Zero Electric Motorcycles Coming to a PD Near You

Last week, Zero motorcycles took a massive step towards the mainstream when it became the first electric motorcycle brand to receive a GSA listing. GSA listings–, or: General Service Administration listings– help to facilitate the purchase of given vehicles (example: Ford Crown Vic) by federal, state, and local government agencies.

Granted, there’s more to government buying decisions than GSA listings. Still, it’s a big step, and the Gas 2 favorites at Zero deserve their victory lap. Check out the official press release, below, along with a video from the Monterey, California PD putting a Zero through its paces from 2013. Once you’ve done that, let us know what you think of Zero’s chances of coming to your PD in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Zero Makes the Big Time with Entry to GSA

Zero Motorcycles, the global electric motorcycle sales and innovation leader, today announced that it is the first electric motorcycle brand to be listed on General Services Administration (GSA). This facilitates a streamlined procurement process for federal, state, and local government agencies, allowing them to obtain the vehicles they need quickly and easily under pre-negotiated terms and prices.
The GSA provides centralized procurement for the federal government through its online ordering system, GSA Advantage!, offering billions of dollars worth of products, services and facilities that federal agencies need to serve the public.
“With more than 125 law enforcement and military customers in the U.S. currently using Zero motorcycles, we are happy to be included on GSA as it makes Zero’s Authority models even more attainable for government agencies,” said Kevin Hartman, fleet and authority sales director, Zero Motorcycles. “Knowing that many agencies prefer utilizing GSA, taking this step is a reflection of Zero’s strong commitment to continuing to work with U.S. government agencies.”
In order to ensure a seamless approval process, Zero partnered with Fedharmony to leverage its existing GSA contact. Fedharmony helps ease the federal procurement process by partnering with in-demand suppliers to add hard-to-find products to GSA.
“Zero’s electric motorcycles are an ideal addition to our portfolio of unique vehicles for emergency responders and the military,” said Scott Smith, president, Fedharmony. “We have had a high level of interest in these bikes and we are happy to help make electric options even more easily accessible to federal agencies.”
Zero Authority Motorcycles are now listed on the U.S. GAS Schedule 23V and available for purchase online on GSA Advantage!. Purchases can be made directly on GSA Advantage! or customers can issue a request for quotation (RFQ) through the GSA electronic ordering system.

Zero Motorcycle | Monterey Police Dept

Source | Images: Zero, via Ride Apart; Monterey PD

Self Balancing “Ride Assist-e” Motorcycle From Honda

A motorcycle is one of the most efficient transportation devices available, especially in the world’s increasingly crowded cities. Although it uses a gasoline engines, it tends to spew out fewer emissions per mile than any automobile. But beginning motorcycle riders have a problem keeping their machines upright when stopped or at very low speeds.

Once the wheels get turning, they act as gyroscopes to keep the motorcycle upright, thanks to a phenomenon known as precession. It’s the force that keeps tops spinning, enables inertial navigation, and makes it possible for 600 pound Harley Davidsons to motor serenely along while on the superslab, unfazed by frost heaves, wind, or the occasional armadillo carcass.

Motorcycles are attracting lots of first time riders, many of whom are not yet adept at the art of keeping the machine upright at stop lights or moving slowly in traffic. Honda thinks it has the answer for such newcomers — Ride Assist-e. It’s not an electric motorcycle; it’s a motorcycle with an electric assist feature.

The company hasn’t released many details as of yet. A full introduction is scheduled for the Tokyo motor show that kicks off on October 27. This latest offering from Honda features an unusually low ride height for a low center of gravity. The low seat also makes it easier for riders to reach the ground.

The self-balancing mechanism — whatever it is — seems to be packaged at the front of the bike, although the extra heft built in to the single sided swing arm suggests some technological wizardry in that area as well.

A motorcycle needs to lean in order to negotiate turns and curves in the road. Riding a bike that refused to lean would be a very weird and unnerving experience. Not to worry, says Honda. Its Ride Assist-e system only operates at “very low speeds,” which makes sense. Once road speed increases, the rotation of the wheels themselves do all the stabilizing necessary.

The photo of the electronic dashboard shows the bike in “Mode 4.” By lightning like calculation, that suggests the Ride Assist-e system has at least four levels available. Presumably, the rider can select the level of assistance that is most comfortable for his or her riding style and degree of experience. A lean angle indicator also hints at the ability to program the system to the riders tastes.

