Zero Motorcycles has just announced that they are the first electric motorcycle company to meet all US and Canadian safety standards as well as pass EPA certification allowing their bikes to qualify for major federal tax credits of 10% of the purchase price as well as a state sales tax credit.
The concept is good – a completely sustainable Formula 3 race car. But the products used, well, that may be another story. The race car is made from woven flax and carrot pulp as well as recycled carbon fibre and recycled resin. In addition it uses biodiesel made from chocolate and animal fats and is lubricated with plant oils. Hungry anyone?
According to EPSRC funded researcher Dr. Kerry Kirwan with the University of Warwick, the car is not just environmentally friendly, but also fast boasting a top speed of 135 mph and can go 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds. Oh, and did I mention it’s turbo charged to give it more torque? Read the rest of this entry »
Brammo followed up the massive hype of the brand’s initial launch with by taking on the famous Isle of Man TT motorcycle race back in June with the Enertia TTR sportbike (shown, above).
As impressive as their racing efforts were, however, the latest news out of Brammo is even more impressive: the bikes are on available at select Best Buy stores … NOW!
We’ve covered the numerous benefits of ethanol-based fuels over and over on this blog, but rarely through the eyes of the gearhead speed-junkies that make up the core of America’s automotive enthusiasts and enthusiast press. If you’ve spoken to this bunch, you already that most talk of climate change and Peak Oil concerns fall on deaf ears. What matters is power, everything else is irrelevant.
Of course, it’s easier to simply ignore this group, but the (sad?) truth of the matter is that many consumer still make their purchasing decisions based on what their “car friends” tell them. In short: this group, more than any other, is a group that must be reached for the “green car” movement to really take hold.
Enter: Dyno-Comp.
Today’s the TTXGP – the Time Trials Xtreme Grand Prix. And don’t let that misspelled word fool ya. It’s going to be one heck of a ride! In fact, it’s going be the world’s first zero-carbon, clean emission Grand Prix.
With twenty-three different electric bikes and sixteen riders, seven different countries will compete in this inaugural race. The event take place in the Isle of Man with teams from the UK, Italy, USA, India, Germany and Austria.
An e-Grand Prix? Um…I wanna go!
And if you’re bummed that you can’t make it, don’t worry. Organizers plan to showcase their contestants here in the States too. It will be at this year’s American Motorcyclist Association Vintage Motorcycle Days festival at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Here are 15 hot bikes racing today.
Apple fanboys might still be drooling from yesterday’s iPhone 3Gs announcement, but I bet they never saw this coming: an electric superbike with an iPhone for all its instrumentation!
Heck, I was happy to finally get MMS support!
The MotoCzysz E1pc is one of the many entries in the TTXGP race this Friday. How the iPhone is integrated into the bike is still a mystery but features like its native GPS will surely be used. And whether it wins or loses, it definitely gets points for creamy white geeky goodness. Read the rest of this entry »
The GreenGT was designed specifically for kicking butt at the 24 hours of Le Mans.
With 400 hp and a top speed of 171 mph, the electric race car concept pushes 1,475 lb-ft of torque up to 100 mph then drops it to 590 lb-ft for high-speed traction. All this and it’s powered by two 30kW lithium-ion batteries charged by flexcell photovoltaic solar panels.
As we’ve reported over the last few weeks, sometimes electric-powered drag racing can break boundaries in exciting new ways. The electric motorbike that rockets from 0-60mph in under a second, and a 1972 Datsun that just happens to be the world’s (second) fastest elecric car spring to mind.
Sometimes though, EV face-offs on the drag track are just well…daft. Check out this hilarious footage of the recent Alternative Fuel Race 2009 in the UK featuring electric skateboards and battery-powered dune buggies.
A team of British designers have created a new racing car made entirely of vegetables and powered by … chocolate.
The car, named the ecoF3, has a steering wheel made of carrots, a body made of potatoes and a seat made of soybeans. The team, from World First Racing, hope that environmentally-friendly technology used in their car will be adopted by Formula 1 teams such as McLaren and world champions Ferrari.
Back in February, Gas2.0 editor Nick Chambers introduced readers to the Mission One, built by San Francisco startup Mission Motors. The Mission One debuted at this year’s TED conference in San Diego, and is the brainchild of Mission Motors founder Forrest North.
Billed as the world’s fastest production electric motorcycle, the Mission One will have an opportunity to prove its mettle on the Isle of Man this June when professsional rider Tom Montano will pilot the bike at TTGXP, the world’s first emission-free Grand Prix.
After re-discovering a 1972 electric datsun that can accelerate from 0-60 in 3 seconds, we decided that an important question hadn’t really been answered yet: how do the electric cars we’ve been hearing so much about stack up in terms of performance?
Below, we’ve listed the world’s top 10 fastest electric cars, based on the best available information (and a little creative license). Note that our criteria does not take into account a variety of important factors like charging time, availability, and cost. All cars are simply ranked by the time it takes them to get from 0-60 mph.
Most of the machines shown here are either not available or otherwise out out of the realm of possibility for most, but then again, so are most high-performance gas-powerd cars. And that doesn’t keep us from admiring them. Please keep in mind that this post is not intended to be the final word on this topic.
Btw, if you’re interested in joining the first mailing list dedicated to bulk purchasing electric cars, check it out (you can also get cheap solar there too).
Out on the dragstrip, one hardly expects the car kicking ass and taking names to be an old ‘72 Datsun 1200. Especially when the losers are driving BMWs, Corvettes and Ferraris. But those guys didn’t get pwned by any ol’ Datsun…this one’s electric!
It seems a bit like a paradox. Drag racing is flame-dipped muscle cars with bikini-clad hood ornaments spread over the hood. Electric cars, not so much. Read the rest of this entry »
“Racing is one of the few things that can foster innovation faster than war”, said GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz during a bloggers round-table discussion on the eve of this year’s Geneva motor show.Describing some of the future challenges that will be faced by global manufacturers such as General Motors, Bob lamented the fact that auto racing – a sport with the potential to inspire significant innovation through competition – has become so tightly regulated in order to prevent teams from gaining significant advantages, that from a manufacturer’s perspective it provides little benefit beyond pure marketing.
Just a few short months after the announcing their new Tazzari Zero EV, the Tazzari company has gone live with a proper website for their slick little electric vehicle — a welcome change from most vaporware peddlers, who build websites first and products last (if ever!).
The Zero’s new website includes a full gallery of images, an interactive configurator (pictured), and — surprise! — videos (plural!) of a running prototype.
More about the upcoming Tazzari Zero – and a bit of Tazzari history – after the jump.
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