Stock electric motorcycle chastised for being ‘too fast’ on race track
Electric motorcycles are notorious for their impressive torque and the ability to access that torque instantaneously. It’s why an e-motorcycle with less total power than a combustion engine motorcycle can still cross the finish line first in a head-to-head drag race. It’s also why an Energica rider recently got into a bit of hot water after being “too fast” on a race track.
The surprising story comes to us from New Zealand, where a popular e-moto YouTuber NewZeroland took his stock Energica Eva Ribelle RS electric motorcycle to the drag strip.
In fact, he didn’t just “take his bike” to the strip, but rather rode over 650 km (400 miles) from Wellington to Auckland to get there, recreating a similar ride he did three years ago to eat at the only Taco Bell restaurant in the country.
Back then he did it on a 2020 Energica Ego with a 13.4 kWh battery pack, meaning he had to stop and fast charge nine times. With three years of Energica’s advancements between his knees, this time he had a 21.5 kWh pack that allowed him to ride for up to two hours at highway speeds before stopping to fast charge. He estimated that he could do the ride with just three charging stops, though he ultimately found that he preferred to take a few extra stops “to rest my brain and my butt”, with each stop allowing for a brief DC fast charge and a chance to stretch his legs for a few minutes.
Ultimately though, he did the trip in a single day with just short stops to grab a snack and pump a few extra electrons through the battery.
Once he arrived at the race track in Auckland, he found that rainy conditions had left the tarmac slick with water – a less-than-ideal state for racing. With his highly experienced racing friend Steven in the saddle, the Energica lined up at the Christmas tree for its first run. Between traction control and some seriously honed riding skills, the bike crossed the line in 11.1 seconds – a respectable time for a stock motorcycle. Considering the bike wasn’t even fully charged (and thus not at full power) after having just rolled in from a rainy 400-mile trip, the feat was even more impressive.
The guys began dialing down the traction control and eventually hit 10.9 seconds, the bike’s fastest run of the day.
In fact, it was so fast that it resulted in the rider getting chastised by track officials for riding too fast.
“Steven’s fastest run was a 10.9, which we found wasn’t allowed since you need a special racing license to do anything below 11. So obviously we wanted to go again, because I came all this way, and how cool would it be to get kicked out for going too fast?!”
The team began lowering the traction control each run until it was all the way off, which resulted in some rather scary-looking moments halfway down the track.
But even after warming up the tire, there simply wasn’t enough traction on the strip to do another sub-11-second run. The guys had to settle for almost getting kicked out.
Electrek’s Take
First of all, I agree that it’s probably a good idea for New Zealand tracks to require a racing license for folks who want to get into seriously high-performance riding. Second, it’s impressive that a stock electric motorcycle that most people buy for recreational riding can hit pro-level race times with an amateur rider on a wet track. Lastly, I think this is a good opportunity to show that for those who do want to enjoy the crazy performance of their electric vehicles, a race track is the proper place to do so.
This is also my chance to say that Sam from NewZeroland is an awesome guy, and you should check out his channel if you’re interested in what the daily life of an e-motorcycle owner is like. I first met him in Italy on, ironically, an Energica group ride. In fact, we were riding Energica Experias through the Dolomite Mountains when we got caught in an epic rainstorm on the way back to town. Having worn my extra-breathy mesh summer jacket, I was soaked to the bone, and Sam generously gave me the merch shirt off his back – or technically an extra from his bag. Now I get to rep NewZeroland once every laundry cycle.
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GreenPower Motor Company says it’s received three orders for 11 of its BEAST electric Type D school buses for western state school districts in Arizona, California, and Oregon.
GreenPower hasn’t made the sort of headline-grabbing promises or big-money commitments that companies like Nikola and Lion Electric have, but while those companies are floundering GPM seems to be plugging away, taking orders where it can and actually delivering buses to schools. Late last year, the company scored 11 more orders for its flagship BEAST electric school bus.
As far as these latest orders go, the breakdown is:
- seven to Los Banos Unified School District in Los Banos, California
- two for the Hood River County School District in Hood River, Oregon
- two for the Casa Grande Elementary School District in Casa Grande, Arizona
Those two BEAST electric school buses for Arizona will join another 90-passenger BEAST that was delivered to Phoenix Elementary School District #1, which operates 15 schools in the center of Phoenix, late last year.
