ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: xring on October 21, 2008, 05:06:01 AM
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Today's news from Wired and Hell for Leather (links and articles are below)
With a big name like KTM announcing its electric motorcycle, this will surely generate lots more awareness and interest in electric motorcycles overall. YAY! :)
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http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/10/ktm-builds-a-ra.html (http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/10/ktm-builds-a-ra.html)
KTM Builds A Race-Ready Electric Motorcycle
By Chuck Squatriglia October 20, 2008 | 3:41:58 PM
Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM is developing an all-electric enduro that could be in showrooms within two years.
The competition-ready ride features a lithium-ion battery that provides 40 minutes of riding time "under race conditions" and can be charged in just one hour, according to Hell for Leather. KTM isn't saying much about the bike, but by following the all-electric path blazed by startups like Zero Motorcycles and Quantya, the company seemingly is betting batteries are the future of off-road riding.
KTM is keeping the specs under wraps but says the prototype Zero Emission Motorcycle produces 29.5 foot-pounds of torque.The battery and motor weigh 17 kilograms (about 37.5 pounds). That may seem heavy, but electric bikes don't need an exhaust system, fuel tank and other parts. No word on what the KTM EV weighs, but the all-electric Zero X we rode tipped the scales at a bantamweight 140 pounds and was good for 57 mph.
Off-road bikes lend themselves to electric power because they're typically ridden short distances, so range isn't that big an issue. Electric motors also provide gobs of torque, a big plus in motocross riding. And as Hell for Leather notes, going green doesn't just help the environment, it could preserve or even expand off-roaders' access to land.
(http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/10/20/ktm_electric_01.jpg)
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http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/10/ktm-presents-electric-enduro.html (http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/10/ktm-presents-electric-enduro.html)
(http://hellforleathermagazine.com/images/KTM-electric-MX-01.jpg)
KTM reveals race-ready electric motorcycle, production within 2 years
If you had any doubts that electricity is the future of off-road performance, this bike should eliminate them. KTM has created a fully functional electric, zero emissions enduro prototype and intends to put it into production. In keeping with its "Ready to Race" slogan, the Zero Emissions Motorcycle is a full-on competition bike, in which capacity it will be evaluated and developed before going on-sale as little as 24 months from now.
(http://hellforleathermagazine.com/images/KTM-electric-MX-02.jpg)
The Austrian company is releasing very few details of the Zero Emissions Motorcycle, but has revealed that it develops 29.5lb/ft of torque and carries lithium ion batteries capable of lasting 40 minutes under "race conditions" and that can be fully recharged in just one hour. In comparison, the Quantya Strada that we rode around our Brooklyn office develops only 23lb/ft. It's difficult to compare the two models' ranges as "race conditions" are hard to define, but Quantya says the Strada should be capable of about 25 miles off-road, which sounds like a rough equivalent.
(http://hellforleathermagazine.com/images/KTM-electric-MX-03.jpg)
KTM's battery pack and electric motor together weigh 17kg, but some of this weight will be offset by the elimination of the clutch; exhaust pipes and canisters; fuel tank and other necessities of internal combustion. The company expects that the Zero Emissions Motorcycle will carry a small price premium over a KTM enduro of similar performance.
Discussing the thinking behind the Zero Emissions Motorcycle project, KTM board member Harald Plöckinger says the lack of noise and emissions means "We can bring now the Enduro sport again more near in the centers of dense development and cities." Indeed the greatest advantage electricity brings to dirt bikes isn't the number of spotted owls that will be saved (comparatively cars, homes and industry all pollute exponentially more than all motorcycles put together), but rather the access that the power source will be capable of granting and preserving.
Seeing the competitive advantage the Zero Emissions Motorcycle would provide KTM and the environmental and political advantages it would give both the company and the country, the project is being part financed by the Austrian Federal Ministry for traffic, innovation and technology.
(http://hellforleathermagazine.com/images/KTM-electric-MX-04.jpg)
KTM
Grant Ray. October 20, 2008
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Oh man, this little motorcycle niche just got blown wide open. :o
Nice find man!
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Yup, I know that a lot of my friends will take electric motorcycles more seriously now that a big name like KTM has jumped into the mix.
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Yeah, sent it to a few of my friends. Maybe they will join us finnaly and post ;)
Looks like they are using a 21" rear wheel. Interesting.
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Nice, good to see a mainstream company getting into electric bikes
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Its also interesting that they are getting government money to do it.
Lets hope that the next administration here will be supportive of this technology.
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Was wondering if anything came through in the Bailout that might give incentives. I know everyone shoveled in thier pork and we might get something good out of it.
Meant to dig through this more thoroughly...
http://www.trenddomaining.com/a-domainers-long-hard-look-at-bail-outs-part-2-700-billion-and-loads-of-green-pork/
Found this...
