Mission Proves Fastest Production Electric Motorcycle Claims

Last week I wrote about a video I found showing the Mission one speed runs at the Bonneville Salt Flats during Bub week. Now Mission has made it official with a press release and a nice short video documenting the run. As suspected, the speed run by Mission Motors Product Manager and Test Rider Jeremy Cleland put proof behind Mission’s claim of “the fastest production electric motorcycle in the world” and 150 mph top speed. They also set the AMA record for an electric motorcycle at 150.059 mph.  It seems the only thing left to prove is the 150 mile range claim. In a comment on theKneeslider.com co-founder Edward West mentioned the 150 mile range is at ~40 mph.

AsphaltAndRubber.com has been covering Bub Week very closely over the last few weeks. Check them out for more information as they did a good job covering the Mission speed run and describing how amazing this achievement is. The day of the run Mission was dealing with slow salt and high cross winds. The salt flats vary in density depending on moisture content and can produce a 10% reduction in top speed over a paved surface.

Congratulations to Mission Motors on this amazing achievement! Between TTXGP and Bub Week they are definitely putting the Mission One through it’s paces to be sure it meets expectations when it reaches the customers in 2010.

Source: Edward West’s post on Mission’s Bog

Mission Motors At Bonneville

It appears Mission Motors was in Utah doing speed runs at the Bonneville Salt flats in August. Two videos of the Mission One at Bonneville in it’s TTXGP race fairing wearing the number 1117 were posted on YouTube with the text “electric motorcycle 160 mph”. A 160 mph recorded speed would be nice to back up Mission Motors claims of the Mission One being a 150 mph electric motorcycle. As this is far from an official report so we will have to wait for official word from Mission. Updates will be posted as they surface.

Update: A comment left on YouTube mentions the riders name was Seth. This is most likely Mission Motors Senior Engineer Seth LaForge who has been seen testing the Mission One in past videos.

Update 2: The rider was actually former AMA and AFM racer and Mission Team member Jeremy Cleland.

Videos of the speed run are posted after the break.

Mavizen and Agni Produce TTXGP Ready Electric Motorcycles

Back in August we reported that a “major American corporation” would be producing an all electric race bike based on the TTXGP winning Team Agni X01 for under $40,000 USD. We will continue to wait for that announcement but Azhar Hussain just shared that Mavizen is producing a second iteration of the all electric TTX01. They are working with Agni Motors to build the all electric TTX02. Like the Team Agni TTXGP bike, the TTX01 used 2 Agni motors and produced 170 lb-ft of torque and 86 HP. No word on the TTX02 specs at this point but fifty units will be ready for Q1 2020 and will cost $40,000 USD. The bike is meant to serve as an inexpensive entry into the TTXGP race series which will have multiple series held at tracks around the world in 2010.

There should be an announcement next week about first venue and date for the 2010 TTXGP World Series. Meanwhile, former MotoGP racer Didier de Radiguès just set the first electric lap record at Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on the 2009 Team Agni TTXGP machine of 2:59.8. He felt he could have cut the time by 10 seconds if the track were in race prep condition. Radiguès commented on the agile feel of the bike and related it to his time aboard the TTX01 machine saying the Angi bike was an improvement. You can hear Didier comment on this May 2009 ride of the TTX01 at 3:30 into the video after the break.

Best Buy – Your Local Brammo Enertia Dealer

After many years of planning and development the all electric Brammo Enertia is now for sale at the Cascade Station Best Buy in Portland, Oregon. Honestly with all the media buzz and Brammo’s participation in the TTXGP at Isle Of Man there were times I forgot the bike was not already available. As always, BrammoFan was on the scene with details and pic of the launch.

A significant detail buried under the game-changer of Best Buy selling motorcycles is the retail locations selling the electric motorcycle are now DMV regulated motorcycle dealers. This bureaucratic hurdle most likely slowed the launch of the Enertia but also gets my mind spinning about how it might pave the way for Best Buy to take on sales of other modes of transportation.

If your in the area be sure to stop by and ask about the built in GPS, wifi (hardware is there, software coming soon) and possible integration of video devices and other peripherals. Drop us a comment and let us know what the Geek Squad has to say about the bikes. They will be some of the first civilians to see the inner working and they apparently have already been trained to fix them. If you don’t live in Oregon you can always buy yours online at brammo.com and even view the owners manual online.

Source: BrammoFan; @BrammoSays

Killacycle In NZ – Electric vs. Gas Dragbike Race?

OK, not “gas” but at least I.C.E. And with fuel more powerful than gas when combined with oxygen… nitromethane.

This January the world record holding Killacycle electric dragster will be in New Zealand for the 2010 4 and Rotary Nationals. The killacycle team may go head to head with the NZ drag bike record holding Stud Racing team. The Stud Racing drag bike uses a nitromethane powered internal combustion engine to balloon the can baloney. The bikes have similar quarter mile times and top speeds so it should be a close race. Keep your fingers crossed that this electric versus gas top fuel showdown comes together. Regardless, the 500 HP, 7.82 second all electric Killacycle should put on a great show. The bike will also be on display at on January 30 at ASB Showgrounds Greenlane in Auckland, NZ.

