Want To Sponsor An Electric Motorcycle Race Team?

Hopefully you all will be attending the first race of the 2010 TTXGP season at Infineon next month. If you live on the North American continent a few hundred bucks should pay for a plane ticket or gas to get there and watch as electric racing continues to gain momentum. (Here is a $5 discount on tickets)

How much cooler would it be if you helped sponsor a team on the grid? Jennifer Bromme and the Werkstatt Motorcycles race team are trying to raise money so they can enter an electric motorcycle in the race. If you have the funds and the desire to play a part in a electric motorcycle race team please consider donating. For as little as $20 you are in and with a $40 donation you get a t-shirt. To sweeten the deal I will take a picture of everyone I see at Infineon with a Workstatt shirt and post it on Plugbike.com. How can you pass that up?

Thinking twice? It’s Earth Day, you should do it. If you pull the trigger tweet me on @plugbike and I will be sure the huge electric motorcycle twittosphere knows about your donation. Oh wow, how good can it get? ;-)

Have a look at this Wired article and the Werkstatt Racing sponsorship site below to get more information and donate to the cause.

Source: Werkstatt TTXGP Via: Wired

2010 Battery Vehicle Society Electrathon

Note: The BVS is looking for event Sponsors. Contact: Events@BatteryVehicleSociety.org.uk

The 2010 Battery Vehicle Society (BVS) Electrathon will be held at the Shakespeare County Raceway September 25 and 26. Shakespeare County Raceway is located near Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom. The event will feature circuit and sprint races for all forms of wheeled EV’s and “sustainable transport”. There will be an exhibitors area where vendors can display their goods and EV’s will be available for demo drives.

The BVS is based in the UK and has been running these events for the last 25 years and has members from all over the world. Cedric Lynch, inventor of the Agni Motor which powered the Team Agni X01 to victory in the 2009 TTXGP is used in many electric race motorcycles cut his teeth racing in BVS events.

If you in the UK or have ever wanted to visit September may be a good time. There are bound to be some amazing electric motorcycles to see in action. At the 2007 BVS Electrathon someone showed up with a Zero Drift (Zero Motorcycles’s first bike) and there were a few homebrew electric motorcycles too.

See the pictures from 2007 Electrathon after the break. If you look hard you may see PlugBike’s favorite EVCast host. :D

TTXGP Entry Spy Shot | Markel IceWrap Superlattice Bike

The deadline for entry to the 2010 TTXGP series has not past and only Mr. Hussain knows who is on the list but details are leaking ahead of the official lineup announcement.

I got a hold of a spy shot of an electric race bike with American sponsors taken inside a barn. Inside sources tell me this is a TTXGP entry that is yet to be announced. I don’t have any evidence the Union Jack sticker has any more significance than to show the bike is built on a Norton Featherbed frame. However, maybe there are some UK partners or the bike may be competing in the TTXGP UK series? Not sure.

The proven and very spacious featherbed frame provided a very fast platform for Team Norton Electra at the 2009 eGrandPrix at Mid Ohio so we know what this team can do with this race-proven classic. More details as they are available but hit the break to learn more about the sponsors of this mystery entry.

Quantya And Zero (?) To Battle Gas Bikes At 2010 MiniMoto SX

Quantya riders Brian Roth and David Lodermeier will be back in 2010 to defend their 1, 2 finish in last years Mini Moto SX. Roth rode the Quantya MX to first place in 2009 upsetting the more powerful Zero mounted riders who were favorites for the win. Lodermeier, an employee of Quantya and ex-Pro MX rider took second. Alexander Smith took third on a Zero MX.

MiniMoto SX, which will be held in Las Vegas on May 6th and 7th, is known as the “biggest minibike race in the world”. It is a high profile event that attracts riders like Mike Metzger who took 4th on a Quantya. Like last year, 2010 should be good exposure for electric.  The 2009 MMSX had an “Electric Bike” class that ran on it’s own. For 2010 Quantya and Zero riders will be running in the MM16A Stock/Mod play bike class against traditional air cooled, gas powered bikes of 100cc to 150cc’s displacement.

ManTTx Racing Returns To Isle Of Man For The 2010 TT Zero

ManTTx will be back at the Isle Of Man for the 2010 TT Zero. In the 2009 TTXGP Dan Kneen and ManTTx bike entry showed very promising qualifying times, second only to Rob Barber and 2009 champions Team Agni. In the big race they were one of four DNF’s due to a failure in one of the motors.

This year James McBride will pilot the 2010 bike which is currently undergoing testing. The team is considering small changes such as a lighter chain and thinner tires for the 2010 machine. The bike will have regenerative braking as well.

Last year at the Mid Ohio TTXGP I talked to Todd Kollin of the 2009 Open Class winning team Electric Motorsport. As we looked over his electric R1 Pro Class entry I remember him saying ManTTx Racing, who was also in the Open Class, had a strong bike. Not bad considering the 2009 ManTTx X2 was built in 2 months.

I am looking forward to seeing what ManTTx can do in 2010 and wish the ManTTx Racing team the best of luck.

Have a look at the press release after the break for more information.

KTM FREERIDE Electrics Break Cover *New Pictures*

UPDATE: The KTM FREERIDE ZEM website is now live.

Yesterday a German magazine Das Motorrad leaked photos of the much anticipated KTM FREERIDE electric motorcycles. The electric supermoto and MX bikes were supposed to be unveiled tomorrow, March 24th in Japan. Now 1000ps.at has more pics and an interview with KTM.

