All posts tagged electric motorcycles
Peugeot 515 motorcycle concept
It’s not always an easy task pulling out historic or vintage bikes as design inspiration precisely because there’s so much inspiration to be had. In this motorcycle design study, we see the 1934 Peugeot 515 get a modern interpretation from industrial design student Simone Madella. He says of his Peugeot 515 motorcycle concept:
“I focused on the Peugeot 515 (three world records) from 1934. At the time this bike broke three world records equipped with a single-cylinder, four-stroke 500cc engine capable of getting to 140 mph which for the time was very fast. Inspired by the Peugeot EX1 [electric concept car], I wanted to create an electric motorcycle that could beat any record - speed, endurance, trustworthiness, recharge time etc., while following the same racing spirit with which it was built.
First I decided to put a big electric motor on the rear wheel and a battery pack in the middle (with a cover and ventilation outlets. The lowslung weight meant a lowered centre of gravity which is best for improved agility and stability. Under the battery pack is a fin with sensors which can analyse the road conditions - wet, damaged, dirty etc - and communicate them to the rider.
Brammo Empulse with six-speed transmission
After Brammo motorcycles jointly developed its Integrated Electric Transmission with SMRE Engineering, they went ahead and used it for their Brammo Engage and Encite electric motorcycles. Since then, reports from the US of the first Brammo Empulse models to be ordered would indicate that the six-speed transmission will come as standard on this model.
This move will probably further the debate as to whether this kind of electric motorcycle needs a transmission, but if Brammo is making it standard we’re guessing they’ve got a reason to do so. There’s still no official word from Brammo as to why they’ve decided to use the six-speed transmission and make it standard but we’ll wait for more details from the company.
Source | The Kneeslider
BRD RedShift SM pics
Here is the first full gallery of pics of the new BRD RedShift SM electric supermotard. As the US outfit attempts to achieve electric bike performance that can surpass that of fuel-powered bikes, hop on over to A&R to find out just how they’re doing that. The pics come direct from the BRD workshop and we can see what a great looking little bike the RedShift is, too.
The challenge for BRD has been to give the RedShift the kind of performance they were aiming for, while keeping weight down which is not an easy enterprise when using a 5.1kW battery. No official technical specs are available yet, including weight (although BRD says they’re sitting at about 113 kg right now), as the model is still in prototype phase but the company has so far given itself some publicity and is making some nice stuff. More to come in the future.
BRD RedShift SM: an electric bike as fast as a 250cc
This is what the electric motorcycle market needed - a bunch of guys to set out and build an electric bike that would be as fast as a fuel-powered counterpart, if not more so. That is exactly the philosophy BRD pursued when it set up its business and now we get the first products emerging in the form of the BRD RedShift range. The first model is this lovely-looking roadgoing supermoto which will soon be followed by a RedShift MX enduro offering.
The BRD RedShift SM claims the same performance as a four-stroke 250cc fuel-powered bike. It has a water-cooled AC Motor producing 40 hp at less than 115 kg total weight. There is a 5.2 kWh electric motor onboard which is currently estimated to give the RedShift SM a range of about 80 km but no official technical specs are available at this stage as BRD still has testing to complete on the model.
The remarkable thing about the BRD electric motorcycle effort is that it is not just about the technology or a bunch of environmental geeks seeing where they can take electricity. BRD has built a business plan for itself, which includes the Supermoto SM model, the MX enduro and a RedShift PD which will be for government and private fleet usage. At a high price point of about $15,000 USD individual private sales are available but don’t make up the large part of planned sales at this stage, as BRD targets the fleet market instead.
The challenge for BRD will be the price in the future, but in terms of performance and power-to-weight, the BRD RedShift range is setting the bar high at this stage in a segment which will prove to be very competitive. As CEO Marc Fenigstain says: “We’re a team of riders and racers with high-performance gas machines in the garage. We’re building the bikes we’d rather be riding.” It looks like our previous list of the best electric motorcycles will have to be updated.
Source | A&R
Orphiro electric cruiser bike concept
This Orphiro cruiser motorcycle is the latest concept to come from the world of electric motorcycles and for the moment takes us out of the two opposing worlds of either urban scooters to take on city streets, or electric superbikes to take on the Isle of Man. Whether you support the electric motorcycle movement, or detract from it the reality is that increasingly these bikes are making headway in the market.
We’re not keeping statistics on this stuff, but we think that this Orphiro concept is the first electric cruiser we’ve written about. The design is clearly firmly in the world of concepts and prototypes, but uses a sleek, single structure combined with elegant, spoked wheels. It’s a cross between technical innovation and classic cruiser design, and although we’re not completely convinced on the design front, it’s an interesting proposition.
According to the technical specs, the Orphiro has a 100-km range, a top speed of 120 km/hr and a price of about 39,000 euros. That’s a pricey little label for something that costs nearly as much as an Electra Glide Ultra Classic CVO and only a third of the latter’s range and performance. The Orphiro is already in production but exclusively on an order basis, only.
Brammo Engage electric dirt bike
While the Italians and Spaniards are representative in Europe of the interest in motocross and offroad motorcycles, the Americans are actually the ones who are more readily pioneering the electric motocross scene. With summer coming up, it’s time for the new offroad releases from various companies, and one that we probably won’t be seeing much of around these traps is the Brammo Engage.
