Remember the movie Tron? Lightcycles were the coolest thing back in the day and everyone dreamed of owning one, riding one, or just had the Atari game to play like they did. Well, if those cycles were to be made today, they’d probably look like the MOTOrepublic Beta.
This electric motorcycle concept has a vaguely X-shaped design with a smith’s hammer headlight, ultra-thin frame, and sports electric riding with truly zero emissions (no gasses, no noise). Pretty cool.
The most innovative part of the design, however, is the exoskeleton frame, which could be the future for electric bikes. Lighter, stronger, and allowing more versatility and (possibly) more space for components, these frames might be the answer EV motorcycles have been looking for.
Alright, these are our picks for the top 5 electric motorcycles of this year. As with our pick of cars, these are all models available for purchase in the USA by 2010 (well - except for one… see below) and are being gauged by innovation, design, and availability. I’ll dispense with my usual flowery commentary and present to you, now, our 2008 picks for Top 5 Electric Motorcycles! \insert drum roll sound file here\
Our contention for number one was close, with the number 2 Enertia nearly winning out. What put the GPR-S over the top, though, is it’s freeway readiness. The GPR-S is a stylin’ bike that won’t easily be confused as electric at first glance. Until you “fire it up” that is. Being the first street AND freeway-legal electric motorcycle in the USA, the GPR-S definitely gets points for innovation. With an affordable price tag to compete with like-sized and styled gasoline bikes and with a smart, modular component platform, this bike is definitely worthy of our top spot.
As I said, this was a close one. The Enertia missed the number one spot purely because it’s a commuter, not a freeway machine. For style, though, this one is top of the list. The Enertia has to be seen to be understood for it’s awesome looks. It comes with strong innovation and good power too, though it’s price tag is higher than an equivalent gas-powered model by more than double. Sleek, fast, and innovative, this is a great product from Oregon that we hope to see more of.
Our list features two dirt bikes, which wouldn’t have happened last year. Previously only available to those who live in the country or have access to remote riding areas, motocross had a limited appeal. Until now. With quiet electrics, new motocross tracks could be appearing right off the freeway, in neighborhoods near you. The Zero-X is one of the innovators to make that happen, delivering great style, strong performance, and electric innovation, this one easily made our list. How can you argue with 0-60 in less than 4 seconds?
Austrian motocross firm KTM announced their race-ready dirt bike to be released by 2010, powered entirely by electricity. With standard motocross styling, this bike doesn’t win any design awards, but it will deliver definite race-ready performance. With the popular enduro frame of most racing dirt bike, the KTM model delivers great performance and strong appeal to those in the “better than amateur” level of motocross. The KTM name doesn’t hurt either.
I admit that this one doesn’t meet any of the requirements we listed for electric motorcycles except that its’ electric. That being said, it’s just too frikkin’ cool to ignore. The world’s fastest motorcycle on the drag strip, the KillaCycle has been consistently setting, then beating, then re-setting and beating again it’s own records. This is the fastest electric vehicle right now, bar none. The coolest part? It costs about 7 cents to run this thing down the quarter mile strip, including the burnout. Definitely worthy of it’s name, we had to put KillaCycle on this list.
There you have it, our top 5 picks for electric motorcycles in 2008. No pedals, no engine noise, just pure, 2-wheeled electric performance!
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s ElectricMotorbikeMan!
I imagine the sales brochure for this one:
Ever want to look like an alien, freak out your friends with your super-hybrid speed powers, or scare old ladies with your freakish long arms and wheels for hands and feet? Well now you can! Introducing, the ElectroBike Suit!
For all its goofiness, though, this thing is actually freakish enough to be kind of cool. Invented by Jake Loniak, a junior at Art Center College of Design, this “electric exoskeleton motorcycle” is what he’s named the “Skele-Cycle,” but officially titled the “Deus Ex Machina.” Controlled by 36 pneumatic muscles, which are controlled by the rider’s body movements, the bike is an upright exoskeleton rather than a traditional motorcycle.