Will the new Honda with Ride Assist-e be able to stay upright at a dead stop with no rider aboard as long as the engine is running, like Luke Skywalker’s land speeder? We should know more in about a month.

Source: New Atlas

Alta Says Its Electric Motorcycle Battery Has Highest Energy Density

The Alta Redshift MX electric motorcycle is designed to compete successfully against the best off-road bikes in the world. To do that, it needs a great battery that is both powerful and light in weight. Even though it begins with the same 18650 lithium ion battery cells as Tesla uses in its Model S and Model X cars, it packages them in a way that is unique to Alta. The result is an electric motorcylcle battery with higher energy density than virtually any other battery in a production vehicle.

“We’re right around 180 Wh/kg, which is about 20-30% higher than the current Tesla Model S. We believe the Model 3 will probably be on par with where we are today, although they haven’t announced numbers yet, so we can’t calculate it,” says Rob Sweney, Alta’s director of advanced powertrains.

The Secret Sauce

Battery cells are battery cells. It’s how you put them together that makes the difference. Alta builds its own electric motorcycle battery pack and thermal management system with help from two companies you have probably never heard of. Kevin Kim, Alta’s head mechanical engineer, explains. “Unfortunately we can’t disclose too many details about the interconnect system because it’s proprietary. I will say that the system allows us to very effectively cool the battery using passive (air-cooled) methods, with no need for liquid cooling. We describe it as being passively air-cooled, and it helps keep the weight down significantly.

“Passive cooling means that the thermal conductivity of the materials that surround the cells is very important. After some testing, we found that a two-part polyurethane from Wevo-Chemie (a German company that specializes in casting, bonding, and sealing resin solutions) had the highest thermal performance, so it became a critical component in our system as an adhesive.”

The bonding agent has to be strong, light, and provide a high degree of electrical insulation. “For any battery pack, you have to balance the need to take away heat from the system while dealing with the high voltage electrical challenge,” says Kim. “Usually things that are good at conducting heat are also good at conducting electricity.

“Optimizing for those two goals is a fundamental challenge of any battery pack design, so this implementation with the Wevo-Chemie material is part of our solution to improve that tradeoff, because it conducts heat extremely well and at the same time has a high dielectric strength – so it’s also electrically insulating.” It helps that the bonding agent also has a bit of give to it. That helps the pack stay together under the rigors of off-road riding.

Getting The Sauce Where It’s Needed

Once Alta found the bonding agent it wanted, the problem became how to use it in its electric motorcycle manufacturing process. For that, the company turned to Scheugenpflug, another German specialist. The Wevo-Chemie material has to be mixed precisely with a catalyst just at the time of use. The main ingredient is about the same consistency as peanut butter. The catalyst is thin like water. Scheugenpflug was the only company that had ever built a machine that could mix the two together successfully on a production line.

Christian Geier, general manager at Scheugenpflug USA explains. “When an adhesive contains a lot of filler material, in this case inorganic fillers, it can increase the complexity of the production equipment. For instance, the inorganic fillers can be incredibly abrasive and quickly wear out dispensing machine components. Depending on the material, each system is designed based on the needed application.”

It Ain’t Rocket Science

Advances in battery technology are happening everywhere around the world. Recently, the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems in Dresden announced a new system for packing more battery cells into less space. The result is a battery that fits in the same space as a conventional battery but can double the effective range of an electric car. Building a battery with high energy density isn’t rocket science, but it’s close.

Other Applications

According to Business Insider, Alta CEO Marc Fenigstein has plans to use its proprietary battery technology to build batteries for other companies. “The technology, the architecture, and the capabilities that we built as a company in introducing the Redshift have very, very broad applicability across lightweight vehicles,” Fenigstein said. “Really nobody in the market can build a drivetrain for a small vehicle that is as compact, robust, or economical as ours is for a given range and power.”

Source: Charged EVs

Zvexx Electric Motorcycle Is Best Thing From Switzerland Since Hot Cocoa

Put on your best Rod Serling voice and repeat after me: “Imagine, if you will, an electric motorcycle with 898 lb-ft of mind-blowing, eye-watering torque.” Such a motorcycle exists and it is being driven right now by its creators on the roads that border Lake Geneva. This is not some cobbled together exercise that looks like it was created by high school seniors in welding class. The Zvexx (your guess on how to pronounce the name correctly is a good as mine) was designed and built by a group of Swiss engineers working together with people at local motorcycle shops.