Sec 205. Credit for New Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicles. Tax credit will be $2,500 plus $417 for each kilowatt hour of battery capacity in excess of four.
That should cover motorcycles I would think? The Zero X is 2 Kilowatt hours so it would be $2500.
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Wow! That's a sweet find, Skadamo! I'm liking that Section 205 :)
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Chris, the Quantya dealer in VT told me that VT gave him a one dollar tax credit when he registered the bike a few months ago.
Now to return to the original topic -- KTM has some of the best design, its cool to see that they are pushing this too.
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Yeah, KTM is known for filling the niches the big 4 won't touch. I am still excited to see this. i am very surprised it is not being discussed extensively on other forums. There seems to be only a one page thread on most of the big motorcycle boards. MOst of them started by Xring. :D Way to get the convsation going man!
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There is a thread about the KTM on ThumperTalk thats full of people who dont sound too happy about change.
In that thread though, theres a dude who posted pictures of a Quantya spinning doughnuts on the roof of his building in Brooklyn.
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OK, looks like thumpertalk has a good thread going...
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=704165
Surprised not more here...
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=398497
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4424132
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The folks on Advrider love large bikes. I can see this being too small and too short a range for their tastes.
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Yeah, true. For thier main bike. A good number that I know have 2+ machines. Older guys with $ :D But seeing hte market today maybe not so much. :(
I'll have to look around. I bet there is another thread going.
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Official news article from KTM>
http://www.ktm.com/KTM-News.223.20.html?nodeID=104892&cHash=8abe5a4e7b
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Do you think this would open up the amount of trails previous unavailable to eternal combustion dirt bikes.
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Hi jpmurph, I am a little concerned about how electric motorcycles will affect trail availability to 2 wheelers. Obviously the quiet nature of the electrics will allow people to go undetected where they once could not. This could be great for us. I will open up new riding areas closer to our homes and even indoors.
However, if we start riding and tearing up trails instead of "treading lightly" it could easily do the opposite. The quiet green image of electrics would quickly turn into stealthy erosion causing monsters. Equestrians and hikers could fight against us and possibly even mountain bikers if their reputation is hurt too. I personally believe the toughest battle will be when technology becomes compact enough to allow for electric powered mountain bikes. The line between motorcycle and bicycle will get blurry and I speculate trail use will be a hot issue.
I hope larger mfr's like Zero and Quantya find the time to work with Blue Ribbon Coalition (http://www.sharetrails.org/) or other groups to educate people. I'm sure we can do our part here too.
As tempting as it might be, people shouldn't let their quiet motorcycle tempt them to "ride 18 holes" at the local golf course on a Saturday night. :D
Would love to hear others thoughts on this.
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a good point, but an elecrtric bike wont be any fun unless its able to tear up the place a bit, get some good ruts going on the track etc, and if its able itll happen whereever they can be ridden. The elctic removes the noise constraint for riding places, but it should still only be riddent where people dont care if it gets rutted, i the case of hiking trails, its a bad idea to ride them anyway, narrow twist, not a lot of visibility, and with a quite bike and can imagine a lot of hikers will get ploughed into.
My thoughs, keep em to bike tracks and trails, but make a few of these close to/in cities.
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My thoughs, keep em to bike tracks and trails, but make a few of these close to/in cities.
Yeah, that is probably the best bet. Close to cities make the most sense. There is a fair amount of money availaible for creation of trails in Illinois where I live. Quantyaparx (http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=460.0) has a good idea and I could see this taking off in the states.
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I hope larger mfr's like Zero and Quantya find the time to work with Blue Ribbon Coalition (http://www.sharetrails.org/) or other groups to educate people. I'm sure we can do our part here too.
Larger mfr's like Zero and Quantya...c'mon - Quantya is made of up a dozen people and Zero has around 40 people and produced less then 300 bikes in the past two years! Make no mistake, these are very small company's with very small budgets. They are not going to fight with the BRC in terms of time, resources and definitely not money. Ask BRC if any of them have donated anything more than public speak. If you want to save the trails looking toward electric is the wrong way to go, donate to BRC and fight the greenies who want all the trails - that's where electric is in a hard place, are they part of the green movement or motorcycle blood?
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Supporting BRC can be as simple as a link to their site. True they probably won't have time, I felt I eluded to that in my post.
You also bring up a good point about "green". I have been thinking about this a lot. Electric mfr's play the green card and it is true in the dirt extreme green folks will be against electrics on trails just like ICE bikes. They have emissions and sound in check but erosion will be the battle call.
Keep in mind everyone here is discussing issues and bikes that are not mainstream yet. I personally like to try to anticipate where the market will go. It's fun for me.