1
Pics and Vids / Re: High Power electric motorcycle
« on: December 04, 2008, 09:07:15 PM »
Looks interesting. Please tell us more. Thanks!
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2
Vectrix Forum / Vectrix's Vexing Problem
« on: November 07, 2008, 10:58:45 AM »
TIME posted an article today about the "Vectrix's Vexing Problem."
By the way, Issaquah WA is a suburb in the Seattle area.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1706699_1707550_1856547,00.html
ASIA KEPKA FOR TIME
CEO Boyle wants riders to skip the gas pump.
Vectrix's Vexing Problem
By Anita Hamilton / Middletown
Thursday, November 06, 2008
James Morrison doesn't fill up at the gas pump any more. Instead, when the 37-year-old software programmer from Issaquah, Wash., needs more juice for the Vectrix electric scooter he bought in July, he rolls up to the nearest power outlet, uncoils the 8-ft. cable stowed under his seat and plugs in. "Once you start looking, you find plugs everywhere," says Morrison, who charges his two-wheeler at parking garages, outside Starbucks stores and even in gas-station parking lots.
Electric scooters are a booming business in China and India, where some 13 million sell annually. But their relatively slow speed and high price have stalled interest in developed countries. Vectrix, a start-up in Middletown, R.I., wants to break that barrier and got help when gas hit $4 a gallon this summer. But for alternative-energy vehicles, the breakthrough will come from striking the right balance between performance and affordability, a balance the company hasn't yet found. "Changing the way people make decisions on a day-to-day level for transportation is a daunting task," says Vectrix ceo Mike Boyle.
Conceived in 1996 by a group of engineers at Lockheed Martin and a former competitive sailor named Andrew McGowan, Vectrix spent 11 years and more than $50?million bringing its first product, the V1, to market in 2007. The original business plan was to develop the technology and then sell it to an existing scooter company like Piaggio, says Vectrix chief technology officer Peter Hughes. There were no takers. "They didn't have the vision. So we decided to manufacture it ourselves," he says.
Unlike the putt-putt scooters sold in Asia, which often max out at 30 m.p.h. (48?km/h), Vectrix has to meet the demands of speed-obsessed Americans. Styled like a motorcycle, the V1 goes from 0 to 50 m.p.h. in 6.8 sec., has a maximum speed of 62 m.p.h. and travels up to 65 miles between charges. It's also the only electric scooter that is legal to drive on the freeway in the U.S. and Europe. Weighing in at 500?lb. (200 of which come from its massive nickel metal hydride batteries), the $8,750 aluminum-frame bike even has regenerative braking, which uses the energy absorbed by braking to recharge the batteries. That's the same technology used in hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius.
The V1's acceleration is nearly as fast as an entry-level Suzuki or Yamaha, but few people have had a chance to experience it firsthand. Only about 1,000 V1s have sold so far, including a few to police departments in Providence, R.I., and New York City that were looking to boost their green street cred. Jay Leno, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeremy Piven all have one too. ceo Boyle blames the meager sales on a flawed distribution strategy that relied on company-owned stores in just three cities (two of them in Italy). The high cost is a more obvious drawback. The V1 is fun to ride, but it's no Tesla. "They are pricing themselves out of the market," says analyst Matt Camp of Power Products International, who notes that a comparable 500-CC gas scooter sells for just $3,000.
To help steer Vectrix out of the red — it lost $26 million in the six months ending March 31, against sales of just $1.9 million — Boyle dropped the $11,000 asking price by $2,250 in July, laid off half his 300-person staff and added more than 100 dealers in the U.S. and Europe. A cheaper, better battery could also reduce costs. Next year Vectrix plans to introduce lower-priced models that are more closely aligned with competitors like the Zapino, from Zap in Santa Rosa, Calif., and the lithium-ion-powered X-Treme XM, from Alpha Products in Newton, Iowa. Both sell for less than $5,000.