The bike’s declared purpose is to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that an electric motorcycle can be every bit as evocative as one with an internal combustion engine. That starts with a blacked-out stealth chassis that sports carbon fiber accents. The darkness of the obsidian beast is accented by slashes of bright red on the swing arm, seat, and front forks. Sinister is a word that springs to mind to describe the Zvexx.

“This is not a project in user-friendly cuteness but a fusion of raw, biker appeal and unbridled electric force,” the company says. In fact, the bike is ridden regularly on the road by its creators. Out back is one of the fattest rear tires ever seen on a motorcycle, necessary to handle the awesome outpouring of torque from the electric motor.

The Zvexx has a 26 cell, 13 kWh lithium-ion battery that is good for about 90 miles of motoring, if you drive it in a reasonable fashion. But its developers ask, “Who wants to be reasonable when riding this bike?” They claim it can accelerate to 50 mph in under 3 seconds. Frankly, that’s a little underwhelming when you consider the 5,300 lb Tesla Model S P100D with Ludicrous can scoot to 60 in less time. But that’s a mere quibble. Riding the Zvexx has got to be a rush regardless of what its stats are.

No prices or production plans have been announced. The Zvexx is simply a one-off concept at the moment. But it shows that an electric motorcycle can be just as radical as anything ever dreamed up in any custom bike shop anywhere. No doubt the lads who put this machine together aren’t planning to stop with this first offering. Can’t wait to see what comes next, can you?

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Source: AutoEvolution | Photo Credits: Zvexx via Maxim

Energica Eva Electric Motorcycle Goes From LA To SF In 12 Hours

Energica is an Italian electric motorcycle company. It now has two models, the Ego and the Eva. Gas2 contributor Susanna Schick has tested the Ego and pronounced it “a proper electric superbike.” The Eva is “naked” version of the Eva. It comes with an 11.7 kWh lithium ion battery and a 95 horsepower motor that produces 125 ft-lbs of torque.

An electric motorcycle is great when it can be ridden close to home and recharged conveniently. But can a rider actually go touring on one? On May 16th, actor and U.S. Air Force veteran Bill Levasseur rode an Energica Eva from Los Angeles to San Francisco, recharging only at CCS fast-charging stations along the way.

On his trip, Levasseur made nine stops at fast chargers on the 450 mile route. He stopped for an average of 23 minutes per charge, and the ride took about 12 hours. 3.5 of those hours were spent at charging stations. Compare that to the 17 hours the same journey would take if DC fast chargers were not available.

The ride was designed to celebrate the opening of Energica’s flagship store on San Francisco’s Page Street. It is the first dedicated store selling the Energica Ego and Eva. Up till now, Energica’s bikes were only available in the U.S. through Hollywood Electrics.

ChargePoint, BMW, and Volkswagen have formed a partnership to install DC fast chargers along primary highways on the East and West Coast. The stations are spaced approximately 50 miles apart between Boston and Washington, DC and between Portland, Oregon and San Diego. They all support the CCS charging standard that uses SAE Combo plugs.

The ChargePoint equipment can give a BMW i3 or Volkswagen e-Golf an 80% charge in as little as 20 minutes with the 50 kW charger or 30 minutes using a 24 kW charger. They are also compatible with an electric motorcycle like the Energica Eva, which is what made Lavasseur’s journey possible.

Touring on an electric motorcycle is still a challenge on roads where fast chargers are not available, but the infrastructure for electric vehicles is getting better all the time. You can find out more about ChargePoint and the location of the chargers in its network on the company website.

Source and photo credit: Green Car Reports

BMW eRR Electric Motorcycle Revealed

We don’t have much to go on in terms of technical or performance specifications, but the pre-EICMA reveal of the upcoming eRR electric super bike has made one thing perfectly clear: BMW’s motorcycle division wants in on the EV act.

The success of the BMW car division’s all-electric/hybrid “i” line- as well as BMW Motorrad’s own success with its electric scooters– is undisputed. The i8 super car is a sellout success, commanding surging prices in the aftermarket, while the tiny i3 represents nearly 10% of BMW car sales in North America. It should come as no surprise, then, that an electric bike is in the works. This bike, built in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich, explores one possible direction BMW could take when it comes to electric motorcycles.

You can see more pictures of the BMW eRR electric motorcycle in the photo gallery, below. We’ll bring you more BMW news from EICMA as it develops.

BMW eRR Electric Motorcycle Concept

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Source | Images: BMW, via Asphalt and Rubber.

