What is Digg?114 Comments
- kenvsryu, on 10/11/2007, -7/+20tops out at 50mph? a pocketbike can do that - 49cc.
- Fhionnlaoch, on 10/11/2007, -3/+16So, it's kinda like a fancy scooter.
- whatsgoodike, on 10/11/2007, -3/+15"how is this equivalent to a 500?" "only 50mph??"
I'm guessing that it's equivalent in power;
Think about it this way:
A nicely powered 500cc bike that can't shift out of 1st.
It's still has the 500cc power, but without gearing (or electric motor speed), it cant get any higher than 50mph. - bruinexmo, on 10/11/2007, -6/+18As any biker will tell you, "Loud pipes save lives." Riding a motorcycle makes you almost invisible. The sound of our exhaust is what lets clueless drivers blabbing away on their cell phones know to look out for us.
This bike, while an important step for green vehicles, is more dangerous to the rider. Invisible + silent = bad news. - GGERG15, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11that guy is so gunna get his ass kicked by bikers.
- emjaymj, on 10/11/2007, -3/+13Actually the absence of noise with motorcycles is kind of dangerous. I know a lot of electric bikes immitate the noise from gas-powered ones for safety reasons. When people are driving, they check their blindspots and normally expect cars, and bikes can be hard to notice. The loud rumble of a bike though is usually what makes a driver aware.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/11/2007, -6/+14A hybrid bike would be awesome. If it could use a high-powered electric motor for acceleration, and then switch out between gas and electric on the highway, you could essentially have an equally performing bike that gets insane gas mileage and doesn't have to switch gears during quick acceleration.
- MacEnvy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8@brooks
Many of us ride relatively "quiet" bikes right now, and I don't feel as though we're in any more danger than a Harley dude with straight pipes. There's a very good reason for this - the "loud pipes save lives" meme can quite easily be couteracted by the fact that loud pipes preclude you from hearing the other vehicles around you. On my (admittedly small and quiet) bike, I can hear the cars around me stopped in traffic. I can also hear most cars as they approach on the interstate. Loud pipes are great if you're content with having people watch out for you - but if you plan on watching out for yourself, they're more of a hinderance than a help. I don't trust other drivers to watch out for me, so I'd rather be able to be more aware of them and plan my maneuvers accordingly. - YZBot, on 10/11/2007, -11/+17If it only goes 50 mph then it only has the hp equivalent to something like a 125cc bike. More likely even smaller. I have a 250 that will hit 100mph and that's only 32hp.
- Wolfboy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7specs:
http://www.hybridtechnologies.com/products.php?sec=2&id=3
Speed: 50 mph / 80 km/h
Range: 40 miles / 64 km
Charge Time: 4-6 hours on 110 V
Total Weight: 285 lbs / 129 kg
Power System: 72 V
Cycle Life: 1500+ charges - apeweek, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Electric vehicles don't need oil changes, coolant, filters, or anything else. When was the last time you did an oil change on the motor in your refrigerator? Or your clothes dryer?
I drive a 25-year-old EV. The motor still has all it's original parts (very few parts in an electric motor, only one moving part.) - NikoKun, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9Electrics are way better than Hybrids... -_-
- tkstock, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Well, by your definition, there is nothing on this earth that is zero emission. If you fly a glider, it's not zero emission - there were resources used to make the glider.
Your bike isn't zero emission... you power it, and you require food to power you, and that food was produced and packaged somewhere that required energy to do that... you get the point.
Just let them call it zero emission and stop nit-picking. - xedd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4check this out. some electric motorcycles can be very fast...
http://www.killacycle.com/ - tdrizzle, on 10/11/2007, -4/+8A horsepower equivalent to a 500-cc bike, and it tops out at around 50 mph. This sentence kind of contradicts itself.
- idonthack, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6@tdrizzle
Put some solar panels on the roof and use those to charge the bike, then. - apeweek, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4There is very little loss that occurs between the powerplant and the car - the electric grid is about 95% efficient. This compares very favorably against the gasoline equivalent - trucking gasoline to thousands of service stations.
