There's an article about a test rice of the zeromotorcycles 2009 model. Curious that they start out the review talking about replacing cars, but the bike they tested is not street legal. Did they understand that?
Riding an electric two-wheeler around in an enclosed environment is something that could portend exciting times for city dwellers who still want to have fun on a dirtbike without upsetting the rest of the populace.
Hmm, anybody know of indoor dirt bike tracks?
is made up of 168 individuals cells, which are wired up in a 12p 14s configuration.
I recall they were using A123 cells before, maybe they're still doing so?
the next bike coming out of the company's fertile minds, due towards the end of April, is called the Zero S, which was designed from the ground up to be street legal. The S model will use the same individual battery cells as the X but will be wired up in a 24p 14s configuration to allow for longer run time. Being a street bike, the upcoming S will be eligible for a federal rebate that will save buyers a full 10 percent of the bike's $9,950 purchase price. California buyers will be able to claim an additional $1,500 rebate.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/03/31/first-ride-2009-zero-x-electric-motorcycle/
http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/first-ride-2009-zero-x-electric-motorcycle/
BTW I'm going to be attending the race this weekend put on by zero motorcycles. I'll be covering it as "media" and produce some audio or video. Will post a link as soon as it's up.
I still want to do an indoor electric kart track (there aren't any in my area with real karts). Now that we're about to sign the lease on our manufacturing space maybe I can set something up there! ;)
I thought their battery pack was based around Li-Po not LiFe?
John H. Founder of Current Motor Company - opinions on this site belong to me; not to my employer
Remember: " 'lectric for local. diesel for distance" - JTH, Amp Bros || "No Gas.
Howdy, this is Jeremy Korzeniewski from AutoblogGreen.
Yes, I know the bike's not street legal, of course. But, as a site that mostly deals with cars, it's a fair opener.
Indoor dirtbike tracks, while not currently common, do exist. The point, though, is that electric dirtbikes open up a ton of possibilities for urban riding.
Zero is definitely not using A123 cells. I spoke directly with Neal Saiki and confirmed that they are using the same supplier that Milwaukee uses for its electric power tools. I can't recall the name of the supplier off the top of my head, started with an M and was from Canada.
Hi Jeremy, thank you for visiting our little corner of the universe. And thank you for explaining about the street legal bit. They are working on a street legal bike and I hope they'll have it on display this weekend ..
Anyway, hmm, I'm remembering talking with Zero people a couple years ago at the Stanford EV Rally and getting the impression they were using A123 cells. That may have been then and this is now, and it certainly seems that A123 hasn't been very open about supplying their cells to vehicle makers .. e.g. unless my memory is playing tricks the Zero people were taking apart Dewalt packs to get their cells. Maybe they've been using the LiMN cells all along and I'm just misremembering.
I've also seen a few articles recently about even outdoor dirt bike tracks are concerned about noise and may be looking at EV bikes to mitigate noise.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki