The Biggest, Baddest Electric Motorcycle

[visions]

The Lito Sora - the biggest, baddest electric motorcycle in Montreal

The Lito Sora - big, bad, and battery powered.

Image Gallery (12 images) google_protectAndRun("render_ads.js::google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);Montreal's Lito has thrown its hat into the ring with a new electric motorcycle that makes some pretty outrageous claims. A full 12 kilowatt-hours' worth of onboard lithium polymer batteries gives the Sora a massive 300 km range – that's 185 miles between charges. Or you can choose to wrap the throttle on and scream up to a top speed of 200 km/h (125 mph). With chopper/fighter bad boy looks and some interesting and innovative features like in-dash touch screen GPS and electronically adjustable ergonomics, the Sora looks like an absolute animal of a machine. You can't help but think that if it had an accessible pricetag, it would look very tempting to the average biker.

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Zero Motorcycles has chosen light weight and low cost as its dual strategy to get the electric motorcycle market started in the US – we assume both those considerations have gone out the window at Lito.

But then, dropping feather-light weight as a priority opens the door to some things that simply couldn't fit on the Zero S. The Sora uses regenerative braking, for example, which is inefficient on lightweight machines but a handy tool on heavier bikes like this 240 kg (530 lb) beast. It also packs a CV transmission, in a segment where most bikes avoid transmissions altogether – which keeps the engine output efficient at a broader range of speeds and enables the Sora's 125 mph top speed.

A higher weight ceiling also opens the door for more battery cells – in this case, nearly three times the power capacity of the Zero S at 12 kWh. That means there's more power to spend, whether you choose to spend it conservatively on longer range, or more gregariously on massive acceleration and high speeds.

The downsides to such a huge battery pack are equally compelling; the Sora takes a whopping 8 hours to charge from empty (although it does have the nifty feature of sending you an email when it's ready to go). Also, battery packs are still stupendously expensive. So 12 kilowatt hours' worth of lithium polymer will cost around as much as a new Japanese superbike, or maybe more.

One interesting innovation on the Sora is the way the tank-mounted GPS system is integrated with the battery management system. Punch in your destination, and the Sora will calculate how much power it needs to get you there – and it will adjust your available power along the journey to make sure you get there with charge to spare. It's a very smart feature designed to eliminate the range anxiety you tend to feel on an electric knowing that your battery is dwindling and it'll take anywhere up to several hours to get it charged back up.

Another new touch is the idea of on-the-go adjustable ergonomics – the Sora's stubby seat unit can move as much as 10 cm (4-inches) up and down to completely change the feel and handling of the bike. Drop it down for a relaxed, cruisy highway position, crank it up for extra agility and a more aggressive sporting stance. It'll be fascinating to see what sort of difference that system makes to the feel of the bike.

The Sora is more than just a concept – Lito has built at least one of these things, and in the flesh it looks, well, about 80% as tough as something Confederate might make. Which is TOUGH! The bizarre downward slope of the aluminum frame quickly becomes familiar to the eye, the front end is clean and muscular, and the bobbed back end looks absolutely superb. The flared battery cells are an acceptable substitute for a big lump of engine down below, the belt drive and swingarm look techno-amazing and the overall effect is one hell of a sexy bike.

There's no price listed for this beauty, but it's going to be expensive. The batteries alone will propel it pretty high up the list of motorcycle prices – and then there's the lightweight aircraft-grade chassis, the carbon fiber fairings, the CVT, the GPS, the proprietary software, the Elka suspension … we shudder to think what the final pricetag will be.

But by Odin we'd love to ride it.

[Garry]

Some interesting concepts and not to thread jack, but being a sportsbike guy, I'm looking forward to how http://www.motoczysz.com/ group comes along

At the Isle of Man TT

Laguna Seca ePower meet

At the shop

2010 E1pc

2010 E1pc- the magic carpet

The 2010 was a game changer for MotoCzysz and helped us understand what the future could hold. The '10 was awesome to ride, fast, stable and more fun exiting a corner than any other bike I have ever ridden. Regardless of the corner your drive was always strong, always at or near peak torque. Want 50% more torque, open the throttle 50% more, want 1% more torque, open the throttle 1% more... every corner... every lap.

Worst moment

The start of the E-power race, Laguna Seca 2010. Before Laguna the '10 never had one issue, it to date the "perfect" motorcycle. In fact It deserves to go down in history as a true Champion, the winner of both an open road race and a closed circuit race, a diverse and telling accomplishment for a single electric motorcycle. Ultimately the fault was our doing, a parameter/firmware/software glitch, that caused the temporary set back.