Which sounds more efficient to you? - digggggggggg, on 10/11/2007, -4/+7The bike can probably _accelerate_ damn well, as well as a 500cc.
I think that the reason why the _top speed_ is 50mph is because it lacks a transmission. Imagine riding a bike that only has first gear - of course you're not going to have a great top speed. - Ninnux, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5As a motorcycle rider, I would never ride something silent. When making turns at intersections in towns and cities, you sometimes need to squeeze the clutch and rev the engine so that clueless pedestrians to walk out in front of you.
Great idea for a car. Very bad idea for a motorcycle in America. Sorry. - tkstock, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6It may have the gear ratio of a smaller bike, but it has the acceleration of a 500cc bike - electric motors can do that for you!!
- DarkDakota, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3While i some what agree "Loud pipes save lives" there is a level to which they do not need to go beyond. My VS800 can be quiet and it can be loud, depending on HOW i ride it. Yes I want to a. Be heard above the SUV din, so that they do not change lanes INTO ME and b. will look out for them as it's my own responsibility.
It may sound weird, but in my 20 years of bike riding, I ride with the assumption that everyone in 4 wheels or more is TRYING TO KILL ME. and it's kept me alive up till now.
It's a gorgeous day today here in London Ontario, Canada. I think I'll go for a spin.
Later - KidVicious, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Are you serious? He drove 100 feet down the road as a demonstration. I think you need to chill out.
And personally I don't really care if people wear helmets or not. If you're stupid enough to ride a bike without one, I wouldn't stop you. - oxigen, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3My Harley gets 64mpg, and Harleys are on the lower end of effeciency in the motorcycle world. Motorcycles are already very effecient, so I don't think buying this electric is very worth it. Plus, with a few adjustments to the engine - if you've got an older, no-computer-nonsense-carburated Harley - you can easily adapt the engine to run on E85.
- mattmollysdad, on 10/11/2007, -8/+10How come he wasn't wearing a helmet? Their office is in Simi Valley, CA and the law is the law... give that guy a ticket.
- kh99, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6Never mind the lack of noise - being limited to 50mph is dangerous.
- dugR, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4i agree, the noise of the engine is one of the few things that probably saves some lives. that and the headlight.
- dattaway, on 10/11/2007, -7/+9My 150cc scooter can do 65mph with its 10 horsepower.
My cbr600f4, which has 100 more cc than 500, can do 166mph. - Elxx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3I remember reading an article in some magazine about a year ago about a similar electric bike. Because of the safety concerns stemming from lack of noise, they were actually considering putting in a speaker that makes motorcycle noises.
- dwang1, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4there are 0 emissions when you are on the bike and riding...
- MHall, on 10/11/2007, -8/+10I think the sound is important when it comes to bikes..
Imagine a Hell's Angel on that..LOL! - OdinEye, on 10/11/2007, -5/+7Loud pipes are also frakkin' annoying.
I'll grant that it might be beneficial for a bike to make some noise (and that's an empirical question, incidentally - where's your data?), but there is absolutely no need for some of the Harley's to generate the volume of noise that they do. I can hear the average crotch rocket just fine without needing to turn up my radio just to be able to hear over the pipes. - nighttrain2007, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Exactly. Loud pipes save lives. And they sound good too. I wouldn't get on that thing for more than a few reasons. Besides looking ridiculous, your chances of being run over would jump exponentially
- tkstock, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4As indicated in the multitude of posts above, Horsepower != high speed.
- d16n, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I totally agree. When in a car, I hate it when suddenly there is a motorcycle beside me or behind me and I have no idea when or how it got there. If I came across more than one every week or so, perhaps I'd develop a better habit of looking for them. With loud pipes, I know the thing is coming before I could even possibly see it -- sort of like a fire truck. On an unlrelated note: in my limited experience, it seems as though Harley riders are always really cool people, while the people on other styles of bikes tend to be...less so. This may also color my appreciation for the loud pipes.
