| Author | Message | ||
     Mndwgz |
I like it. Wonder how good they are in a typical Florida summer afternoon monsoon.  full story: http://www.gizmag.com/voltra-sexy-electric-motorcy cle/13484/ | ||
| Hootowl |
Looks like the swingarm pivot and the drive sprocket are in the same place relative to the rear wheel. No chain lash? | ||
| Carbonbigfoot |
That's pretty cool! R | ||
| Kustomklassix |
Saw this on the Giz a week or two ago...DEAD sexy bike...and it would make that fun 'whizzing' noise LoL | ||
| Daveswan |
Have you seen this? http://www.killacycle.com/2009/09/30/the-fastest-e v-on-the-dragstrip-again-7864-169-mph/ Sounds like a cordless drill... Apparently they make good steady power. Much different sound than a V-Twin. While I love the idea and technology moving forward etc. There's just something that's hard for me to get used too. If you were born when an electric motorcycle was all there was or in greater availability then it would be easier to accept - Wow grandpa, your antique Buell sounds primitive and dangerous! We just turn a lever and it goes with little sound, then we plug them in at night to charge. In my day motorcycles burned gasoline! and you had to jet carbs, and you'd have to start'em by turning over the engine until the fuel ignited and pistons inside would go up and down! Then you'd have to warm up the engine until it ran right and you'd have to change the oil and it there was oil and grease. That's what we did, and we liked it that way! | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
What's the range - 60 miles at idle? Performance in itself can make a bike desirable, but electrics won't be able to offer the stratospheric power-to-weight ratios of modern sportsbikes until battery technology has taken another few strides forward Yes, like being able to ride all day OR be able to quick charge in five minutes or less. (Message edited by Ferris_von_bueller on December 21, 2009) | ||
| Fast1075 |
The Killacycle is one bad mofo...7.86 is nothing to sneeze at....that pass was at Bandimere...you would be hard pressed to go that quick on any N/A gasoline bike at that altitude...it takes 1400cc engines to reliably run Supergas (9.90 et) there. | ||
| Doerman |
Remeber all the hoopla around living by powerlines and electric transformers? How that causes cancer and other detrimental effects? So sitting our butt directly on top of an electric motor and battery pack is ok. Not in my book. I wonder what will happen to the Prius crowd in a few years. Gimme internal combustion! | ||
| Midknyte |
Finally! An electric that no-one need be embarrased to ride. That's bad-ass. Drive range will probably still kill it... | ||
| X5thxgearxfreak |
Anyone watched 'Who Killed The Electric Car?' If too many people start buying electric motorcycles than one can bet the major bike brands will do what oil companies did the the GM EV1. Absolutely nothing wrong with them, 500+km fully charged, no emissions. Yet, they took every single one that was sold and stuck them in a lot to rust. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
I don't know where you got your range figures for the GM EV1 but according to everything I've found the best range was 150 miles. I'm sorry, electric vehicles will never be mainstream until battery tech significantly improves. | ||
| Hex |
Yes, like being able to ride all day OR be able to quick charge in five minutes or less. Both of these logistical problems could be solved with cartridge, fully charged, replacement, battery systems. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Will it fit into a backpack so that when I'm out on the road I can swap out batteries? I'm assuming you mean there will be service centers where I can go swap batteries. Sure, never happen. Any other suggestions? | ||
| Froggy |
Please don't watch that movie, its about as factual as the story of Christopher Columbus that gets taught to kids.
Yes, because the radios, cell phones, alternators and other electronics in your car don't emit any radiation.
Guess you never seen track days where some people run their bikes without stators and run a total loss, then using quick connectors they can swap the batteries faster than a tire between sessions. Some of the electric bike makers like Zero have similar systems on their electric bikes to allow quick battery changes. Next issue would be distribution of the said battery packs and working out the exchange system, but it can be done. Hell the deli near my house lets you drop off and trade propane tanks when they are empty. | ||
| Sifo |
Of course propane tanks are standardized. | ||
| Froggy |
Not to say that batteries can't be standardized. Cars have for the most part a standard gas nozzle hole. | ||
| Sifo |
But that's just a hole (mandated by federal regs BTW). Standardized batteries among various makes of electric vehicles? I have my doubts. I have even more doubts about a business staying a float on this business model. Swapping batteries would be the exception not the rule. | ||
| Hex |
I'm thinking an electric car drives over a service station, robot, takes out depleted battery cartridge under vehicle, installs refreshed battery, driver pays and drives away. Just like bullets in a magazine. Same could work for e-motobikes. It's called cooperation, not socialism. I like having options. Electric is one of them. Let's make it work. I also like my bicycle, saves a lot on equipment warm up, short journey wear and tear. | ||
| Sifo |
I'm thinking an electric car drives over a service station, robot, takes out depleted battery cartridge under vehicle, installs refreshed battery, driver pays and drives away. Just like bullets in a magazine. I say go for it. Be the first to open up a battery swap shop. I could make you millions. I won't be investing my money into such a venture though. | ||
| Brumbear |
