Last month we brought you at Isle of Man. KTUV.com has some video footage of the bike on the track and an interview of Forest North, CEO and founder of Mission Motors where he talks about the Mission One and the future for electric motorcycles. Between video clips of the crew working and a cockpit perspective of the track Forest explains that “electrification is coming” and that electric is the future of motorcycling. He mentions electric motorcycles already have a range that fits how most people ride.
For Forest, the big challenge in engineering an electric motorcycle is the batteries. The size and weight is difficult to build around. The batteries in the Mission One will give the user 150 mile range and 150 mph top speed on a 70 cent (USD) charge . Yes, the “user”. Brammo is not the only electric motorcycle company that talks about motorcycles more like they are consumer electronics. Forest mentions the “user experience” on the Mission is different than a liter bike despite similar weight to the Mission One.
Another user friendly feature is a USB key that will allow tuning of engine braking and power delivery and give you wireless access to the bike. Electric motorcycles have very little engine braking by design. Engine braking will be tuned by increasing or decreasing the amount of regenerative braking, a process that returns energy to the batteries by using the motor as an electric generator.
The Mission One will be available for sale to the public in 2010 with a price of $68,995. Mr. North feels range and speed offered by batteries will improve over the next 10 years as economies of scale help reduce their price.
Source: KTUV.com and Motorcyclist Online
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