2015 Yamaha eVino Arrives in Taiwan - VIDEO

When Yamaha announced plans to offer a full, cradle-to-grave ecosystem of 100% electric motorcycles, many dismissed its plans as overly-ambitious green-washing. Here we are, barely a year later, however, and Yamaha has delivered on the first of its electrified promises. Meet the 2015 Yamaha eVino electric scooter.

Currently available for sale for the ultra-cheap price of just 58,500 New Taiwan Dollars (about $1850, USD), the 2015 Yamaha eVino features a large, practical cargo basket at the front along with a deep, under-seat storage space that- and I can speak from the sort of personal experience that comes with owning 3 of the things- will easily fit an XL 3/4 face helmet. Combined, the two storage spaces should make the little eVino an enormously competent grocery-getter and errand-runner.

Stylistically, the 2015 Yamaha eVino looks just like the standard Vino from the handlebars back. Up front, the large basket gives it a bit of a look, sure- but the star of the show for vintage scooter lovers is the fender-mounted headlight.

Fenderlight scooters are a thing, people. Trust me.

Beyond looking good and being immensely practical, capacity-wise, the new Yamaha eVino also features a clever removable battery pack, allowing apartment-dwellers or commuters to easily carry the battery pack into their homes or offices for all-day charging. Our more clever readers have already figured out that a small, removable battery pack could be placed at each location pre-charged, enabling all kinds of extended-range adventures for more interesting eVino riders.

The 2015 Yamaha eVino has a 20-25 MPH “moped” top speed, and a range of just over 15 miles on a single battery pack. With enough cargo capacity for a few dozen batteries, however, I can already think of some fun road test challenges for next year. Here’s hoping the little bike comes to the US, and that the super kick-ass Yamaha PES1 electric street fighter comes with it!

Lightning Motorcycles Teases LS-218 Electric Superbike

Having conquered Pikes Peak last year, Lightning Motorcycles is ready to debut the consumer version of their race-ready electric motorcycle, the LS-218. If you have an extra $38,888 lying around, and an unquenchable need for electric speed, this is your bike.

That’s a steep price to be sure, but consider the pedigree you get with your purchase. A Lightning Motorcycle the first to break the 200 MPH barrier for electric two-wheelers, topping out at 218 MPH, where the LS-218 gets its name. The LS-218 also shares the same drivetrain as the Lightning bike that dominated the motorcycle class at last year’s Pikes Peak hill climb, beating the closest conventional competitor by over 20 seconds.

You want specs? We got specs, 200 horsepower worth of specs from a liquid-cooled electric motor with up to 20 kWh of lithium-ion battery pack to back it up. 12 and 15 kWh battery packs are also available, but this is a “Go big or go home” kinda electric motorcycle, and there’s no sense in getting anything other than the best. Brembo brakes, magnesium wheels, and a host of other high-tech goodies come crammed into this zero-emissions superbike…which hasn’t even been fully revealed yet.

That will have to wait until this weekend, though it’s easy to tell from the shadowy teaser pic that the production design has stayed mostly-true to Glenn Kerr’s 2012 design. Aesthetics aside, all that really matters in a bike this expensive is performance, and Lightning has got that much all locked up with unassailable motorsports experience.

Source: Lightning Motorcycles

Saroléa Relaunches Itself With Carbon Fiber Electric Motorcycle

After a 50 year hiatus, Belgium’s oldest motorcycle brand Saroléa is making a triumphant return with an electric cafe racer made from carbon fiber. Light, powerful, and sexy in an industria cafe racer sorta way, the Saroléa SP7 introduced itself to the world this past Saturday, and will make its racing debut at the Isle of Man TT Zero later this year.

The unpainted monotube frame is made entirely from carbon fiber, though the SP7 still comes in at 400 pounds. That’s due to a presumably-large battery pack that makes up most of the motorcycle’s body and an electric motor churning out 180 horsepower and 295 ft-lbs of torque. That’s more get-up-and-go than the Mercedes B-Class Electric, which tips the scales at over 3,800 pounds. This setup allows the SP7 to accelerate from 0 to 62 MPH in 2.8 seconds, less time than it probably took you to read this sentence that I deliberately drew out, but you get the picture.

Saroléa ain’t messin’ around, and they’re ready to prove it at the Isle of Man TT Zero in a little over a month’s time. They’ll have plenty of competition from an elite group of electric motorcycle pioneers, and the 2014 edition of the TT Zero already has plenty to recommend it.