The bike is a three-wheeled design with one wheel being directly below the driver and two others thrust slightly forward and controlled by the arms of the rider. The design college has produced legendary designers like Henrik Fisker, creator of the Corvette and the new Fisker Karma.
He envisions the bike as a sports bike, not a commuter, with top speeds of around 75mph powered by batteries and electric drive motors. He likens it to riding two skateboards simultaneously, but with computer control and better stability.
I can imagine riding one of these and the need to pack extra underwear for, uhh, emergencies. It’d be great fun, but probably like parachuting or airplane piloting: I can do it if my wife has a $1 million policy on me first.
The technology to build the suit already exists, but currently it’s just a design in a computer. Pretty cool one, though.
While it won’t be competing in the TTXGP, this bike was built by the organizers of the event to promote it and showcase what is possible with electric motorcycles today. This bike is impressive, to say the least, and has high enough stats to have earned the title “superbike.”
First, it’s top speed is over 125mph, it’s completely road-legal, and it’s entirely electric. Based on the Suzuki GSX750 frame, it’s powered by two 43bhp Agni Lynch Electric motors sporting kevlar-reinforced armatures and producing a total of 125 Newton Meters of torque. This current model does 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds. The 20kwh pack produces about 50 miles of range at sustained speeds of 90mph+ and takes about two hours to recharge.
TTXGP Founder Azhar Hussain with the TTX01
The machine is the first version of the planned 2010 production model TTX02, which will feature hot-swappable batteries (20kwh/pack) and regenerative braking, among other things. Plans for a carbon-fiber frame (replacing the metal and aluminum of the Suzuki) are also in the works. The metal frame is over-built for the electric, which produces no rattle and has less weight when compared to combustion motors. The price tag is expected to be in the 20,000 pound area and the bike will likely only be available in the UK for its first production run.
As TTXGP founder Azhar Hussain says, “Seriously, we need to change the way people see electric motorcycles if we’re going to change their buying habits and a large part of what we’re doing with the TTX GP is pioneering those changes.”
For those of you that might be interested in this awesome electric bike, check out the Test Ride video created by MotorcycleUsa.com. It’s about 6 minutes long and does a great job of covering the test ride in detail. You can watch the video by following this link or via the embedded video below:
What could be hotter than a Swedish blond biker babe? How about one who does electric conversions of those motorcycles? Ooooh ya!
Meet Eva Hakansson and her Electrocat. She’s self-described as a “hardcore EV geek.” She built Electrocat with her father, Sven, and it’s the first documented street-legal electric motorcycle in Sweden. The bike started life as a 1990 Cagiva Freccia C12R, but now it’s all Eva’d out.
The motor, batteries (lithium-ion phosphate cells), and controller are all housed where the big motor and fuel tank on this bike used to be. The bike has a 50 mile range when averaging 44mph. How fast will it go? She can’t legally say that, since its top speed is illegal in Sweden. Really.
That’s not all, though. The father-daughter team also was instrumental in the record-breaking KillaCycle, which recently broke the world’s record for fastest electric vehicle at 168mph. Incidentally, that’s the fastest drag-racing motorcycle record too. Nice!
Finally, someone in America has gotten together the ability to produce an all-electric commuter motorcycle for production. Brammo Motorsports, in Oregon, designed the new Enertia Motorcycle to fit the needs of the daily commuter in North America as well as to appeal to the aesthetic tastes of those of us who’re tired of the usual crappy looks given to electrics.
It’s got a lot of appeal to those who love motorcycles and those who, well, don’t. It uses no gas or oil, so there’s no stink that’s usually associated with those. It’s quiet, another big bonus to all but the staunchest Harley-lovers, and it has no clutch or gearbox, so no learning how to shift with your toe. In fact, the whole bike is almost totally maintenance-free. But for the motorcycle lover, it’s got a smooth ride, great power, and lots of other bonuses.
