so that's real. Madrid has pretty decent charging coverage at shopping centers and gas stations, but if your commute is short (less than 50km daily) an electric one pays for itself pretty quick in savings. What I'd do is calculate carefully how many km you actually ride per day, because if it's more than 80-100km and you need to charge fast during the day, maybe there's still not much room; but if it's a routine back-and-forth trip, you'll recoup the investment in a couple of years no problem.
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