I have been a forklift mechanic for 30 years and we have had electrics for way longer than that. The technology for an effient and quite affordable machine has been hear for decades. I of course am very happy with my V-8 gas guzzling trans -am and all my other toys but I am just saying could have been done along long time ago and effectively as well. Blue rhino/blue battpaks why not a case battery is just a portable power cell. Once they spend a little time and money on actually making a lighter more effiecent and very recharable batt things will go along verywell. Until now they haven't had to. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Even if you could get standardization of battery packs there are other issues to contend with. Batteries still dont have the required capacity to go beyond a few hundred miles. I'm sorry but most people are not willing to change out their batteries that often. Another issue, no matter what battery manufacturers would have you believe, are batteries tend to degrade in performance during their life cycle. This applies to lithium ion, as well. On the financial side, how do you propose to distribute replacement batteries across the country in an economically feasible fashion? It could take decades, if ever, for there to be enough electric vehicle consumers. I'm not against progress and I'm not against electric vehicles. However, the fact is, it's not ready for prime time and I don't want the government ramming it down my throat or foolishly spending money on yet another social engineering scheme. I did read a University, I think it was, has figured out how to quick charge batteries in about five minutes. If it pans out, that would be a huge step forward. | ||
| Froggy |
It is a thing called progress. It will take time to get past all those issues. Gasoline engines a hundred years ago were smelly, unreliable, noisy, lacked power output, and were expensive. About cell degradation, that can be worked into the cost of swapping batteries. Throw a couple cents on top of the cost to recharge to go to the cost of replacing the pack. Similar to the propane tank example I listed above, tanks will see wear and tear in their life, and eventually be retired and replaced. Offset the costs by adding it to the refueling. | ||
| Sifo |
Another issue, no matter what battery manufacturers would have you believe, are batteries tend to degrade in performance during their life cycle. I know I would be pretty unhappy when my EV that should go 100 miles on a charge leaves me stranded 60 miles after a battery swap while on a trip. I can't even imagine a degraded battery, plowing through 6 inches of glowbull warming, with the heat, defrost, wipers and lights all going full blast. I bet many folks would never get home from work when that happens. | ||
| Doerman |
Let's talk about efficiencies: Electric generation and motor: 1) If we have 1,000 BTU of natural gas powering a steam generator. Loss in energy converting it to electricity: 62% (380 "BTU's" left) More losses if coal is used. Source 2) Transmission loss in the grid: 6% (357.2 BTUs left) Source 3) Losses in charging/discharging a battery (Goes up with battery age - ~20%) At this point, 280 "BTUs left) source 4) Electric motor losses 6% Heat value left: 285BTUs Source So now we are into the efficiency range of an internal combustion engine. I don't see why we should race towards this complexity - yet. | ||
| Sifo |
About cell degradation, that can be worked into the cost of swapping batteries. Throw a couple cents on top of the cost to recharge to go to the cost of replacing the pack. Similar to the propane tank example I listed above, tanks will see wear and tear in their life, and eventually be retired and replaced. Offset the costs by adding it to the refueling. The problem is who is going to take the responsibility when the pack is virtually dead. The LP tank is fully serviceable as long as it passes a visual inspection. The battery pack will get passed like a hot potato. The consumer will just trade it to the swap shop. The swap shop will be faced with replacing a very expensive battery pack, or swapping it into the next vehicle needing a swap. I think we can all see where this will take us. | ||
| Brumbear |
I can run a forklift for 12 hours a day on 1 lead acid steel case battery for 6 years in a charging station on average the gel batteries last longer and they degrade a little not much though. Also you run your car a couple hundred miles and get fuel why not just swap a battery pack they wiegh allot but a 5 year old could change them out with no problems . It isn't like there will be 10 million of them tomorrow it will take time and gas stations could also have charging centers and batt paks. Like I said I love my toys but as a buisness man I would buy electric service trucks if they were available just for the maintenance savings alone. | ||
| Sifo |
What does that forklift battery weigh? A 5 year old would have a problem changing a normal car battery just because of the weight. You will need heavy machinery to handle EV batteries during the swap. There's still all the other problems I've mentioned. | ||
| Strato9r |
There is a show on the Discovery Channel in Canada called "Daily Planet" and a little while back they had a story about some university students that bought a Buell Cyclone from a salvage yard and set it up with a hydrogen fuel cell. It was pretty lackluster, performance wise, but it was cool to see someone thinking outside the box. | ||
| Froggy |
Easy, the charging station would take it. After they get a few failing units they would be picked up and recycled, and replaced with new units for distribution. Similar to how currency is replaced when it wears out. The more I think about it, the more it could work. There could be a standardize pack, possibly the size of a shoe box. Motorcycle would hold 2 or 3 units, a car depending on the size may take up to a dozen. Units are drained in a series, so you may stop in at a station when you have used 7 of your 12 units and get them replaced. You can then drive home, and recharge whatever you used at home for the next day. Problems would be figuring out costs and distribution. Again, just throwing ideas out there. If we committed to something, it could be done and be practical. | ||
| Sifo |
Easy, the charging station would take it. After they get a few failing units they would be picked up and recycled, and replaced with new units for distribution. Similar to how currency is replaced when it wears out. You're comparing apples to basketballs here. Currency is owned by the government and is cheap to replace when worn out. A battery as being discussed is a very expensive piece of hardware essentially owned by the possessor at the time (just like the propane tank example). Who is paying for the new battery in your example? You make it sound like the government is going to do it. The consumer and the swap shop both have great financial interest in not being the one holding the "hot potato" when it is completely dead. Therefor they are both likely to try to pass it along to the next unwitting swapper. Even the person who only charges at home would essentially get free replacement batteries when they wear out. I just don't see anyone spending money to get into that sort of a business. |