That should help boost sales. Vectrix is also angling for the same incentives that helped spur the scooter industry abroad and hybrid cars in the U.S., such as tax credits and access to carpool lanes. Until then, only early adopters like Morrison will know what it's like to have people stop, stare and ask, "Where's the tailpipe?"
By the way, Issaquah WA is a suburb in the Seattle area.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1706699_1707550_1856547,00.html
ASIA KEPKA FOR TIME
CEO Boyle wants riders to skip the gas pump.
Vectrix's Vexing Problem
By Anita Hamilton / Middletown
Thursday, November 06, 2008
James Morrison doesn't fill up at the gas pump any more. Instead, when the 37-year-old software programmer from Issaquah, Wash., needs more juice for the Vectrix electric scooter he bought in July, he rolls up to the nearest power outlet, uncoils the 8-ft. cable stowed under his seat and plugs in. "Once you start looking, you find plugs everywhere," says Morrison, who charges his two-wheeler at parking garages, outside Starbucks stores and even in gas-station parking lots.
Electric scooters are a booming business in China and India, where some 13 million sell annually. But their relatively slow speed and high price have stalled interest in developed countries. Vectrix, a start-up in Middletown, R.I., wants to break that barrier and got help when gas hit $4 a gallon this summer. But for alternative-energy vehicles, the breakthrough will come from striking the right balance between performance and affordability, a balance the company hasn't yet found. "Changing the way people make decisions on a day-to-day level for transportation is a daunting task," says Vectrix ceo Mike Boyle.
Conceived in 1996 by a group of engineers at Lockheed Martin and a former competitive sailor named Andrew McGowan, Vectrix spent 11 years and more than $50?million bringing its first product, the V1, to market in 2007. The original business plan was to develop the technology and then sell it to an existing scooter company like Piaggio, says Vectrix chief technology officer Peter Hughes. There were no takers. "They didn't have the vision. So we decided to manufacture it ourselves," he says.
Unlike the putt-putt scooters sold in Asia, which often max out at 30 m.p.h. (48?km/h), Vectrix has to meet the demands of speed-obsessed Americans. Styled like a motorcycle, the V1 goes from 0 to 50 m.p.h. in 6.8 sec., has a maximum speed of 62 m.p.h. and travels up to 65 miles between charges. It's also the only electric scooter that is legal to drive on the freeway in the U.S. and Europe. Weighing in at 500?lb. (200 of which come from its massive nickel metal hydride batteries), the $8,750 aluminum-frame bike even has regenerative braking, which uses the energy absorbed by braking to recharge the batteries. That's the same technology used in hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius.
The V1's acceleration is nearly as fast as an entry-level Suzuki or Yamaha, but few people have had a chance to experience it firsthand. Only about 1,000 V1s have sold so far, including a few to police departments in Providence, R.I., and New York City that were looking to boost their green street cred. Jay Leno, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeremy Piven all have one too. ceo Boyle blames the meager sales on a flawed distribution strategy that relied on company-owned stores in just three cities (two of them in Italy). The high cost is a more obvious drawback. The V1 is fun to ride, but it's no Tesla. "They are pricing themselves out of the market," says analyst Matt Camp of Power Products International, who notes that a comparable 500-CC gas scooter sells for just $3,000.
To help steer Vectrix out of the red — it lost $26 million in the six months ending March 31, against sales of just $1.9 million — Boyle dropped the $11,000 asking price by $2,250 in July, laid off half his 300-person staff and added more than 100 dealers in the U.S. and Europe. A cheaper, better battery could also reduce costs. Next year Vectrix plans to introduce lower-priced models that are more closely aligned with competitors like the Zapino, from Zap in Santa Rosa, Calif., and the lithium-ion-powered X-Treme XM, from Alpha Products in Newton, Iowa. Both sell for less than $5,000.
