Electric Motorcycles

[doug]

This is a cool concept: Frog Design revisits the Rana, makes it electric




Not sure how well it will work in practice, though.

[7racer]

I'm on the pre-order list for the Brammo Empulse: Got this in the email today

Dear,
We are proud to announce that we will be revealing the production version of the much anticipated Brammo Empulse on May 8th, 2012. The launch event will take place in Los Angeles and will be webcast live to all pre-order customers. Since the Empulse concept was first revealed, a vast amount of development and testing has taken place and we are confident that you will be delighted with the ground-breaking electric motorcycle we are about to reveal. On April 18th we will announce full specifications of this exciting milestone in the evolution of motorcycling, giving you every opportunity to become familiar with the Empulse before seeing it for the first time on May 8th.

Electric motorcycle racing is an integral part of our lives here at Brammo and our experience and championship record on the track has played a critical role in the evolution of the Empulse from concept to production. Professional racers have had a hand in the development of the Empulse and they will be sharing their Empulse riding experiences and impressions with you at the reveal on May 8th.

Follow this link and learn more about the Empulse and its roots in Brammo's racing heritage.

If you have questions about the Brammo Empulse simply email empulse@brammo.com for an answer.


The Brammo Team

[domenick]

LITO Green Motion from Quebec have released video of its Sora. Up to 185 miles of range from 12 kWh pack through CVT to AC motor. Will be at Top Marques.



Also read that first bike goes to Switzerland to Tesla Roadster owner.

[JRP3]

Not bad, though the chain case looks a bit clunky. Nice to see a belt drive on an E moto, why ruin a quiet ride with chain rattle?

[domenick]

Brammo has released specs for its upcoming (six-speed) Empulse and Empulse R. Full reveal coming May 8. Battery is now nickel cobalt manganese (NCM).
Personally, I feel conflicted about multi-gear transmission but I'm not a traditional rider.

[JRP3]

I think if an electric motor needs 6 gears it must be significantly undersized for the application.

[mpt]

…Or the controller/battery configuration maybe. Tesla had to go to 680A @400V to allow them to replace the two-speed transmission. Up from 400A if memory serves.

[doug]

Or compensating for a motor that doesn't have a huge rpm range.

[JRP3]

They are using a Sevcon controller at 103 volts so the torque band is probably narrower than a higher voltage system would allow, I'm not sure what the current rating is for that unit. It probably is the controller that is the bottle neck for the system, and since a higher power controller can get expensive they may have felt a gearbox is more cost effective. However 6 speeds seems like overkill, but that may have been an available off the shelf unit.

[NigelM]

Vectrix Electric Super Bike Designers Win Good Design Award -- evworld.com

Interesting tidbit: I met the head designer the other day and he was telling me that at some point they had engineering issues with the design and that one of the Tesla engineers helped them out.