Zero S Electric Streetbike released!!

ZERO S ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE

Zero Motorcycles has released photos, video, and specs for their highly-anticipated Zero-S street-legal motorcycle.

The successful 24 hours of Electricross event held this past weekend in California demonstrated the capabilities of the Zero dirtbike, as 10 of their bikes were flogged on a motocross track for 24 hours straight.

Now riders can take that capability to the streets with this new supermoto-styled Zero S!

Race: 24 Hours of Electricross

Zero Motorcycles 24 Hours of Electricross race is fast approaching! 

This first ever 24-hour all-electric dirtbike endurance race will be held Saturday, April 4 at 10:00am through Sunday, April 5 at 10:00am in San Jose, California.

Anyone with a fully electric motorcycle, quad or ATV can participate.  There is no entry fee and food and drink will be provided!

For More Information:
Name: Lisa Saiki
Email: lisamarie@zeromotorcycles.com
Phone: 831-345-6532

Zero Motorcycles – 24 Hours of Electricross

Technorati Tags: Zero Motorcycles, electric Motorcycles, Electricross, electric dirtbike

More Moto-Condos from Japan

We spotted these nice motorcycle townhomes in Japan previously, and then found another similar structure based around the same idea.

This multiple-unit structure also holds motorcycle, scooter or bicycles in ground-floor garages.  These are centered around a teardrop-shaped courtyard.

Again using the very limited available space, this design maximizes that space with some floors having multiple uses.

Overall it is a very clean design, and the designer was able to fit quite a lot into such a small space.  Though these would not likely sell as well here in the U.S., they are likely beginning to crop up all over other parts of the world, and would make nice little moto-communities!

[Source: TreeHugger]

Technorati Tags: Motorcycle housing, motorcycle garages, architecture

Motorcycle Townhomes in Japan

For those of us who live on 2 wheels and do not own cars, housing tends to either be too much or too little as far as vehicle storage needs.  In the U.S., 2-car garages are the norm with houses, and even condominiums in most places, and the other option is an apartment with no indoor vehicle storage at all.  Being 2-wheel only in the U.S. is considered lunacy over here, though in many parts of the world, motorcycles, scooters or bicycles as sole vehicles is quite common.

Japanese Architecture firm Love Architechture, Inc. has designed a 7-unit building of compact living quarters with the 2-wheeled household in mind.

Motorcycles can be ridden right inside the bottom floor garages.

The units are compact and waste very little space.

[Source: Green Daily]

Technorati Tags: Motorcycle housing, motorcycle garages, architecture

Honda Releases Flex-Fuel Motorcycle in Brazil

Moto Honda da Amazonia Ltda., a Honda subsidiary in Brazil, has announced it will begin selling a Flex-Fueled Motorcycle this month.  As with most markets outside the U.S., the motorcycle will be a smaller 150cc CG150 Titan Mix, and will be equipped with what Honda is calling a Mix Fuel Injection System, developed by Honda.

This new fuel control system enables the use of a mixture of more “enviornmentally-responsible” bio-ethanol and gasoline fuels, reducing CO2 emissions, and reducing fuel costs to consumers.

Brazil currently claims 90% of it’s new vehicles use flex-fuel technology, but this Honda is the first motorcycle in the world with this technology.  Motorcycle registrations in Brazil were approximately 1.91 million in 2008, with Honda claiming 1.326 million of those vehicles.

Honda expects to produce 200,000 units annually at a price of $2,706.

[Source: Honda Worldwide]

Technorati Tags: Honda, Honda Motorcycles, Flex-fuel, bio-ethanol, emisiions, mix fuel injection, CG150, CG150 Titan, Titan Mix

California bill to require motorcycle smog testing

It seems every year, at least one politician tries pushing a bill to require motorcycle smog testing in California.  This year, Senator Fran Pavely (D), from Beverly Hills has introduced the bill.

Motorcycles have been exempt from smog-testing in California until now.  California does have the most stringent of vehicle emissions laws in the U.S., though motorcycles are only required currently to maintain the original smog equipment that came with the bike.  This usually consists of a charcoal canister and some additional plumbing not required on “49-state bikes”.  (Manufacturers generally have CA-only models, which can’t be inexpensive for them.)

This new bill would require motorcycle owners to have their motorcycle emissions tested biannually for model years 2000 and newer.

The bill can be read here if you are so inclined.

The Motorcycle Rider’s Foundation has stated it’s objections on 1st5ive.com.

Technorati Tags: Legislation, Motorcycle Emissions, California, Smog, Motorcycle

Piaggio MP3 HYBRID coming to U.S. in 2010

Scooter fans know all about Piaggio’s MP3 3-wheeled scooter.  While some purists think the 2 front wheels is silly, it has done well here in the states.

