land speed records are great for
headlines and it's nice to know where
the boundaries lie but it's far more
relevant to say how you get to that
speed and how you you utilize that
power holy
for a questionably long period of time
conventional energy has fueled and
dominated the vehicle
world but what if a new player a
challenger
emerged what if electric could finally
outrun gas
hey this is Toby from motherboard we're
in Brooklyn New York about to go meet up
with the minds behind Mission
Motorcycles the guys who have created
the fastest and most advanced electric
motorcycle on the market today we're
going to chat about electric motorcycles
electric vehicles and see whether what
they're up to is really a game changer
electric motorcycles and electric bikes
in general not unlike electric cars have
had a history of starts and
stops commercial electric cars have been
around since 1909 and it's a phenomenal
vehicle for 114 years ago the baker
electric Runabout the last word for
bicycles and motorcycles the compromises
have just been simply too great range
speed weight and cost and so in the last
10 years years is that a lot of those
different parameters have gotten back in
line so that it's possible to design and
create a product that actually is
something people are willing to buy at a
price that they're W to
pay 10 years ago you would have said hey
I've got an electric car that that would
have been cool I wasn't really the case
10 years
ago as we move towards this electric
vehicle future consumers have to embrace
the good and the bad of the electric
vehicles cuz there's a lot of really
strong attractions about it but there's
also some
downsides we waited to bring this bike
out when the time was right when the the
products we could commercialize produce
at scale we're going to be better than
the state-of-the-art of today and so our
motivating factor is to make the
motorcycle industry better we want to
make better motorcycles on our today
full stop that that's what it's about
the argument is less I don't think you
can build it the argument is more I
don't think you can build it in a way
that I want to write
it motorcycles are all about performance
that's why we buy them um an electric
powertrain provides that far better than
a gas
engine we have 160 horsepower motor
which in and of itself is fairly unheard
of 120 ftlb of torque available
instantly at the rear wheel that's
definitely unheard
of our powertrain is a lot more reliable
a lot simpler to build believe it or not
a lot lower cost to build because we're
only building a smaller pieces of metal
that that fit together in simpler
ways a normal bike's drivet drain is
complicated with pistons spinning up to
14,000 RPMs and a transmission to
transfer power the mission motorcycle is
much simpler with a batterypowered
electric motor sending torque directly
to the rear
wheel there's no clutching there's no
shifting there's no chance of stalling
the motor you don't even have to start
the motor all you do is literally twist
and
go one of the challenges that all
motorcycle manufacturers face is how do
we engage this next generation of
motorcyclist how do we create a LIF
style it speaks to them it resonates
with
them the the operating system we call a
mission OS and it's the primary way you
interface with the bike it's your
standard gauge cluster but it has sort
of anchors of functionality that you
frankly should come to expect uh we have
you know turn BYT navigations and Google
Maps we capture all your data your
throttle position your lean angle your
speed but also your location time a day
and all these other things we overlay
that on Google Maps so that you can
analyze your rides in Exquisite
detail what we need need to do is create
a solid foundation as we move forward
and build the market build the charging
stations out there so people as we move
beyond the early adopters new buyers
they won't be blocked by this range
anxiety issue that you hear
about tradition runs deep deep in the
motorcycle world to see how an old
school Gearhead responds to an all
electric bike we visit works Engineering
in Brooklyn New
York so what do you ride on a day-to-day
basis I ride a 2000 Suzuki uh SV 650
it's cheap it's reliable and it's good
for around town if for instance one of
these just landed in your lap can you
see adding it to the mix being something
fun that you'd like to try yet I don't
think so it's just so easy to get gas
like once a week or so and not have to
worry about it and being able to go
anywhere in charge right now in 2013 I
don't see it really fitting into my life
that well so basically your concern
would be essentially it would be tricky
to find an outlet somewhere yeah right
now yeah and the time it takes to charge
would just be a limiting factor well
with that in mind uh would you like to
take it for a uh take it for a test
drive uh absolutely
the real culprit for the the death of
the electric cars in the 1990s was the
battery the batteries were still very
expensive they were still very bulky but
now finally in 2013 we are getting
better batteries and they're going to
continue to
improve not having to shift gears in
traffic like I was just riding in is
super convenient having enough clientele
coming through over the years seeing
like different folks coming getting
their bikes fixed can you see a market
for it anything that make this a little
bit more comfortable in the city and
you've got a great really good city bike
well dude thanks for uh thanks for your
time and taking it for a test drive and
your perspective really appreciate
it our recharge times are pretty good
we've got an onboard charger that's a 10
Kow charger that's the same as the
highest end
uh commercial electric cars have um that
means you can charge in about an hour um
we also have technology built in the
battery packs that allow us to charge
them in about 10 minutes we have things
like range of 140 Mi combined cycle on
the highway 230 M range in the city so
that's as good or better than a gas tank
you're looking at about $150 to $180 per
per full charge so per 140 Mi of range
significantly less than a trip to the
gas station it's about an order of
magnitude less
the question of how we move forward
requires a lot of players to be involved
on the policy side you have federal
policy you have California policy you
have industry you know they're all
trying to find their Niche they're
trying to find a strategic approach but
in the end it's all about consumers we
have to vote with our dollars that's how
electric vehicles are going to be
successful in the end
when you're doing a paradigm shift in an
industry you're going to face hurdles in
Washington hurdles in the market the
more people that incrementally break
those barriers down it helps
everybody really electricity and
hydrogen are the key they've got to
succeed they truly can be zero emission
we can make them from renewable energy
no more fossil energy don't have to
require a lot of land that's the
future I'm very hopeful we'll get there
someday I just hope it's not too
late after checking out and driving the
electric super bike in the city and
discussing potential Urban limitations
we've headed 3 hours north of New York
to put the mission RS to the to
can you tell us uh who you are and where
on Earth we are right now we're at New
York safety track right now my name is
Greg
linitz have you had a chance to
experience an electric motorcycle yet
never never read about them heard of
them but this is actually the first time
that I'm actually seeing one and testing
it in person too are you filled with
excitement is it kind of like are you
old school guy who's concerned about the
emergence of something new fangled no no
man it's all about progression nowadays
and this is something that it's not only
interesting it's it's the
future you have a lot more power
delivery a lot more torque and it's
instantly available you don't have a
torque curves that look like shapes or
Mountain hilltops you have a flat torque
cve that means that no matter what speed
you're at be at a full standstill or or
very high speed you have the exact same
power available just at the twist of a
throttle you also don't need a
transmission so you're focused more on
your ride quality and the riding
experience than the overhead of
controlling the
vehicle that throttle is pure power
unfortunately doesn't have wings I
wanted to take off on that
thing it's a very unique and
exhilarating experience and and one
that's frankly difficult for us to
articulate uh and so you you see a lot
of the reviews try to to try to explain
what it really feels
like what it feels like is something
that accelerates faster than anything
you'll probably get a chance to ride in
your lifetime
ready to roll
yeah all righty so after a couple days
of shooting um learning about how this
uh bike drives in the city and then
seeing a bunch of Pros who've been uh
riding their entire lives on tracks I am
now going to ride it at uh what would be
referred to as a leisurely Pace
hopefully not embarrass myself um or
test the limits of our insurance claims
whatsoever you have no concept of how
fast you're going whatsoever when you're
moving um the bike disappears the road
disappears and like it's it's the
closest I've ever felt to Flying while
still being connected to the ground
I think the ebike industry in the next
year is going to be a very exciting
place 10 years from now you're going to
see most new bikes being electric we
hope that what we're doing is Paving the
way for a lot of other people to do the
same things we're doing if not better
that's that's better for everyone