The Austrian Institute of Technology developed the electric drive to withstand the rigors of offroad abuse. It appears to have some type of reduction built or primary drive between the motor and the front sprocket. The front and rear sprokets are both more compact than conventional MX setup and the chain appears to be more narrow.

ePower Race At Leguna Seca? Another In Germany? And Some Epo-Bike News

Like, OMG! TTXGP’s electric race series rival FIM e-Power might have an electric race at MotoGP round at Leguna Seca! A track very close to 5 major electric motorcycle manufacturers! I wonder what TTXGP thinks about that?!?

Yes, the drama continues. It’s all rumor at this point but it comes from so guys who are in the know. Ivar Kvadsheim tipped off HFL that e-Power may be looking at Leguna Seca for an all electric motorcycle race on July 25. Mr eMotoRules points out in the HFL comments that this would conflict with the Franciacorta, Italy TTXGP race. A high visibility MotoGP race at Leguna that conflicts with TTXGP event would be a big win for e-Power as it struggles to upset TTXGP’s popularity with teams and the motorcycle enthusiast community.

Yesterday, Christian Amendt of e-Power team Epo-Bike mentioned another rumor on Twitter “rumors: fifth e-Power race during the MotoGP race weekend in germany?” Amendt heard this rumor while displaying the Epo Bike at Thüringer Motorcycle Days in Erfurt, Germany along with 2009 second place TTXGP team XXL Racing and 2009 TTXGP Entry eRockit.

That concludes the rumors and drama for today… actually, I’m not promising anything.

Amendt mentioned eRockit will not enter any electric races this year. In 2009 they made it to the Isle Of Man for practice but had a motor failure that could not be fixed in time to race. I do hope they make it for 2011.

Have a look below at some pictures of the Epo Bike progress. Christian is taking a light weight approach to fast lap times in sharp contrast to most of the heavier, big power electric motorcycle entries we have seen to date.

SWIGZ.com Pro Racing Going BonKERS In 2010

The race is on to squeeze performance out of current electric drive technology for the 2010 electric race season. Agni is hinting at streamlining it’s 2009 TTXGP winning X01. Michael Czysz has serious concerns (great discussion in the comments) about the dangers of a rapid move to streamlining but will be ready with a streamlined fairing option for his power packed MotoCzysz Suitcase based TT Zero entry. The strategy of streamlining is to get as much speed as possible on the 38 mile IOM circuit with the limited energy today’s lithium based batteries can store. But this is not the only way to improve lap times.

Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.com Pro Racing crew are planning to race only the 25 mile short circuits of ePower and TTXGP series in 2010. Streamlining will not help SWIGZ electric superbike as much on the tighter, lower speed tracks so their quest for 600cc ICE lap times will come from the implementation of “regenerative braking”, also known as “Kinetic Energy Recovery System” or KERS. KERS works by turning the electric motor into a generator that returns power to the batteries when a rider hits the brakes. Most electric motorcycle manufacturers feel the effects of KERS on the range of an electric motorcycle is minimal and not worth the weight and complexity. Most of the braking force on a motorcycle comes from the front wheel. This is a problem since the electric motor is attached to the back wheel. Also, the logic that controls how much braking force is applied versus electric motor (generator) drag is also complicated and is believed to be the cause of the recent Toyota Prius braking issues.

TTXGP Pays Teams To Race Electric Motorcycles Via TEO

It’s been one week since TTXGP founder Azhar Hussain announced the latest of multiple innovations that make up the TTXGP electric motorcycle race series called Trust.Egrandprix.Org (aka TEO). Azhar’s fight against 2 major e-Race series to capture the attention of electric race teams has not been an easy one but he keeps implementing new ways to make it easier for teams to race with TTXGP.

For those that missed it, TEO gives every team who races in the TTXGP a share of the TTXGP race organization. It’s more than just about paying teams as I put in the title of the post. The more races you enter and the better you place, the more shares you accrue. These shares give teams voting rights on deciding the direction of the organization and a share of the profits of the TTXGP. This includes merchandising, sponsorships, TV rights and any other revenue generated. Think of it a yearly dividend as if you owned shares in a company. A company Hussain predicts could be a billion dollar enterprise in 5 to 10 years.

Azhar mentioned to me that the complexities of TEO have his lawyers working pretty hard. Azhar wants to help any interested teams understand what TEO is about so he sent me the letter below to help people digest it. He also encourages interested teams to contact him and with any and all questions.

One thing to keep in mind is Mr Hussain is an entrepreneur. His intentions are to grow the sport of electric motorcycle racing but also to make money doing it and give his investors a good exit. TEO exists to allow race teams to approach electric racing as an investment. In today’s economic climate it sounds like a good idea to me.

If you are viewing this on the PlugBike.com homepage click “read more” (often called “the break”) to see the full article including Azhar’s explanation of TEO…

KTM Freeride Prototypes To Be Unveiled In Tokyo – UPDATED

KTM announced it will unveil two zero emissions prototype motorcycles at the 2010 Tokyo Motorcycle Show Tokyo Motor Show in 10 days. In 2009 we saw an electric motorcross prototype that was said to be planned for 2010 but production was pushed. Looking at the picture it seems there will be a model set up for the street as well. It sounds like we will hear more on March 26th, stay tuned.

See the full KTM announcement after the break.

The Zero Emission Motorbike from KTM.

The KTM FREERIDE at the Tokia Motorcycle Show 2010. Starting on March 26th, exclusively on www.ktm.com!
Under the title “Freeride” KTM will present two near-series prototypes at the 2010 Tokyo Motorcycle Show, which in one year’s time will transfer the “Ready to Race” sporting spirit of the brand into a series model fit for the 21st century.

With its first zero emission motorcycle, the world’s leading producer of offroad motorcycles has developed an electrically driven sports motorcycle that proves that riding fun and environmental sustainability need not be in conflict with one another.

Thanks for the tip Peter!

UPDATE:

Peter sent me some enhanced pics of the two bikes…

Source: KTM Picture Source: Clean MPG

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