That should help boost sales. Vectrix is also angling for the same incentives that helped spur the scooter industry abroad and hybrid cars in the U.S., such as tax credits and access to carpool lanes. Until then, only early adopters like Morrison will know what it's like to have people stop, stare and ask, "Where's the tailpipe?"
3
General Discussion / Re: KTM Builds A Race-Ready Electric Motorcycle
« on: October 22, 2008, 11:17:45 PM »
Wow! That's a sweet find, Skadamo! I'm liking that Section 205 
4
General Discussion / Re: KTM Builds A Race-Ready Electric Motorcycle
« on: October 21, 2008, 08:22:14 AM »
Yup, I know that a lot of my friends will take electric motorcycles more seriously now that a big name like KTM has jumped into the mix.
5
General Discussion / KTM Builds A Race-Ready Electric Motorcycle
« on: October 21, 2008, 05:06:01 AM »
Today's news from Wired and Hell for Leather (links and articles are below)
With a big name like KTM announcing its electric motorcycle, this will surely generate lots more awareness and interest in electric motorcycles overall. YAY!
========
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/10/ktm-builds-a-ra.html
KTM Builds A Race-Ready Electric Motorcycle
By Chuck Squatriglia October 20, 2008 | 3:41:58 PM
Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM is developing an all-electric enduro that could be in showrooms within two years.
The competition-ready ride features a lithium-ion battery that provides 40 minutes of riding time "under race conditions" and can be charged in just one hour, according to Hell for Leather. KTM isn't saying much about the bike, but by following the all-electric path blazed by startups like Zero Motorcycles and Quantya, the company seemingly is betting batteries are the future of off-road riding.
KTM is keeping the specs under wraps but says the prototype Zero Emission Motorcycle produces 29.5 foot-pounds of torque.The battery and motor weigh 17 kilograms (about 37.5 pounds). That may seem heavy, but electric bikes don't need an exhaust system, fuel tank and other parts. No word on what the KTM EV weighs, but the all-electric Zero X we rode tipped the scales at a bantamweight 140 pounds and was good for 57 mph.
Off-road bikes lend themselves to electric power because they're typically ridden short distances, so range isn't that big an issue. Electric motors also provide gobs of torque, a big plus in motocross riding. And as Hell for Leather notes, going green doesn't just help the environment, it could preserve or even expand off-roaders' access to land.
=========
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/10/ktm-presents-electric-enduro.html
KTM reveals race-ready electric motorcycle, production within 2 years
If you had any doubts that electricity is the future of off-road performance, this bike should eliminate them. KTM has created a fully functional electric, zero emissions enduro prototype and intends to put it into production. In keeping with its "Ready to Race" slogan, the Zero Emissions Motorcycle is a full-on competition bike, in which capacity it will be evaluated and developed before going on-sale as little as 24 months from now.
The Austrian company is releasing very few details of the Zero Emissions Motorcycle, but has revealed that it develops 29.5lb/ft of torque and carries lithium ion batteries capable of lasting 40 minutes under "race conditions" and that can be fully recharged in just one hour. In comparison, the Quantya Strada that we rode around our Brooklyn office develops only 23lb/ft. It's difficult to compare the two models' ranges as "race conditions" are hard to define, but Quantya says the Strada should be capable of about 25 miles off-road, which sounds like a rough equivalent.
KTM's battery pack and electric motor together weigh 17kg, but some of this weight will be offset by the elimination of the clutch; exhaust pipes and canisters; fuel tank and other necessities of internal combustion. The company expects that the Zero Emissions Motorcycle will carry a small price premium over a KTM enduro of similar performance.
Discussing the thinking behind the Zero Emissions Motorcycle project, KTM board member Harald Plöckinger says the lack of noise and emissions means "We can bring now the Enduro sport again more near in the centers of dense development and cities." Indeed the greatest advantage electricity brings to dirt bikes isn't the number of spotted owls that will be saved (comparatively cars, homes and industry all pollute exponentially more than all motorcycles put together), but rather the access that the power source will be capable of granting and preserving.