Source: Killacycle

Tom Miceli’s Ion Electric Sportbike

The Ion Sportbike is the creation of Asheville North Carolina industrial designer Tom Miceli. The bike was designed and built in “one semester” and was recently on display at the S.E.E expo where at least on lucky guy was given a chance to ride it. The prototype bike’s design incorporates a full coverage fairing and a small profile front for minimal drag and still manages to look very cool. No word on updated specs yet but in the video the test rider mentions “it’s kinda scarey”. A previous article back in May by The Design Blog mentions the bike was planned to be 84 volts and have 24 Thundersky 40 Ahr batteries and a 46 HP motor.  See the video of the bike in action after the jump.

Motorcross Ready 2009 Zero MX Can Now Be Yours

Gene Banman, CEO of Zero sent out a letter yesterday stating the Zero MX is now shipping. The Zero MX is a beefed up version of Zero’s X. The X is very light tipping the scales at a claimed 151 lbs. The light weight is the result of a design philosophy that keeps everything as light as possible to get the most range out of the batteries. In addition to the feathery aluminum frame Zero spec’d forks, headset and wheels from the mountain bike world to keep the weight down.

Brammo Enertia Dual Sport In Planning?

Does Brammo have a dual sport version of the Enertia planned? No official word yet but it looks like Brammo’s designer Brian Wismann is having some fun playing in the dirt with his. The all electric Enertia comes stock with very dirtbike-like wide foot pegs. Apparently there is little vibration generated by motor since they did not go with the usual cheesy rubber topped street units found on most Japanese ICE bikes.

$40K American Electric Race Bike in 2010 | TTXGP Developments

Azhar Hussain announced some major developments to the 2010 electric motorcycle racing championship that will run under the FIM Road Racing Grand Prix Commission. Branding of the series still seems to be undetermined. The series uses the “eGrandPrix” moniker for its website and the AMA event held in Ohio in July but was not used by Azhar in any of the quotes published in the Gizmag interview.

$40,000 American electric race bike
An undisclosed “major American company” will sell a race only electric bike based on the 2009 TTXGP winning Team Agni machine for $40,000 USD. 50 units will be sold starting in February 2010.

2010 FIM Electric Race Series Developments
In addition to the 2010 TTXGP at the Isle Of Man TT we will see three new, yet to be named electric motorcycle racing series. The “World Series” “championship” will be held on 5 tracks in Europe, Asia and America. It will be a 25 mile race with 1 practice session and one qualifying session. The series will be aired on television. The “United States electric bike series” will be 3 races / rounds and is still being planned. The “British electric series” will be run on Brands Hatch, Mallory Park, Anglesy Circuit and Donnington Park.

Inexpensive Electric “Tech Packs” will keep entry price low
The $16,5000 USD ($10,000 UKP) tech packs will be available in December and consist of a similar motor, controller and batteries to the TTXGP winning Team Agni bike. The bike used a DC Agni motor and beat the rest of the field by a good margin. Hussain explained there has been a lot of interest in these electric race packages and they had not been publicly announced until today. This grass roots approach to supplying an inexpensive entry to electric motorcycle racing is something Azhar feels will be a real innovation.

2010 TTXGP Progress
Besides the new rules announced last week, Azhar mentioned peak speeds in the 2010 TTXGP at IOM TT will possibly reach 125 mph, up 20 mph from 2009 based on estimations from the TTXGP teams planning to return to the event. Hussain is in continuing discussions with the 2009 teams about future electric races. The TTXGP at IOM will not be a part of any of the other 3 series. It will stand alone as the original IOM TT did and its treacherous course will serve as a testing ground for new electric racing technology.

Source: Gizmag Via: Brammo Fan

Photo: Amadeus Photography

Team Norton Electra At The 2009 AMA eGrandPrix

In the days preceding the 2009 AMA eGrandPrix electric motorcycle race at Mid Ohio I covered Brian Richardson’s Norton Electra. It turns out Brian was busy in the weeks preceding the event teaming up with the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Lab at James Madison University. I had the pleasure of speaking with Brian and Rob Prins, the assistant director of the program. The passion these guys have for electric vehicle technology is inspiring. I also saw the Norton based electric bike posting impressive top speed of 108.6 mph and holding it’s own for some time against the Electric Motorsport R1 based TTXGP hopeful. After the event these guys were sitting in the TTXGP tent grinning ear to ear watching on board footage of the Norton circulating the track and being passed by the EM R1 on Rob’s laptop. It was a very cool scene to see.

After the event Rob sent me some information on the Norton Electra and how the JMU AFV team and Brian collaborated on the project. He also wrote up a summary of the highlights of the eGrandPrix. Be sure to check out the JMU AFV lab site for more information.

Thanks to Rob for giving me permission to publish his text in full. After the jump is Rob’s write up and pictures.

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