[Toshi]

www.enertiabike.com

VIDEO:

http://www.enertiabike.com/component/option,com_contentform/Itemid,27/

press release:

Brammo Launches the Enertia, World’s First Production Electric Motorcycle

Ashland, Oregon - July 10th -– Brammo Motorsports today announced the Enertia, the world’s first production, zero-emissions and battery powered plug-in electric motorcycle. (http://www.enertiabike.com/ http://press.enertiabike.com/ )

With the goal of creating momentum for change in the way vehicles are conceived and created, Brammo has delivered this groundbreaking motorcycle.

The Enertia’s range of 45 miles significantly exceeds the daily commute for the average U.S. consumer of 29 miles. Battery charge time is 3 hours to full re-charge.

Borrowing from racing technology, the Enertia utilizes a carbon fiber chassis producing an ultra strong, light-weight vehicle platform of just 275 lbs. The chassis integrates six lithium-phosphate batteries from supplier Valence Technology that together produce the power to propel the Enertia to a top speed of over 50 mph.

Paul Seredynski, MSN autos said, “For those looking to make a lifestyle change, or for a cool "green" machine to get around town on, few options exist that can compete on so many levels."

“We believe consumers are eager to adopt vehicles that have a fraction of the carbon footprint of a today’s cars”, says Craig Bramscher, Chairman & CEO of Brammo Motorsports, “Our Enertia electric motorcycle empowers people to make this choice today.”

Brian Wismann, Brammo Director of Design said, “It is extremely satisfying to design a vehicle that people can both feel good about using and appreciate the way it looks.”

Brammo’s Enertia is the first of a line of plug-in electric commuter, commercial and recreational vehicles under development.

About Brammo

Brammo (http://www.brammo.com/) is a premier specialty vehicle manufacturer developing sustainable performance products for the next generation of transportation. Through integration of digital engineering and high impact design, Brammo transforms ideas into compelling products. Located in Ashland, Oregon the company was founded in 2002 and is a privately held.

PR contact - press@brammo.com - (888) 201-6204
http://www.brammo.com/
http://www.enertiabike.com
http://press.enertiabike.com/
Brammo Motorsports

yes, brammo is the US manufacturer of the oh-so-awesome Ariel Atom (2). yes, they do other things with those big engineering brains.

available Q2 2008 if you plop down 50% of a $14995 sticker, or $12k for those who wait until "2nd half of 2008", cheaper yet once production ramps up.

questions? i think this is an AWESOME idea, and might just jump on it (not through the absurd 50%-down early adopter program, but i signed up for the no-financial-obligation option to reserve a production model).

 

[w00dy]

looks flexy

 

[Serial Midget]

Its like a bull without balls...

 

[jimmydean]

Awesome.

My bike gets like 40mpg. I am quite happy with that considering I have damn near 140rwhp for the effort.

 

[Toshi]

looks flexy

but that color almost is rootbeer!

Its like a bull without balls...

Awesome.

My bike gets like 40mpg. I am quite happy with that considering I have damn near 140rwhp for the effort.

but your bike (+/- bull-balls) still runs on gas, so you're still supporting all that that entails.

get one of these (brammo sez it should be $6k in 3 years time), hook up some solar panels on your property, and you can truly remove yourself from the grid.

how cool would that be?!

irate2:

 

[jimmydean]

but your bike (+/- bull-balls) still runs on gas, so you're still supporting all that that entails.

get one of these (brammo sez it should be $6k in 3 years time), hook up some solar panels on your property, and you can truly remove yourself from the grid.

how cool would that be?!

irate2:

I agree. My chopper will be e85, know that for sure. If I can get one of those for sub $10k, I am all over it.

No solar panels though, I'll use an extension cord at work (then them pay the bill)

<edit> Drop the seat and add forward controls and it would be sweet.

 

[skinny mike]

i'm confused, i thought electric means no co2 emissions?

 

[Toshi]

i'm confused, i thought electric means no co2 emissions?

they're talking about the whole cycle of energy, and most electricity that one buys is made with technology that involves emission of CO2. (given the horrible thermodynamic efficiency of internal combustion engines don't let this "whole cycle" business make you think that it's equivalent to shipping oil from the middle east, as it isn't! 8% is an awesome reduction.)