Greatest moment

Watching Mark Miller ride and win the 2010 Isle of Man. Before that moment, few people had ever even seen an electric motorcycle achieve 120mph (I never had, ridden one but not seen one) and to see our E1 finish the extremely demanding 37.73mile mountain corse and still cross the finish line at over 120mph actually scarred me. I thought "why is he going so fast, what's happening" I feared there must have be a malfunction... a stuck throttle... something.

There was another greatest moment in 2010; having the honor to pilot my own bike to a FIM win and taste the same Champagne that Rossi, Spies and all my heroes drink regularly. I will forever be indebted to the 2010 "Ep1c".

-Michael Czysz

Chassis

Frame“Frame-less” Carbon FiberWheelbase1455mm (57.3in)Rake22.5°Trailadjustable from 87.5mm-100mm (3.5-4in)Head Angle22.5°Front suspensionProprietary 6X-Flex custom Ohlins shockFront wheel travel114.3mm (4.5in)Front wheelMarchesini 10-spoke magnesium 3.50 x 17Front TirePirelli Diablo Superbike 120/70 R17Rear suspensionConcentric swingarm with linked, fully adjustable custom Ohlins TTX monoshock.Rear wheel travel127mm (5in)Rear wheelMarchesini 10-spoke Magnesium 6.00 x 17Rear tirePirelli Diablo Superbike 190/55 R17Front brake2 x 320mm full-floating discs, radially mounted Brembo Monobloc calipers 4-piston, 2-padRear brake220mm disc, 2-piston caliperDry weight238kg (525lbs)Seat height800mm (31.5in)

Batteriess

Energy12.5kWhVoltage330V+

Motors

TypeProprietary Liquid Cooled, Permanent Magnet, Brushless DC (IPM)Power95+kW / 125+hpTorque338 Nm / 250-lb-ftMotor Controller100kW Liquid CooledTransmissionSingle Speed Chain Drive

[visions]

Thats a nice looking bike too, plus the performance is obviously very good.

[Atmos]

so close! the winning bike just .4 mph average speed off a 100mph average lap.

Isle of Man TT Zero Results 2011

The Blade gets up to speed on the MotoCzysz E1PC.

Rutter would reach almost 150 mph top speed and just missed setting the first-ever electric-powered 100 mph lap at the Isle.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

MotoCzysz extends its TT Zero winning streak to two, with Michael Rutter taking the electric exhibition race ahead of teammate Mark Miller. The TT veteran Rutter missed the prestige of marking the first-ever electric powered 100 mph lap, and the attendant £10,000 bounty awarded by the Isle of Man government, by a scant 0.396 mph. A Kingston University entry piloted by George Spence completed the TT Zero podium, with only five of the nine entries completing laps.

A multiple TT podium finisher and North West 200 winner, Rutter quickly overtook his American teammate during the one-lap TT Zero race. Reports state The Blade got his Segway MotoCzysz E1PC up to a 149.5 mph top speed en route to victory. Said Rutter in an official IOM Press Office press release: "99.6mph - that's the story of my life. I tried to conserve battery life and stay smooth. It's a totally different way of riding but I really enjoyed it. We only saw the bike on Wednesday, so I think if we had more time there would be more to come set-up wise."

Rutter's near 100 mph lap marks a modest improvement over the 96.820 mph best set by the race winning Miller in 2010. The inaugural electric TT race held at the isle, the 2009 TTXGP, saw Ron Barber pilot a Team AGNI bike to victory via a 87.434 mph lap. Spence's third place results nets Kingston University the £5000 University Prize, awarded to the fastest University entrant. The British research university bested the American effort from MIT.

2011 TT Zero Results:

1. Michael Rutter (MotoCzysz) 99.604 mph

2. Mark Miller (MotoCzysz) 98.288 mph

3. George Spence (Kingston) 88.435 mph

4. Allan Brew (MIT EVT) 79.163 mph

5. Yoshinari Matsushita (Prozza TT) 69.877 mph

Edited June 17, 2011 by genghis61

[smedly]

fundamental issue with electric bikes is charge time - makes it all but useless, in a car you have room for an engine so you are not limited by battery charge

[Atmos]

^ I should have added the lap time to my earlier post - winner in 22 minutes 43 seconds for approx 60km circuit - and he said he had to back off to conserve the battery.

So that's why they can only do one lap - if they had to do two the pits stops may involve overnight as the batteries are re-charged.

Still - it is progress, and a good practical exercise for the university teams who entered; technology will continue to improve, esp battery-wise (I'm thinking of my first mobile phone here)

[nikster]

Hmm... 12KWh... even at a theoretical unlimited charge rate, that's a whole lot of power. I don't think that can be solved without dedicated charging stations (and quick charge tech).