The revival of an iconic motorcycle recalling the popular look of cafe racers makes it that much better.

Source: Sarolea via Autoblog Green

Johammer Electric Motorcycle Is A Wonderful Kind Of Weird

Vehicular design was dictated by the needs of combustion engines. The Johammer electric motorcycle is what happens when you toss those needs to the curb. Yeah, it’s pretty funky lookin’, but we like funky here, and with about 124 miles of driving range, it’s got more range than most electric motorcycles on the market.

Guaranteed for at least four years or 124,000 miles, whichever comes first, the Johammer seems like a serious attempt to create a competitive electric motorcycle. Unlike standard combustion engines that need heaps of air to ingest and keep themselves cooled, electric motors comparatively less space and air. It allows for more out-there designs, like this. The Johammer is offered in 8.3 kWh and 12.7 kWh flavors, the latter giving it that 124 mile driving range in combined city and highway driving. That puts it on par with competitors like the Zero ZF11.4, with which the optional “power tank” feature is rated for up to 131 miles of combined riding.

Alas, this kind of cutting-edge design and driving range comes at a steep cost. The starter model with the smaller battery sets you back more than $31,000, while the larger model with more range will leave you $34,000 lighter. A $420 guided tour of Upper Austria includes a factory tour and a chance to test the Johammer for yourself.

There’s more to this oddly-styled electric motorcycle than a big batteries and price tags though. The Johammer does away with a traditional dashboard in favor of integrating the speedometer and battery level indicator into the side mirrors. A hub-steering and suspension setup on the front end replaces the traditional fork setup, and adds to the price tag.

Is the Johammer electric motorcycle funky enough to justify its high price tag?

Source: Gizmag

Brammo Lease Program Makes Electric Motorcycles Affordable

Electric motorcycle maker Brammo has announced a new lease program that could put you an Empulse or Empulse R for as little as $269 a month. For motorcycle enthusiasts intrigued by electric vehicles, but unwilling to commit to what is still ( in some peoples’ minds) unproven technology, this lease program minimizes the risk.

The Brammo lease program will be offered on the Empulse and Empulse R, which sticker for $16,995 and $18,995 respectively, for either 36 month or 48 month terms. If you’re satisfied with the performance of the Empulse, you’ll have to fork over a 13% down payment ($2,209), plus either $299 or $269 a month, depending on the term. The faster and farther-travelling Empulse R costs $2,469 up front, and either $325 a month or $299 a month, depending on the term.

For the Empulse, that works out to $12,973 over the lease term, and the Empulse R will cost you $14,169. So you’re really not saving that much money over just outright buying a Brammo, though that doesn’t include any local incentives for leasing an EV. Still, some people would rather not take a chance that their battery-powered vehicle won’t pan out, even though the Brammo batteries come with a 5-year warranty.

Any EV fence-sitters thinking about a Brammo all of the sudden?

Source: Brammo

Ohio State University Fields Electric Motorcycle Race Team

College ain’t what it used to be, and that’s a good thing. Ohio State University introduced a program that allowed engineering students to build a TTZero/TTXGP class electric motorcycle that- one day- may make it to the grid at the legendary Isle of Man TT.

The updated RW2 motorcycle shown here is the second all-electric racing motorcycle to come from Ohio State since the program’s inception in 2010. The first bike, the RW1, had a top speed in excess of 140 MPH- and the RW2 promises to be even faster thanks to its reduced weight, improved aerodynamics, and more powerful electric power unit. OSU’s RW2 is packing the equivalent of 70 HP (plus LOTS of torque) and battery capacity roughly equal to that of a Chevrolet Volt, necessary to traverse the 37.7 mile course at the Snaefell Mountain round of the TTXGP Championship.

You can read more about the program from OSU’s website …

During the academic year, the team designs and builds a two-wheeled electric racing motorcycle to participate to the Time Trial Extreme Grand Prix (TTXGP) Championship. TTXGP is currently a set of three international circuits (North America, United Kingdom, and Europe). Each circuit is comprised of approximately four different races, with the top teams from each circuit competing in Spain for the World Championship.

This project promotes leadership in electric transportation conversion, energy storage systems, advanced traction system, and system integration. At the same time, team members gain vital engineering, business, and communication skills applicable to real-world jobs.

… and check out some of the Ohio State University’s TTXGP engineering team, along with the RW1, in the photos below.

Ohio State University Engineering

Source | Photos: the Ohio State University, via Torque News.