 

[fluff]

The tyres on that thing are far too big for purpose, narrower tyres woudl make sense.

 

[stevew]

Solar panels yes.

That, pass.

I also hate the Ariel Atom.

It's a glorified scooter, and those things and their riders are annoying as sh!t.

 

[skinny mike]

does the bike come with a man-purse or capris?

 

[Toshi]

The tyres on that thing are far too big for purpose, narrower tyres woudl make sense.

electric scooters already exist, and one of their (perceived) downfalls is that those skinny tires would be more likely to catch in embedded tram tracks and the like, should you live in that kind of enlightened city.

it's not the highest performance thing out there, sure, but i think it's ultimately the direction we need to go: all-electric, the smallest possible vehicle for the use (commuting), and high tech to save weight (the frame is a carbon monocoque, sheesh). look at saigon and the ratio of bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters to cars:

 

[Toshi]

does the bike come with a man-purse or capris?

perhaps some day you'll wean yourself away from the advertising image of the marlboro man and realize that testosterone and virility are not correlated with the displacement of your car's engine.

(my car is a 1.3 liter, about hte smallest on the market )

 

[Echo]

It pisses me off when companies come out with something like this and charge as much as a car for it, then act all fvckin high and mighty like they are saving the world. If they really cared about reducing emissions and helping the environment, they would make it affordable.

 

[Spero]

I think that price tag is fairly reasonable with all things considered. If it truly goes down to 6k in three years, I'd hop on the wagon...though at that point there will hopefully be a bigger market.

 

[Westy]

That looks like a blast to ride but it is expensive.
The bike itself may have a small carbon footprint but since we run on a petroleum economy at a price $12K+ you could say it starts out with the equivalent of $6K worth of 'carbon' over my SV650. Either that extra $6K is going into energy required to make the bike or as profit to someone who can then use it to fill up their SUV.

 

[LordOpie]

Is a single-speed really effective from 0-50mph?

They need to make a tricycle (or a quad) for people too hesistant to ride that.

For $14,000, I could buy a fleet of bikes

 

[Westy]

Is a single-speed really effective from 0-50mph?

They need to make a tricycle (or a quad) for people too hesistant to ride that.

For $14,000, I could buy a fleet of bikes

Electric motors have a significantly different power-band than internal combustion engines. They often can produce peak torque at 0 rpm where the ICE produces 0 torque. It is one of the advantages of electric drive motors. Diesel electric vehicles like large mining trucks and locomotives have single gear electric motor drive systems. It is cheaper and lighter to use a generator and motor powered off of a large diesel than it would be to build a gear box to drive the vehicles directly from the diesel engine.

 

[LordOpie]

Electric motors have a significantly different power-band than internal combustion engines. They often can produce peak torque at 0 rpm where the ICE produces 0 torque. It is one of the advantages of electric drive motors. Diesel electric vehicles like large mining trucks and locomotives have single gear electric motor drive systems. It is cheaper and lighter to use a generator and motor powered off of a large diesel than it would be to build a gear box to drive the vehicles directly from the diesel engine.

cool, thanks!

I was relating it to my SS bike, but I guess that's not a remotely good comparison.

 

[Westy]

cool, thanks!

I was relating it to my SS bike, but I guess that's not a remotely good comparison.

Just think if you instead of being able to pedal a cadence of 60 to 120 rpm you could spin from 0-3600 rpm with the same amount of force.

 

[LordOpie]

Just think if you instead of being able to pedal a cadence of 60 to 120 rpm you could spin from 0-3600 rpm with the same amount of force.

that... would be awesome.


So are those 'panels' on the frame some kind of luggage?

 

[G-Cracker]

Pretty cool. I'd snag one of those for my commute instead of my jeep.

 

[Westy]

perhaps some day you'll wean yourself away from the advertising image of the marlboro man and realize that testosterone and virility are not correlated with the displacement of your car's engine.

(my car is a 1.3 liter, about hte smallest on the market )

And probably has the worst fuel mileage to displacement ratio of any streel legal car by a huge margin, especially when vehicle weight is considered.