To plug the Enertia in, you just plug the power cord into the fuel tank. Yep, right where you’d normally unscrew a cap and pump gas in. The power storage has a bonus: it uses six 12V Lithium Phosphate batteries, which are highly resistant to combustion (something that is a worry on non-enclosed, highway-ready vehicles like this). The best part is the charge time: 2 hours to 80%, 3 hours to full. That’s better than almost anything else out there.
Power? Heck ya! How about 0 to 30 in only 4.3 seconds? This is thanks, in part, to the strong and lightweight carbon-fiber chasis and 17-34 ft. lbs. torque that make this double on the Kawasaki Ninja 250, plus the Enertia is thirty pounds lighter.
Let’s look at the specs on this machine:
Motor: High-Out Permanent Magnet DC
Motor Power: 13kW, 18hp (at 3600rpm)
Motor Torque: 38N-m, 28ft lb
Battery Pack Capacity: 3.1kWh
Gearing: Single-speed, direct chain drive (1:5 ratio)
Top Speed: 50mph (+/-)
Range: 35-45 miles
Accel.: 0-30mph/4.28sec, 0-40mph/5.88sec
Total weight: 275lbs.
Other great attributes to this bike are how thin it is (12.5 inches between the knees) and how exceptionally balanced it is because the batteries (the major weight of the machine’s center mass) are concentrated along the center-line of the motorcycle. This makes it extremely easy to maneuver and keep upright.
The price tag for the Enertia Carbon is around the $15,000 mark, but these are available right now (they began shipping just a month or so ago) and the Standard Model, due for release next year, will be around $12,000 and is available for pre-order.
For around-town commuting, this is a great choice. It’s fun to ride and easy to maneuver, but has drawbacks. First, there’s no storage capacity for your stuff, so you’ll have to wear a backpack and limit what you carry to that. Second, because it’s a motorcycle, you’ll have to park it outside or in a parking garage. Finally, it’s not freeway able, so you can’t use it to commute long distances without some major lifestyle and route changes.
Outside of that, it’s a great ride, a fast get-up-and-goer and it doesn’t make any noise to peeve your neighbors or wake up the neighborhood dogs when you leave for work. For the urban or suburban dweller, it might make a great choice for your commute, but it’s more likely to appeal to those who want style over utility in this case.
A couple of weeks ago, we reported on the Kick Gas Festival in San Diego - the place to go to meet EV and gas motor heads. One of the folks we met at the event was Todd Kollin, owner of Electric Motorsport, of Oakland, CA. Electric Motorsport has been a well-respected motorsports part shop for many years, and they are now getting into a whole new game - electric motorcycles.
Electric Motorsport has recently announced the release of their GPR-S electric motorcycle. Todd says the GPR-S is the “first street and freeway-legal electric motorcycle available in the USA”. The electric GPR-S looks exactly like a gas sport bike, except for two distinct differences - no gas cap, and a visible electric motor that slightly protrudes from one side of the unit.
Todd Kollin from Electric Motorsport with his GPR-S electric motorcycle.
Another shot of the GPR-S electric motorcycle.
The GPR-S electric motorcycle costs $8,000. The permanent DC motor in the GPR-S can pump out about 19-horsepower, and the GPR-S has a top speed of about 70 miles per hour with a range of up to 60 miles. The electric GPR-S weighs a total of 285 lbs, with 90 lbs of that being the vehicles Li-Ion battery. The battery pack itself takes about 4 hours to recharge with the included stock charger. A high speed charger option is available, which cuts the charge time down to about 1.5 hours.
Since the electric GPR-S is based on a modular design, with batteries, motors, and controllers all designed to be interchangeable, the electric GPR-S platform should last well past the technological lifetime of any one component. And, if past performance is any indication, we’ll be seeing a lot more innovation on the GPR-S from Electric Motorsport, a company which has already stood the test of time in the motorsports industry.