That’s a shame really, because we quite like checking out these emerging electric bikes, and the Engage is another from the Brammo range, after the Enertia and Empulse. It uses a new technology called Integrated Electric Transmission, which is a specialised six-speed transmission designed specifically for the electric bike.
Not all the details of the Brammo Engage have been released yet, although it is available for pre-order and is expected to use another technological first for the company in the form of regenerative braking. The Brammo Engage models are:
Wind powered Ecotricity Ion Horse electric superbike
Built at Kingston University London and backed by Britain’s first green energy company Ecotricity, this £150,000 bike dubbed the ‘Ion Horse’ is a wind-powered electric superbike that will compete at the Isle of Man SES TT Zero race today, that is if the weather holds up.
The University is in it’s third year of entering an electric bike and is gunning to win the £10,000 prize from the Isle of Man Government for the first electric bike to do a 100mph lap, which they hope to do with the Ion Horse and rider George Spence. Also up for grabs is the University Prize of £5,000, which will be awarded to the fastest University or College team as part of the 2011 Race. The £10.000 prize has yet to be won since the series began in 2009.
“Following hard on the heels of our wind powered car, the Nemesis - comes Ion Horse our wind powered bike. The guys at Kingston have built an amazing machine and we expect it to take the TT by storm. It’s another great demonstration of how transport of the very near future will be - powered by renewable energy, made in Green Britain - and with zero pollution.” said Ecotricity founder and keen biker Dale Vince.
Continue reading: Wind powered Ecotricity Ion Horse electric superbike
2011 Motoczysz E1pc first pic
Here is the first pic of the new 2011 Motoczysz E1pc bike. It’s hard to tell from this angle what the bike’s style will be like, but A&R assure us it is hot looking, and super fast. From what we gather, it’s quite a new effort from Motoczysz with significant parts and components revised . In the comments we don’t think it’s very fair to say it looks like an appliance as the shot has been taken from an angle so as not to give it all away. More like an Apple product, really…. Further comments also suggest that the new E1pc could have about 200 hp. We can’t wait for more details.
World's best electric motorcycles
Electric motorcycles are slowly coming into their own, with powerful, long-range models holding more charm for motorcycle enthusiasts. Whether they are still a practical choice is probably more down to the lack of supporting infrastructure than anything else, but in any case they are becoming more accepted as a possible future option.
What’s more, part of the appeal of the electric motorcycle lies in its roots of a garage-built philosophy. People who experimented and tuned their own models have given way to more professional production facilities and sophisticated technology, but there remains the idea of models that were tinkered with and developed over time.
What we bring today is a top ten electric motorcycle classification coming out of Europe (from an Italian ecology consumer site), that looks at the electric bikes that have been made so far around the world. Obviously the Americans have got the jump start here, but some of the models are really very impressive, electric or not. See after the jump for the list.
Agility Saietta - an unconvential electric
This is the Agility Saietta, while it looks like something out of a sci-fi flick, it is actually the newest electric motorcycle to appear on the green scene, and while it was designed in the UK by Agility Global, it carrys a very Italian name “Saietta” which means thunderbolt.
Debuting at the MCN London Motorcycle Show, the Saietta is the next generation of urban sports bikes and will come in two versions, the ‘S’ and the ‘R’ which use the air-cooled DC Agni motor.
The ‘S’ is the base version and weighs 400lbs with 135hp and has a 50 mile range and a price tag of £9,975 ($16,090), while the more performing ‘R’ version features a 169hp motor and has a range of 100 miles and carries a much heftier price tag, £13,975 ($22,540) and will be available starting from April 2011.
After the jump, more pics and Gizmag’s video interview with the designer of this revolutionary looking e-bike, Lawrence Marazzi.
Continue reading: Agility Saietta - an unconvential electric
Brammo motorcycles coming to Europe?
Could the Brammo brand of electric motorcycles be coming to Europe? The American company brought over a couple of models to show at the 2010 EICMA show, creating curiosity for many who had their first chance to get up-close to these bikes. The Brammo Empulse electric superbike was on display, as was the Brammo Enertia Plus, designed more for urban use than track racing.
The world of electric cars and motorcycles is somewhat of a paradox, with Europe a big player in the field of developing electric cars, whereas the old continent seems to have left two-wheeled electric experiments to the Americans. The presence of Brammo at the EICMA show would seem to indicate that a possible presence on the European market is on the cards for the future.
There will be some work to do to improve the style of the bikes, bringing them up to the design standards of Europe, but we’d welcome a serious electric bike presence on this market.
Volta EV-1 electric bike
A new compact electric motorcycle has been designed for environmental city riding in the form of the Volta Ev-1 from Spain. It’s a hot-looking electric bike with some snazzy sports design that seems destined for production for the European market. It will be officially launched in December this year.
While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we’ll hazard enough to say we like the look with its clean, pure lines reflecting recent sportsbike trends and there’s definitely a dose of Kawasaki emphasised by the colour choice. The Volta EV-1 is apparently capable of a range of 70km off a recharge, meaning it’s a modest effort on that front but extensive enough for urban commuting.
Performance is humble, with 15 hp for the smaller version and 30 hp for the bigger bike with dedicated rider’s licence. Recharge is possible with a 220V household socket and its running costs have been estimated at about 50 cents (euro) for 100 km. That makes it good looking and economical but we’ll be more fired-up when we start to see batteries with better performance. Video after the jump.
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