 

[jimmydean]

I would rock this:

 

[Toshi]

And probably has the worst fuel mileage to displacement ratio of any streel legal car by a huge margin, especially when vehicle weight is considered.

bah, don't be bringing "facts" into this discussion! that's unpatriotic!



plus the wankel can run on hydrogen without internal modifications! i'm not holding my breath for a retrofit kit anytime soon, but it's an interesting thought, no?

http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_display.cfm?article_id=17134&make_id=227

 

[Toshi]

It pisses me off when companies come out with something like this and charge as much as a car for it, then act all fvckin high and mighty like they are saving the world. If they really cared about reducing emissions and helping the environment, they would make it affordable.

it's carbon fiber! it's engineered to the hilt! if it comes down to 6k it'll be an order of magnitude cheaper than a DH (or, hell, xc) bike for what you actually get.

i agree that for mass consumption it's still expensive, but it won't get cheap until its out there in the field.

 

[Toshi]

I would rock this:

that's a 2-stroke. it spews out pollution like no other.

 

[Toshi]

That looks like a blast to ride but it is expensive.
The bike itself may have a small carbon footprint but since we run on a petroleum economy at a price $12K+ you could say it starts out with the equivalent of $6K worth of 'carbon' over my SV650. Either that extra $6K is going into energy required to make the bike or as profit to someone who can then use it to fill up their SUV.

if it goes into energy used to make the bike, and that energy was fueled, in ashland, remember, by hydroelectric, or trader joes for that matter if human effort was involved , then it still produced a net positive effect before it even was run.

if that extra money goes into the pockets of the engineers and financiers who work on cool projects like this i'm happy as well. seeing entrepreneurs willing to go out on a limb for projects like this succeed financially is important, and i have faith that they'll commute themselves on Enertia motorcycles, or at least in Ariel Atoms (32 mpg combined, not bad)...

 

[Toshi]

So are those 'panels' on the frame some kind of luggage?

nope, just to shield the batteries and other tender bits from prying eyes and the elements. and to look cool/cafe racer-ish.

 

[jimmydean]

that's a 2-stroke. it spews out pollution like no other.

It's been converted to electric.

http://www.thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/10/11/electric-motorcycle-from-derbi-gpr-50/

Watch the video, it's sweet.

<edit> I would use the newer chassis because it looks nicer

Or this:

 

[Toshi]

good gawd, how much does that blue one weigh with all those batteries?

(you should have posted the photo of the red one that has "electric" on the fairing . no fair.)

goes and reads up: yeah, a quoted range of 20-40 miles for that derbi conversion makes me kind of leery. i'll stick with the purpose-built one with lithium phosphate batteries... then again it's good that many people are looking into this. competitive pressure improving the breed, etc.

 

[Westy]

if it goes into energy used to make the bike, and that energy was fueled, in ashland, remember, by hydroelectric, or trader joes for that matter if human effort was involved , then it still produced a net positive effect before it even was run.

if that extra money goes into the pockets of the engineers and financiers who work on cool projects like this i'm happy as well. seeing entrepreneurs willing to go out on a limb for projects like this succeed financially is important, and i have faith that they'll commute themselves on Enertia motorcycles, or at least in Ariel Atoms (32 mpg combined, not bad)...

We all live off of a integreted power grid. I most likely get my elec from a nearby nukular plant but if I start using more electricity and the plant is at capacity the load sharing would just shift to fossil fuel powered plant.

Anyway I'm just saying that cost really needs to be factored in to 'green' items.

 

[Toshi]

We all live off of a integreted power grid. I most likely get my elec from a nearby nukular plant but if I start using more electricity and the plant is at capacity the load sharing would just shift to fossil fuel powered plant.

Anyway I'm just saying that cost really needs to be factored in to 'green' items.

... which is why i want gas to be $20/gal.

</fullcircle>

 

[jimmydean]

I was thinking of a Camaro style conversion. Use a small 3 gallon tank with Bio, a small diesel generator and a bank of batteries.