“As school districts continue to make the change from NOx emitting diesel school buses to a cleaner, healthier means of transporting students, school district transportation departments are pursuing the gold standard of the industry – the GreenPower all-electric, purpose-built (BEAST) school buses,” said Paul Start, GreenPower’s Vice President of Sales, School Bus Group. “(The) GreenPower school bus order pipeline and production schedule are both at record levels with sales projections for (2025) set to eclipse the 2024 calendar year.”
GreenPower moved into an 80,000-square-foot production facility in South Charleston, West Virigina in August 2022, and delivered its first buses to that state the following year.
Electrek’s Take
Since the first horseless carriage companies started operating 100 years ago (give or take), at least 1,900 different companies have been formed in the US, producing over 3,000 brands of American automobiles. By the mid 1980s, that had distilled down to “the big 3.”
All of which is to say: don’t let the recent round of bankruptcies fool you – startups in the car and truck industry is business as usual, but some of these companies will stick around. If you’re wondering which ones, look to the ones that are making units, not promises.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GreenPower Motors.
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While some recent high-profile bankruptcies have cast doubt on the EV startup space recently, medium-duty electric truck maker Harbinger got a shot of credibility this week with a massive $100 million Series B funding round co-led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for fledgling EV brands like Lion Electric and Canoo, but box van builder Harbinger is bucking the trend, fueling its latest funding round with an order book of 4,690 vehicles that’s valued at nearly $500 million. Some of the company’s more notable customers including Bimbo Bakeries (which owns brands like Sara Lee, Thomas’, and Entenmann’s) and THOR Industries (Airstream, Jayco, Thor), which is also one of the investors in the Series B.
Other prominent investors include Tiger Global, the Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund, and ArcTern Ventures.
As for what makes Harbinger such an attractive investment prospect, Dipender Saluja, Managing Partner of Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Fund explains that, “Harbinger has demonstrated a remarkable ability to reach significant milestones far quicker than other EV companies … the market has been impressed by their ability to develop large portions of the vehicle in-house to drive down unit costs, while remaining capital efficient.”
The company plans to use the funds to ramp up to higher-volume production capacity and deliver on existing orders, as well as build-out of the company’s sales, customer support, and service operations.
“Harbinger is entering a rapid growth phase where we are focused on scaling production of our customer-ready platform,” said John Harris, co-founder and CEO. “These funds catalyze significant revenue generation. We’ve developed a vehicle for a segment that is ripe for electrification, and there is a strong product/market fit that will help fuel our upward trajectory through 2025 and beyond.”
The company has raised $200 million since its inception in 2021.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Harbinger.
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There is no state more associated with cars and car culture than Michigan – and the state that’s home to the Motor City has just taken a huge step into the future with the deployment of its first-ever all electric police vehicle.
The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E patrol vehicle is assigned to the Michigan State Police State Security Operations Section, and will be to be used by armed, uniformed members of the MSP specializing in general law enforcement and security services at state-owned facilities in the Lansing, MI area.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to research, in real time, how a battery electric vehicle performs on patrol,” says Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP. “Our state properties security officers patrol a substantially smaller number of miles per day than our troopers and motor carrier officers, within city limits and at lower speeds, coupled with the availability of charging infrastructure in downtown Lansing, making this the ideal environment to test the capabilities of a police-package battery electric vehicle.”
The MSP’s Precision Driving Unit is nationally renowned for its annual Police Vehicle Evaluation, which our own Scooter Doll participated in last year, driving the then-new Chevy Blazer EV Police Pursuit Vehicles in a game of “cops and robbers.”
In those tests, the EVs have impressed – but the MSP has been hesitant to commit to a BEV until now. “We began testing battery electric vehicles in 2022, but up until now hybrids were the only alternative fuel vehicle in our fleet,” said Lt. Nicholas Darlington, commander of the Precision Driving Unit. “Adding this battery electric vehicle to our patrol fleet will allow us to study the vehicle’s performance long-term to determine if there is a potential for cost savings and broader applicability within our fleet.”
Michigan joins other states like Wisconsin and California in deploying electric patrol cars and saving big money on fuel and maintenance, with many more out there and many more to come.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Michigan State Police.
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