In Thailand, turning on a 6,000W water heater dims the lights. To reach 12KWh you'd need to run 2 for an hour.

To charge this in 3 minutes, same as a car, you'd need to draw 12x20 = 240,000 W.

[Atmos]

having absolutely nil knowledge of such things

does a battery/batteries as used in these bikes drain at an even rate?

I am guessing 'no' but have no reason why; eg if the bike can do 40 miles at an average of 100mph before exhaustion; could it do 80 miles at 50mph?

****

Wonder how the riders compare the characteristics; Rutter is vastly experienced on superbikes, would be interesting to see what he had to say.

[BSJ]

Comparisons are hard to draw without prices. If electric is gunner cost 2 or 3 times more than gas powered bikes.......

[nikster]

having absolutely nil knowledge of such things

does a battery/batteries as used in these bikes drain at an even rate?

I am guessing 'no' but have no reason why; eg if the bike can do 40 miles at an average of 100mph before exhaustion; could it do 80 miles at 50mph?

I'd imagine the batteries to drain as power is used. How much power you use really depends though.

At 80mph you'd have to overcome much more wind resistance so it would simply use more power (whether gas powered or electric powered). With electric there are probably fewer mechanical losses - they'll still be there but less than on gas powered bikes. Wind resistance increases with the cube of speed so it becomes a significant factor at higher speeds.

Then there's roll friction, but that's supposedly linear so not a big deal. And mechanical losses...

[KRS1]

There was a person that developed a gel that could retain a static electrical charge, unfortunately the patent was bought up or else we could all be riding around and simply fill up a new tank of fully charged gel.

Integration with current gas stations would have been simple.

[KRS1]

having absolutely nil knowledge of such things

does a battery/batteries as used in these bikes drain at an even rate?

I am guessing 'no' but have no reason why; eg if the bike can do 40 miles at an average of 100mph before exhaustion; could it do 80 miles at 50mph?

I'd imagine the batteries to drain as power is used. How much power you use really depends though.

At 80mph you'd have to overcome much more wind resistance so it would simply use more power (whether gas powered or electric powered). With electric there are probably fewer mechanical losses - they'll still be there but less than on gas powered bikes. Wind resistance increases with the cube of speed so it becomes a significant factor at higher speeds.

Then there's roll friction, but that's supposedly linear so not a big deal. And mechanical losses...

it depends on the current draw and the C rate of the batteries, current limiting devices are designed to limit the amount of current drawn at any one time. On the flipside high quality lithium ion phosphate batteries can provide burst current many times their rated capacities. It's not uncommon for a battery rated for 50 ah to have burst capabilities in excess of 500 ah.

lithium batteries exist that will provide extremely linear power output until the very last instance, then output drops off sharply.

You can thank Chevron for buying up the Nickel-Hydride battery patents that were first used . If it wasn't for them electric cars, engineering, and charging facilities would be light years ahead of where it is now. Patents have expired recently thats why there is such a leaning towards electric transportation nowadays. Been a hit in China for a very long time now as well as Holland.

the remote control airplane industry are the pioneers in electric propulsion.

[nikster]

There was a person that developed a gel that could retain a static electrical charge, unfortunately the patent was bought up or else we could all be riding around and simply fill up a new tank of fully charged gel.

References?

Why electric cars are suddenly popular has nothing to do with Chevron, and everything to do with the oil price. As long as oil is cheap, you don't have to invent new batteries, which is hard. Li-ION technology is moving along pretty slowly. There's plenty of cool research in that area but nothing that could be productized right now.

There was this idea you could just swap batteries at gas stations. There would be a standard battery form factor, and you'd switch out your entire battery array at a gas station, which could then charge yours overnight and swap it with someone else the next day. Nothing came of this so far. I guess the problem is that it would make it very hard to ever introduce new, better batteries, which is what's really required.

[Kwasaki]

There was a person that developed a gel that could retain a static electrical charge, unfortunately the patent was bought up or else we could all be riding around and simply fill up a new tank of fully charged gel.

References?

Why electric cars are suddenly popular has nothing to do with Chevron, and everything to do with the oil price. As long as oil is cheap, you don't have to invent new batteries, which is hard. Li-ION technology is moving along pretty slowly. There's plenty of cool research in that area but nothing that could be productized right now.

There was this idea you could just swap batteries at gas stations. There would be a standard battery form factor, and you'd switch out your entire battery array at a gas station, which could then charge yours overnight and swap it with someone else the next day. Nothing came of this so far. I guess the problem is that it would make it very hard to ever introduce new, better batteries, which is what's really required.

No the next thing is Nuclear powered bikes, you just swap your cube nuclear pod over for another and ride on.