Seeing the competitive advantage the Zero Emissions Motorcycle would provide KTM and the environmental and political advantages it would give both the company and the country, the project is being part financed by the Austrian Federal Ministry for traffic, innovation and technology.
KTM
Grant Ray. October 20, 2008
With a big name like KTM announcing its electric motorcycle, this will surely generate lots more awareness and interest in electric motorcycles overall. YAY!
========
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/10/ktm-builds-a-ra.html
KTM Builds A Race-Ready Electric Motorcycle
By Chuck Squatriglia October 20, 2008 | 3:41:58 PM
Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM is developing an all-electric enduro that could be in showrooms within two years.
The competition-ready ride features a lithium-ion battery that provides 40 minutes of riding time "under race conditions" and can be charged in just one hour, according to Hell for Leather. KTM isn't saying much about the bike, but by following the all-electric path blazed by startups like Zero Motorcycles and Quantya, the company seemingly is betting batteries are the future of off-road riding.
KTM is keeping the specs under wraps but says the prototype Zero Emission Motorcycle produces 29.5 foot-pounds of torque.The battery and motor weigh 17 kilograms (about 37.5 pounds). That may seem heavy, but electric bikes don't need an exhaust system, fuel tank and other parts. No word on what the KTM EV weighs, but the all-electric Zero X we rode tipped the scales at a bantamweight 140 pounds and was good for 57 mph.
Off-road bikes lend themselves to electric power because they're typically ridden short distances, so range isn't that big an issue. Electric motors also provide gobs of torque, a big plus in motocross riding. And as Hell for Leather notes, going green doesn't just help the environment, it could preserve or even expand off-roaders' access to land.
=========
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/10/ktm-presents-electric-enduro.html
KTM reveals race-ready electric motorcycle, production within 2 years
If you had any doubts that electricity is the future of off-road performance, this bike should eliminate them. KTM has created a fully functional electric, zero emissions enduro prototype and intends to put it into production. In keeping with its "Ready to Race" slogan, the Zero Emissions Motorcycle is a full-on competition bike, in which capacity it will be evaluated and developed before going on-sale as little as 24 months from now.
The Austrian company is releasing very few details of the Zero Emissions Motorcycle, but has revealed that it develops 29.5lb/ft of torque and carries lithium ion batteries capable of lasting 40 minutes under "race conditions" and that can be fully recharged in just one hour. In comparison, the Quantya Strada that we rode around our Brooklyn office develops only 23lb/ft. It's difficult to compare the two models' ranges as "race conditions" are hard to define, but Quantya says the Strada should be capable of about 25 miles off-road, which sounds like a rough equivalent.
KTM's battery pack and electric motor together weigh 17kg, but some of this weight will be offset by the elimination of the clutch; exhaust pipes and canisters; fuel tank and other necessities of internal combustion. The company expects that the Zero Emissions Motorcycle will carry a small price premium over a KTM enduro of similar performance.
Discussing the thinking behind the Zero Emissions Motorcycle project, KTM board member Harald Plöckinger says the lack of noise and emissions means "We can bring now the Enduro sport again more near in the centers of dense development and cities." Indeed the greatest advantage electricity brings to dirt bikes isn't the number of spotted owls that will be saved (comparatively cars, homes and industry all pollute exponentially more than all motorcycles put together), but rather the access that the power source will be capable of granting and preserving.
Seeing the competitive advantage the Zero Emissions Motorcycle would provide KTM and the environmental and political advantages it would give both the company and the country, the project is being part financed by the Austrian Federal Ministry for traffic, innovation and technology.
KTM
Grant Ray. October 20, 2008
6
Electric Motorcycle News / Re: Brammo Article | Future Growth Goals
« on: September 26, 2008, 09:59:55 PM »
I'm looking forward to seeing more from Brammo, especially since Ashland, Oregon is kinda-sorta close by... I'm in the Pacific Northwest too, specifically the Seattle area.