- russellnation, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2i thought noise was part of how motorcyclers avoid getting hit by stupid car drivers
- tkstock, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Good god! I know you're just repeating what everyone else is saying, but read some of the responses!
Top speed is dependent on the gearing and horsepower combination. The bike probably accelerates like a 500cc because electric engines have high torque, but it isn't geared right to have a higher top-speed. If you geared it right, it wouldn't accelerate as fast.
I miss my motorcycle and it's 50+ mpg! - Astaro, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2@spikes
The probem with that is it makes the wheel heavy, which means the suspension wont work as well. - Wolfboy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2a round-up of electric motorcycles:
http://www.electric-bikes.com/motorcys.htm - razrielle, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Whats the range? I didnt catch it if they said it
- jon3k, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Because the batteries to produce that kind of power over any reasonable distance would be larger than the bike.
- jon3k, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1"disrupting the peace for everyone around. "
Yeah I've been considering walking around bad neighborhoods yelling "DON'T STAB ME PLEASE" at the top of my lungs. ***** everybody else, at least I'll be safe, right? - Waterrat, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1 But it would be QUIET!
I vote for that. - jon3k, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Yeah, you're the one riding an open, two wheeled vehicle, at highway speeds and the guy in the car with the seatbelt and airbags is the idiot. Tell us another one, you're hilarious.
- spikes, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1They should use a brushless motor in the rear wheel, with a stationary stator, like how computer fans work. They can get the top speed way up there then as these motors can be made to adjust the number of stator phases on the fly, almost like a gear shift.
- HayString, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@emjaymj; "I know a lot of electric bikes..."
you do? please link to some sites about them, I'd like to see some more of these electric motorcycles. - charlie55, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2motorcycles already use such a small amount of gas, you might as well not bother.
- jon3k, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1"HP doesn't determine how fast the vehicle goes, it's gearing that does that. HP just enables it to hit the limits of the gearing faster."
That's only half the story. Torque and gearing determine top speed, not horsepower. You can have the tallest gears in the world, but if you only produce 1 lb ft of torque you'll never make it to 200mph. - apeweek, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1As for power plant efficiency, 33% is much too low for the combined power on the grid. That's more like what we get only out of the oldest, most outdated coal plants. Natural gas plants are 48% efficient. Sources of energy on the grid that don't pollute at all, like wind, hydro, and solar, can be considered 100% efficient for purposes of gaging pollution. Newer designs for fossil fuel plants are up to 85% efficient. This means that the grid will become increasingly efficient as it expands.
Some references:
Efficiency of coal and gas plants:
http://www.ieej.or.jp/aperc/pdf/GRID_COMBINED_DRAFT.pdf
(page 36, footnote 50, coal plants 37% efficient)
(gas plants 48% efficient)
National renewable energy Laboratory
http://www.healthgoods.com/Education/Energy_Information/General_Energy_Information/fossil_fuel%20coal.htm
says average coal plant (in 1992) 33% efficient - but new technology plants are up to 85% efficient. - RMartinBikes, on 02/23/2009, -0/+1Hi,
We are an Electric Vehicles distributor firm and have been actively providing electric bikes and scooters to people from the last 5 years. Our clients appreciate the fact that how investing in such transportation one time saves them the need to go to a gasoline station or how they are actively cooperating in the global 'Go Green Movement'.
I must say, to those who like fast speed vehicles, that given the rate at which technology is evolving, you never know when such electric bikes/cars get introduced in the markets that will have tremendous speed levels, better horsepower and small batteries.
N
(On behalf of R Martin Bikes.)
http://rmartinbikes.blogspot.com - xcbxcb, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3As a daily motorcycle commuter in Las Vegas, I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole. I was never one for loud pipes - I find the homoerotic leather good'ol'boy motorcycle scene utterly atrocious - but the Cobra slashcuts that came on my used 1995 Virago XV1100 have saved me on a number of ocassions. I'd never go back. Not in a city of any size. Nope.
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