Edited June 18, 2011 by Kwasaki

[KRS1]

There was a person that developed a gel that could retain a static electrical charge, unfortunately the patent was bought up or else we could all be riding around and simply fill up a new tank of fully charged gel.

References?

Why electric cars are suddenly popular has nothing to do with Chevron, and everything to do with the oil price. As long as oil is cheap, you don't have to invent new batteries, which is hard. Li-ION technology is moving along pretty slowly. There's plenty of cool research in that area but nothing that could be productized right now.

There was this idea you could just swap batteries at gas stations. There would be a standard battery form factor, and you'd switch out your entire battery array at a gas station, which could then charge yours overnight and swap it with someone else the next day. Nothing came of this so far. I guess the problem is that it would make it very hard to ever introduce new, better batteries, which is what's really required.

There is no shortage of oil, never has been and probably never will be, drilling just slows down when you piss the arabs off. There is so much oil in this planet its ridiculous. During the gulf oil leak , gasoline prices did not rise by any significant amount.

Regarding the gel, i found it through a patent search a few years ago when i was developing electrical propulsion and regenerative braking systems and researching alternative power sources. Static electricity and HHO gas (splitting of water) is the future. Static electricity because recharging is instantaneous, HHO because water is the most abundant element and highly explosive when seperated into O2 and H , the energy available in 1 cubic foot of water is mind boggling. Polarization of water ions will probably be the final evolution, cracking the water and igniting it via electrical discharge, or the other way around - very much like lightning.

I still think its Chevron's fault...lol

[hehehoho]

Pushing it to a socket isn't going to be much fun once you hit 300km.

Then when you get you'll probably have forgotten the 3-pin adapter.

[smedly]

the answer to the battery issue is to simply have moduls or packs that are designed to fit all, you could have long life - high power etc depending on what you want to pay etc, these will be ready at charging stations all ready to exchange, although not required if as mentioned above a battery pack could be charged in like under 5 mins (never heard of that before)

[Atmos]

and they continue to get faster - electric bikes raced at Laguna Seca raceway 2 weeks ago

Rapp took the holeshot and held off 2010 Laguna Seca e-Power winner Michael Czysz and 2010 runner-up Michael Barnes for the win, completing the 8-lap race in 12:40.597, translating to lap times of about 1:35.1.

Rapp's result showed the advances made in electric motorcycle racing over the last year.

Czysz won last year's 9-lap race in 16:02.596, which translates to an average lap time of about 1:47.0.

Rapp's fastest lap time in this year's race was 1:33.194, obliterating Czysz record of 1:44.496 set last year.

Czysz was also able to improve upon his previous lap times, averaging about 1:40.1 on his MotoCzysz E1pc, but still finished about 30 seconds behind Rapp.

Edited August 7, 2011 by Atmos

[Atmos]

August 1, 2011, 2:32 pm

Mission Motors R: an E.V. Bike That Runs With the Fastest Gas Burners

Electric-power road-racing motorcycles have been competing against each other on the world stage since 2009, when they first took to the track at the Isle of Man TT. But they have, for the most part, been seen as a silent, slower sideshow to gas-powered racebikes.

Not any more. During the combined MotoGP and AMA Pro Racing weekend in July at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., the Mission R motorcycle that won the TTXGP/FIM e-Power International Championship race turned in a qualifying lap that would have put it fourth on the grid of the AMA SuperSport race.

more

[Atmos]

BMW's electric scooter

16/09/2011

BMW has unveiled a plug-in electric scooter at this week’s Frankfurt motor show alongside its electric i3 and i8 plug-in hybrid concepts.

The ''Concept e'' maxi scooter is the third model from the Bavarian maker to focus on "urban" or "sustainable mobility" – the latest buzzwords for downsized, environmentally conscious vehicles in congested cities of the near future.

Although technical details remain scant, the electric scooter is claimed to have a "realistic" riding range of 100 kilometres between charges while matching the performance of regular "twist-and-go" maxi scooters, which typically take between five and six seconds to reach 100km/h from rest.

Charging requires a regular household power socket, which takes less than three hours to recharge when the battery is completely flat, according to BMW.

read more

[wana]

holy sh!t -electric bikes are almost as fast as petrol now ?? <deleted>

[Atmos]

the technology is improving so much, article in today's paper about the Mercedes concept car - a hybrid electric and hydrogen power and a claimed max 313hp with total (combined) range of 1000km, says lithium sulphur batteries are the next step, lighter and more powerful than lithium ion.

concept I know, but shows they're working on it and we may see these ideas in a few years time; look at how the electric bikes have improved.

[wana]

imagine charging your bike like a mobile phone everynight and laughing about the "good old days " when we had to put petrol in them