Is it coincidence that ElectricMoto (which makes the Blade XT) is also in Ashland, Oregon?
Hhhmmm, maybe I'll head down there to take a peek at what's going on!
Is it coincidence that ElectricMoto (which makes the Blade XT) is also in Ashland, Oregon?
Hhhmmm, maybe I'll head down there to take a peek at what's going on!
7
ELMOTO Forum / Re: ELMOTO HR-2
« on: September 17, 2008, 07:33:51 AM »
Excellent! I also look forward to seeing the ELMOTO HR-2 in the US!
Please keep us updated with the latest news! Thanks!
Please keep us updated with the latest news! Thanks!
8
General Discussion / Re: Quantya Electric Motocross Bike Could Redeem Rebel Sport
« on: September 13, 2008, 09:22:11 PM »
Newport Boat Show this weekend? Fill us in on the details. I guess Dario will be there for a demo day?
I am going to try to get another ride at the Newport Boat show this weekend.
9
General Discussion / Re: Here comes Honda and Yamaha!
« on: September 11, 2008, 10:09:06 PM »
Wow! That should make the electric motorcycle world quite a bit more interesting!
10
ELMOTO Forum / Re: ELMOTO HR-2
« on: September 11, 2008, 11:07:20 AM »
Sweeeeet! Any info on availability and pricing for the US market?
11
General Discussion / Quantya Electric Motocross Bike Could Redeem Rebel Sport
« on: September 09, 2008, 05:43:12 AM »
Here's a great article about Quantya that was recently published at Der Spiegel Online
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,576573,00.html
09/05/2008
BATTERY-POWERED BAD BOY
Electric Motocross Bike Could Redeem Rebel Sport
By Christian Wüst
The deafening engines that send motocross bikes shooting off jumps and tearing up hillsides have earned the cycles a bad reputation. But a German entrepreneur wants to rehabilitate the sport -- with an all-but-silent new engine.
The Quantya is an electric motocross bike. Its silent motor might help redeem the sport's deafening bad-boy image.
At first glance, the Quantya motocross bike doesn’t leave a particularly tame impression. It looks like the usual cross-country motorbike, a vehicle for daredevils, the kind of riders who plow down muddy tracks and off high jumps with no regard for the natural world around them. And then, of course there’s the noise: the motor’s guttural RrrrraaaangtangtatatAAANG. Hardly any recreational sport has won so little acceptance in polite society.
Yet the Quantya is different. It can take on rough terrain just as well -- and no less destructively to the ground it covers-- as traditional motocross bikes, but with a difference. The Quantya does it silently, moving almost as noiselessly a bicycle. What’s the secret? The bike’s power source is electricity, not gas.
In far southern Germany fans of the sport can now try out this new form of motocross in one of the first “Quantya Parks,” which opened its doors in the tiny Bavarian town of Siegsdorf a few weeks ago. For €15 ($22) per quarter-hour it offers bikes for rent and access to a course that should challenge even the most skillful in the sport.
Town mayor Thomas Kamm, in a traditional Bavarian jacket, watches respectfully as amateur motocross enthusiasts do meters-high jumps along the course on the electric-powered bikes. “The visual and the sound experience don’t match,” says the mayor, and it sounds like he likes that fact a lot. It's exactly this incongruity that led Kamm to authorize construction of the park in the first place, although it sits next to a tennis court and within earshot of a residential area. And indeed, all that can be heard as the bikers do their tricks is the ever-present drone of nearby lawnmowers.
Businessman Hans Eder, 41, wants to open 50 to 70 such Quantya Parks in Germany and Austria in the next few years, with the goal of redeeming this outlaw among recreational sports. Eder, who offers motocross rider training courses, watched for years as his passion for the sport became more and more of a forbidden love. The number of motocross courses kept shrinking, and the outlook for new facilities looked bleak. “You’re more likely to get a nuclear power plant approved,” a building contractor friend told Eder.