If I recall, the Camaro could run for 45 minutes on a charge, but you could go 3000 miles on a 5 gallon tank of Bio limited to 35mph. If you could do something like that on a bike, you could built out a cafe racer for fun.

 

[dan wask]

There are two things I require before I label it cool.

#1: I need to see it wheelie, and wheelie well.
#2: how does it corner, and can I supermoto slide it?

 

[jimmydean]

There are two things I require before I label it cool.

#1: I need to see it wheelie, and wheelie well.
#2: how does it corner, and can I supermoto slide it?

You would want this one instead.

 

[jimmydean]

Classic:

 

[jimmydean]

How about "The Jackal"?

 

[Toshi]

I was thinking of a Camaro style conversion. Use a small 3 gallon tank with Bio, a small diesel generator and a bank of batteries.

If I recall, the Camaro could run for 45 minutes on a charge, but you could go 3000 miles on a 5 gallon tank of Bio limited to 35mph. If you could do something like that on a bike, you could built out a cafe racer for fun.

have you read up much on the Chevy Volt? sure, it's a car, but its principles are the same... (very cool stuff!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt

The concept vehicle appeared in the Detroit Auto Show[6] introduces the E-Flex[7] drive system, which is an attempt to standardize many components of possible future electrically-propelled vehicles, and to allow multiple interchangeable electricity-generating systems. The initial design as envisioned in the Volt combines an electric motor and 16 kWh (58 MJ) lithium-ion battery plug-in system[8] with a small engine (1 litre) powered by gasoline linked to a 53 kW generator. The vehicle is propelled by electrical motors with a peak output of 120 kW (160 horsepower). Ordinarily, the vehicle would be charged while at home overnight (plug-in hybrid). A full charge reportedly takes 6.5 hours from a standard North American 120 V, 20 A household outlet. The vehicle has two charging ports for convenience, one on each side.[9]

Since the electrical drivetrain is not affected by the method used to charge its batteries, several options could be available for an engine. The primary configuration specified in promotional literature uses a turbocharged 1.0-liter engine with three cylinders. It would be a flex-fuel engine capable of running gasoline or E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). Fuel would be supplied from a "saddle" tank 45 litres (12 US gal) in size.

 

[Toshi]

and, fwiw given the lack of financial commitment required at this time, i placed an order for a production Enertia. $12k, aluminum frame, 45 mile range in ideally conditions, 35 mi realistically, charging cord (for standard 120V) built in and stored under the seat.

since it wouldn't be done until Q3 2008 if not later and no payment would be required until ~60 days prior to its production i figure i'm safe.

if i end up next year in some snowy locale where it wouldn't make a lick of sense, i cancel. if things go according to plan and i end up in a cool city, then maybe that'd mark the time to get one of these, sell my RX-8 (+/- getting a FlexCar membership or just relying on my girlfriend's thankfully manual-transmission 2001 corolla, even with the horrible tactile feel of its controls).

i'm excited. commuting and running errands around town essentially for free, and with minimal impact, would be most excellent. one could argue that i could be doing this on a bicycle right this minute, but i'm simply not that tough when it gets to be in the 30s outside...

Enertia Order #07121xxxx

[...]

Customer
Toshi Clark
etc.

Item Description Price ($)
Base Vehicle
Enertia Electric Motorcycle Base Price 11,995.00

[...]

The payments required based on the cost of this vehicle are:
Reservation: $0.00
Payment on completion: $11,995.00
Total Payment Due: $11,995.00 + shipping

Payment Terms and Instructions

[...]

Enertia Q3 Terms:

This reservation insures your position in the queue for a production Enertia Electric Motorcycle.Your reservation is not transferable and if you do not forward a deposit upon notification of your motorcycle going into production, your spot in the queue will be lost.

We do not require a deposit for your reservation however, we will forward an invoice 60-90 days prior to your bike going into production. To maintain your position, we must receive your deposit within 15 days of notice. We will require 50% deposit at that time and the balance will be due prior to shipment.

Though we will make every effort to begin shipping the production version of the Enertia Electric Motorcycle in Q3 2008, we reserve the right to change all aspects of the bike specification and features, including cost, but will refund any monies paid in deposit if any of the terms or specifics are not acceptable.