Anybody can write the code to operate a dirt bike. The guy who actually wrote the code for the Alta is already a Harley Davidson employee. In other words, Harley just plucked what they wanted at the lowest cost... one employee. Who do you think is working at the new Harley “Silicon Valley” office?
Any patent that Alta has is searchable. I’m too lazy to do that, but my opinion is that start-up companies (in general) tend to patent things to fluff up their value to investors. Tesla definitely did this, for instance.
Do they have a patent for an electric dirt bike? Unlikely, since there are others.
Do they have a patent for a battery, inverter, or electric motor on a dirt bike? Unlikely, since there are others already configured this way.
What magical patent could they possibly have that would prevent anybody from building virtually the exact same dirt bike? (Plus improvements, of course).
The answer is none.
I largely agree with Tony's comments above. Alta built a great bike. But it was largely built with off the shelf components, top quality though they were. That may or not have been their vision, but that was the result!
Very little was actually proprietary to Alta. Electric Motor technology is everywhere, and open, as are most approaches as to batteries. Most all of Alta's efforts could be replicated or changed without infringing what few patents actually exist (and I have no idea what those may or may not be.) To use an extreme example, it is not like Alta had rights to Google's search algorithms or some such extremely valuable key piece of the pie.....Anyway, you get my drift. In the end they simply didn't have the revenues (motorcycle sales) to support the effort. EVERY major manufacturer is undoubtedly, or at least it is extremely likely, working on their own products based on their own assembly lines, with their existing suspension components and supplier agreements, dealer networks etc. and then changing the drivetrain from ice and fuel storage to electric and battery power. I am over-simplifying but you get my drift. Alta started from scratch. The other manufacturers have been, and are just taking notes and trying to see how they will approach this small, (and hopefully growing) segment of the market. No different that GM, Jaguar, Audi watching Tesla and then introducing their own products. (that Jag i-pace is worth a look btw!) Alta's failure will no doubt be a business school case study if not already. I loved my Alta. I miss it. Their effort was certainly worthy, and their products top notch. It is easy in hindsight (as it always is!) to see some mistakes that were made. The market they sought to be a part of is TINY. Purely off-road motorcycles is an itty bitty market today. And getting tinier. (land use restrictions, urbanization, etc.) Granted, their EXR was street legal (what I owned) but it was really an enduro with minimum kit to DOT. All good, and what I wanted! BUT, this is a VERY, very small market vs. Atv's, side by sides, street focused motorcycles, 4 wheelers etc. where the volume resides. I already miss this great bike (which, again, I sold as to concerns about service convenience etc., but I am still glad I sold it) I am quite certain other options will emerge soon from KTM, etc. I have always ridden Red i.e. Honda since I was a kid, and I was frustrated Honda abandoned the Enduro etc. market to KTM largely years ago. Why? My hunch is that Honda knows they can sell more scooters a week in china than they can an Enduro focused off road bike like I love in the USA in an entire year or more. So KTM focused, and succeeded in dominating this niche that the Japanese manufacturers largely abandoned via not directing capital towards our niche off road market. My two cents, and my opinion only.
On another note, I rode a used 6.5 Zero FX the other day....it only had one battery pack installed. The bike is ok, and the new 7.2 is an improvement no doubt. I was not critical as to the power with only one battery was installed, (but wow the range was Short!!) but the bike felt much wider beneath me than did my Alta due to the way the battery is stored in the zero's metal frame. I was floored by the Zero before I bought my Alta
.....oh well, I hope they up their game with the ZERO FX as I sure miss my Alta. I am sure they will, and that other off road worthy bikes are coming soon via the major manufacturers.
Be safe everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Dallas!