It’s the same problem everywhere: noise. The demands of motocross bikes -- that they be extremely powerful and yet as light as possible -- led inevitably to loud motors. Eder saw only one solution: electric power.
Lithium Polymer Battery
Almost four years ago, Eder’s vision of electric-powered bikes led him to another motocross enthusiast living near Lake Lugano in Switzerland. Claudio Dick, once an importer of Italian motorcycles, was one of the first to experiment with electric power and motocross. At that point, however, Dick’s work consisted mostly of waiting for a suitable battery.
In the first prototypes the pair built, the rechargeable battery ran out after just seven minutes -- which wouldn’t do at all. Eder and Dick set themselves a goal: The bike’s battery had to last at least 30 minutes. Any less, and there would be no point.
Then battery development took a great leap forward. In the spring of 2007, Dick called his colleague in Bavaria and said, “It rides two hours.” Eder replied, “You’re lying to me!” He travelled to Lugano and took a turn on the bike, charging the battery once and riding almost soundlessly through the woods for two hours and ten minutes. It seemed the Quantya was ready for the market.
The electric motocross bike entered the scene with some impressive qualities. The motor provides 16.8 kilowatts of power (22.8 horsepower) and accelerates the bike, which weighs just under 100 kilograms (220 pounds), with a torque of 38 joules, equivalent to that of light motocross bikes used by professionals. With one charging of the battery it can cover 40 to 50 kilometers, which makes for about a two hour outing.
On the Quantya, the electric motor is located where the gears would otherwise be. It drives the chain directly. With just one gear the bike can achieve up to 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph). And where the motor traditionally sits, the Quantya has a lithium polymer battery. The battery looks something like a spare gas canister. It weighs 19 kilograms, and according to Dick it can store about 2.3 kilowatt hours of electricity -- at the top end of batteries worldwide. The Quantya’s battery cells are bought from Kokam, a suppler in South Korea. The control electronics come from Switzerland, and the motor from England.
It’s the battery that makes the Quantya so expensive. The rechargeable batteries cost about €2,000 each, five times the cost of the engine transmission unit for a small conventional bike.
A version of the bike approved for road use is now being sold in Germany for €9,282, about €2,000 more, for example, than a conventional 250cc motocross bike from Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM. The manufacturer’s warranty covers the battery through being charged 1,000 times, which comes out to a maximum of 50,000 kilometers (31,070 miles).
With those specifications, the Quantya will hardly open up a mass market. Instead, Eder plans to focus at first on the rental bikes in his Quantya Parks -- and on heralding the new, environmentally friendly face for his discredited sport.
As an additional green aspect, every Quantya Park will be equipped with a photovoltaic array, putting at least as much electricity into the power grid as the park’s motocross bikes use. It’s a bit of an energy revolution, in the spirit of new, environmentally-friendly sports. As Eder says, “We can’t always work against humanity.”
12
Pics and Vids / Re: Quantya Supermoto Video | Rider Gets Tossed
« on: September 08, 2008, 08:38:13 PM »
Sweeeeeeet!
Anyone know the performance specs for the SuperMoto? 72v? Top speed? Range? Etc.
Anyone know the performance specs for the SuperMoto? 72v? Top speed? Range? Etc.
13
Electric Motorcycle News / Re: Vectrix Lobbies for $1500 tax credit for US buyers
« on: September 05, 2008, 08:52:31 AM »
This would certainly help ease the pain of the upfront cost of getting an electric vehicle... but that upfront cost is still pretty high at this time 
14
Electric Motorcycle News / Re: Veloteq To Produce NiZn Powered Scooters
« on: September 05, 2008, 08:50:46 AM »
Sweet! I hope this helps speed up the introduction of more electric-powered motorcycles.
15
Electric Motorcycle News / Re: Quantya Test Ride Article | Southern Humboldt, CA, USA
« on: September 05, 2008, 08:48:29 AM »
Kudos to Dario and Star!