Proponents of e-bikes like to point out that maximum torque is available from 1 rpm. That’s an appealing performance characteristic, and when an electric car like Tesla’s Model S proves to be faster than sports cars from Ferrari and Lamborghini, it’s tempting to think that an electric motorcycle might be the ultimate accelerator.
Well e-bike technology isn’t at a place yet where it’s putting internal combustion bikes to shame (even the $38,000 Lightning LS-218 isn’t quicker than a $25,000 Kawasaki H2, as we found out in this face-off at the dragstrip, but battery-powered bikes have made some huge strides in the past few years.
Related: Kawasaki H2 vs. Lightning LS-218
We had two of the latest and greatest e-bikes and a quarter-mile length of pavement at our disposal, so we decided to see how the Alta Redshift SM and Zero DSR compared. As far as performance testing goes, it doesn’t get much easier than launching an e-bike—just twist the throttle and hold on! How’d these two California-built motorcycles perform? You’ll have to watch the video to find out.