Piaggio is taking it a step further and bringing a plug-in electric hybrid model MP3 to the States, according to Piaggio Group USA President and CEO Paolo Timoni.  During an interview with Wes from Hell for Leather on Fox Car Report Live, he said it would be priced around $9,000.

The scooter will be able to be powered on electricity alone if the rider doesn’t want to use gas, with about a 40-mile range in that mode on a reasonable 3-hour battery charging.  In addition to electric-only mode,three different performance modes will be available on the MP3 Hybrid.  Minimized fuel consumption, quick battery recharge, or a ‘max-performance’ mode, which ups the power output 85%, getting the scootee from 0-60 in 5 seconds!

[Source: Gas 2.0]

Technorati Tags: Piaggio MP3 Hybrid, Hybrid Motorcycle, Hybrid Scooter, Electric Scooter, Electric motorcycle

Hybrid Patent 100 years old this month

Ferdinand Porsche famously developed the first known hybrid in the early 1900′s. 

But another German inventor named Henri Pieper was granted the first U.S. Patent on March 2, 1909, for what he called “Mixed-Drive for Autovehicles.”
  
In his 1905 patent application, he wrote, “The invention…comprises an internal combustion or similar engine, a dynamo motor direct connected therewith, and a storage battery or accumulator in circuit with the dynamo motor, these elements being cooperatively related so that the dynamo motor may be run as a motor by the electrical energy stored in the accumulator to start the engine or to furnish a portion of the power delivered by the set, or may be run as a generator by the engine, when the power of the latter is in excess of that demanded of the set, and caused to store energy in the accumulator.”

For more history and detail, take a look at Hybrid Cars.

Technorati Tags: first hybrid, first hybrid patent, FirstHybrid, FirstHybridPatent, henri pieper, HenriPieper, hybrid, hybrid patent, HybridPatent

Honda Provides Details on planned Electric Motorcycle

Last month, we learned of Honda’s plans to produce a battery-powered motorcycle by 2010.  The Japanese manufacturer has worked with electric and hybrid scooters previously, but none have made it to production.

Honda does not release junk products, so if they can get these to market at a reasonably price point, they can have a hot seller.  Battery capacity and charge times have been improving yearly, so we are excited that Honda is dedicated to this technology.

PRESS RELEASE:

Electric Motorcycle for Honda by 2010

There are exciting plans in the works on the environmental technology front with the announcement by Honda’s President and CEO, Takeo Fukui, that the company is currently developing a battery-powered electric motorcycle which emits no CO2 during operation.

According to Fukui, in order for Honda to sustain its business during the next 100 years of the automotive industry, the company will further strengthen its ability to continue advancing environmental technologies and to apply them to creative and attractive products.

Honda believes the characteristics of a battery can be better utilized in the area of motorcycles, which are often used for short distance travel.

In the pursuit of advanced environmental technologies for motorcycles, Honda has been developing and releasing products that use energy sources other than gasoline for quite some time. In fact, Honda has been developing electricity-powered scooters since the latter half of the 1980s.

In 2004, Honda unveiled a fuel cell scooter prototype in addition to the hybrid scooter and electric moped developed as prototypes for eventual mass production.

2004 Honda Hybrid Scooter Prototype

The Honda FC Stack, which was originally used in automobiles, was applied to the fuel cell scooter, after being made lighter and more compact to be the optimal size for scooters.

The 50 cc hybrid scooter prototype employs both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor and provides ample storage space.

The electric moped has a built-in 360kW light nickel hydrogen battery inside an aluminium frame. Being powerful enough to climb a 12-degree incline, the electric moped offers performance comparable to that of a gasoline-powered moped.

Honda is aiming to introduce the fully electric motorcycle to the market in approximately two years and envisages it could be viable for commercial as well as individual applications.

Technorati Tags: electric honda, electric honda motorcycle, electric motorcycle, electric motorcycles, ElectricHonda, ElectricHondaMotorcycle, ElectricMotorcycle, ElectricMotorcycles, honda, honda electric motorcycle, honda motorcycles, HondaElectricMotorcycle, HondaMotorcycles

ZERO-S Electric Supermoto Streetbike

Expected to launch in Spring of 2009, details about Zero Motorcycles’ new electric supermoto bike are emerging.

Following up with the great success of their Moto-X model, they are now ramping up production for this new Moto-S street model in popular motard styling.  Expecting 70mph top speeds for up to 60 miles on a charge, without any shifting required of it’s single-speed transmission.

Zero is accepting refundable $1000 deposits online, or you can pay the full price of $9950.

ZERO S ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE

Technorati Tags: electric motorcycle, ElectricMotorcycle, Zero Motorcycles, Zero S, ZeroMotorcycles, ZeroS, electric Supermoto, electric motard