Modern Vespa

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/09/mission-one-bonneville/

150mph!! I wouldn't mind one of those.
8)

I am a huge "electric scooter" fan ... but what they left out of the article is any info (at all) in regards to how long the battery lasts.

We all know electric bikes can reach incredible speeds ... but what they haven't managed (so far) is to come up with a battery that has any range. I mean, how long can you operate that thing at normal road speeds and how long does it take to recharge.

Recharging is the biggest problem these electric bike and scooters face. We can refuel a typical bike or scooter in a matter of minutes ... but it takes hours (in most cases) to recharge a battery. In addition and to date, nobody has been able to build a battery that will last very long.

Sure ... "fast" they've got down pat, but convenience, price and battery longevity ... not so much. Having said that, with Tesla motors getting in on this, their R&D is likely to speed up some and may just have the impetus required to make production scooters (for the masses) available in maybe the next ten years ... and possibly sooner.

Both Sergey Brinn and Larry Page are major investors in Tesla Motors and I am certain that electric vehicles are one of their shared passions. When these two get behind something, it is a pretty good sign that things will start to percolate pretty quickly. Whoever comes up with the first "ready for prime time" electric motor suitable for mass production, is going to make a LOT of money!

I love the electrics too!
I'd rather pollute in somebody elses back yard rather than my own.

I love electric
Two 320 megawatt bad boys, this picture was taken today just after getting off shift both units online and no smoke from stacks we do our best to meet EPA standard or better.

Tesla is fun

Goal of MIT Electric Car is 10-minute charge time...

see the NYT article here

I was looking at this bike the other day, and thought I wouldn't mind one either until I saw it will cost $69K. Oh well. Very cool anyway...

Not bad... but I'm not sure what "record for electric motorcycles" they're talking about - a higher speed was set 35 years ago by Mike Corbin on his "Quick Silver":









Maybe they're referring to a electric *production* bike record vs. an electric *drag* bike record? The article was totally vague about that, pretty sloppy journalism if you ask me. But even so, I'm stoked to hear that they're planning to build a production electric motorcycle, that's great news!

Was that a quarter-mile drag bike, or did it set the record under the Bonneville rules? If it only did a quarter mile, it would be in a different set of records.

I think it was 1/4 mile but can't find anything on the internet to prove it one way or the other. But in my search to find that info, I found the Corbin Sparrow. What a cool little car. I have written to Myers Motors http://www.myersmotors.com/ to get more info on this three wheeler car/motorcycle. Very cute!

Oh dude! I would kill for the chance to even touch a Tesla Roadster.
I love electric cars. closest I've gotten to an electric car is owning two hybrids.

Once we move to San Diego...watchout I'm going greener!

I thinks this car is so cool, look at my vespa picture up a few post back,

http://www.oncars.com/video/274/2009-Tesla-Roadster-Part-1-of-3-Design

Check out the yike bike http://www.yikebike.com/

[img]http://www.yikebike.com/site/gallery[/img]

cool. but that's not going to fly at 3500 Euros.

Yeah Yikes is what I thought when I saw the price but a cool concept for a really crowded environment.

After taking a look at the categories used at Bonneville, I suspect that Corbin's Quick Silver bike would have fallen in the "Special Construction" category, while the Mission One would fall in the "Production" category. However, it looks like someone may have beaten both records with a streamliner this year:

SUU students help set new land speed record

The Corbin Sparrow is a very cool little car (actually it's registered as a motorcycle), though it's sad that they went belly up a few years ago. They did sell the works to Meyers Motors who have been producing the car under their name, but it doesn't seem that they're selling extremely well, probably due to the fact that it's a one-seater and costs over $10,000. It'll do 65+ mph, but the range is somewhat limited, I think it's about 30-40 miles. Here's a page I found with some info about both the Sparrow and Corbin's land speed record:

http://www.speedace.info/corbin_sparrow.htm

The Yike Bike seems interesting, I especially like how it folds up, that's super trick! But yeah the price is a bit much for most folks to afford, and I have to wonder what kind of range it has.

Oh, and I got to ride in a Tesla Roadster a couple of weeks ago... it is awesome! It's like riding in a life-sized remote control car, the acceleration is instantaneous, such a thrill!

Here's my favorite electric so far.

http://green.autoblog.com/2008/12/08/ekrad-electric-supermoto-bike-from-germany/

8) 8)

Myers Motors is selling them for $30,000 ... not $10,000! I was in touch with them yesterday 'cause I really like that little thing ... but their sales department is (unfortunately) somewhat lacking. After tugging the information I needed from them, I don't think it would work here. Too low to the road and we have far too many speed bumps!

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/16/officially-official-mercedes-to-produce-electric-sls-gullwing/

Woah!! I had no idea they were selling them for that much, yeesh! I've seen some Sparrows and Meyers on eBay, getting bids up to $8000 or so, but many haven't sold because the reserve wasn't met. It sounds like it might not meet your needs, but if you want to get one, I'd keep an eye on eBay.

And I hadn't heard about that electric SLS Roadster - sweet!

I was seriously considering it ... but the wheelbase length and road clearance pretty much put the kaibosh on it. It only has 6" road clearance and the wheel base length (center to center) is 67". My LX road clearance is a little over 7" and the wheelbase length is about 49". BIG difference!

The LX is fine going over the speed bumps but I think 67" is just way too long to clear the speed bumps. We have varying sizes of speed bumps (they aren't built to any type of standard) so it could be a serious problem for us.

It's a shame because the island is getting really jammed up with vehicles and parking in town is at a premium. A small electric car would sell really well here if the price were around the $20,000 or under mark. In fact, most of the Caribbean would be served very, very well by any (one to two seater) electric commuter with a 60 mph top end and 60 to 100 mile range. But it would have to be built for the terrain and driving conditions.

The hunt for the perfect "island" vehicle continues ....