The KillaCycle, created by inventor Bill Dubé, is the world’s quickest and fastest electric motorcycle. The KillaCycle was originally created in 1999 as a concept vehicle to show off electric motor and battery technology, and has since set and broken world speed records whenever it has competed. Driven by Scotty Pollacheck, the KillaCycle’s technical specs certainly describe a drag-race-only vehicle:
The KillaCycle is basically a giant cordless drill on wheels. It is driven by two custom-wound DC series motors which crank out over 500 HP of power. The battery pack is custom-build, has a 9.1 kWh capacity, and contains 1,210 lithium iron nano-phosphate cells made by A123 Systems. The bike is driven by a direct chain drive on the rear wheel and costs about $0.07 for each run down the quarter mile strip, including the burn out.
KillaCycle driver Scotty Pollacheck does a burnout before a race.
The KillaCycle team posing with their creation.
The KillaCycle is crazy-fast: it can do 0-60 mph in under a second, and has a top speed of around 170 mph. The total weight of the bike is about 653 pounds. At maximum acceleration, the KillaCycle generates 2.89 G of force - that’s almost three times free fall. The electric charger for this beast puts out 12 kW of power.
Some other interesting KillaCycle facts:
Is the quickest and most powerful electric motorcycle in the world.
Has since 1999 continuously set and broken its own world records.
Has made the fastest (mph) and quickest (ET) 1/4 mile pass ever made by any electric vehicle of any kind (7.824 s @ 168 mph, Pomona, November 2007). No other electric vehicle of any kind, past or present, has ever gone this fast or this quick in the 1/4 mile.
Has been the world’s fastest (mph) electric powered vehicle of any kind (mph) in 1/4 mile drag racing since August 2000
Was the first electric vehicle to break the 8 seconds barrier in drag racing (November 2007)
Was the first electric powered vehicle of any kind to go over 150 mph in a 1/4 mile (August 2000).
Driver Scotty Pollacheck with the KillaCycle
For more information about the KillaCycle, visit the official KillaCycle Website.
Check out this video of the KillaCycle setting the 168 mph world record at last years AHDRA:
The KillaCycle also seems to live up to it’s name - watch this video of the KillaCycle almost claiming inventor Bill Dubé’s life:
Check out the Zero-X off-road electric motorcycle, made by Zero Motorcycles, Inc. of Santa Cruz, California. The Zero-X is a 100% electric off-road motorcycle powered by a 17kW motor capable of 23 peak horsepower. That’s about equivalent to a 250cc gas motorcycle, and it’s not bad at all for an electric vehicle that weighs a meager 140 pounds. The light weight of the motorcycle itself is due to an innovative mix of motorcycle and modified bicycle parts and to an aircraft aluminum frame that weighs 18 pounds.
The Zero-X battery pack weighs 40 pounds - almost a third of it’s total weight.
Zero-X controls include a front a rear brake and a twist throttle.
The Zero-X is quick - it can accelerate from 0-30 mph in under 2 seconds, with a top speed of about 60 mph. The ZERO X Speed controller features the ability to customize both the speed and acceleration of the motorcycle. With a flip of the switch you can limit the top speed to a “motorized bicycle” legal 30mph. Another switch sets the acceleration from the beginner-friendly “easy” mode to an unrestricted “sport” mode that gives you full power and full acceleration. With the electric motor giving you full torque at 0 rpm, popping wheelies is not a problem. And, since it’s totally quiet, you can ride this dirt bike in places you would not normally be able to due to noise restrictions.
Here’s the rear hydraulic disc brake assembly.
The drive chain uses an unusual 3/8-inch pitch.
The motor of the Zero-X is powered by a lithium-ion array capable of giving you between 1.5 to 2 hours of riding per charge. The batteries can be recharged in about 2 hours by using a provided fast battery charger that plugs into a standard wall outlet. The batteries weigh about 40 pounds, and their lifetime is expected to be between five and six years with average use. Although the batteries are expensive to replace - $2,950 - they only cost about $0.25 per recharge.
The Zero-X electric motorcycle retails for about $7,500 plus $300 shipping and provides an interesting electric option for those looking for a green alternative off-road vehicle. Take a look at this excellent Zero-X Motorcycle First Look, or visit ZeroMotorcycles.com.
Check out these short videos of the Zero-X electric motorcycle in action.
