Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, On Two Wheels
Lightning Motors and their lithium powered electric superbike
We have brought up the idea of saving money on gas by riding a motorcycle or scooter a few times now, and invariably, we get comments which state that motorcycles are worse for the environment than cars. Is that true? Not necessarily. Exhaust emissions are calculated in parts per million, and more parts per million of harmful particles in the exhaust is bad. This is often cited in defense of cars, as motorcycles often have worse ratings in parts per million that autos. But, what about the difference in total amount of exhaust? The smaller the engine, usually the less total exhaust comes our the tailpipe. So, motorcycles with smaller engines may or may not be better for the environment that automobiles. Note, too, that most modern motorcycles are equipped with fuel injection and modern computer controls in addition to their necessary catalytic converters (click for a test in 1999 - warning: .pdf), all of which make quite a difference in overall harmful emissions. Remember, the worst polluters are the old 2-stroke bikes, which are not sold really in America anymore.
But, what about electric motorcycles? Here is one made by Lightning Motors. The bike is based on the Yamaha R1, which, at 1000cc, does not have a small engine from the factory. The R1 is one of the highest performing motorcycles on the roads today, and is a bit of a status symbol. The conversion is slightly ungainly, because of the box-like lithium ion batteries hanging from the frame spars. The article also speaks of charging the bike using solar panels, which is an intriguing possibility for an electric cycle, as they should need fewer hours of charging for the distance required to travel in comparison to a heavier, more powerful electric car.
[Source: LA Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
PeakVT 11:08PM (6/04/2007)
That thing is horribly ugly, but a production bike would probably look better because the batteries would be custom-build and could fit inside a nice-looking fairing.
Bikes are still rather limited, though. Try driving one on a daily basis in a Vermont winter.
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dwf 12:51PM (6/05/2007)
Well, if you had read the Related Story "Plug into the future": http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-throttle30may30,0,952397.story?coll=la-class-autos-highway1
you would have found out that the motorcycle WAS NOT FINISHED! The batteries were being held in with a make-shift strap. The fairings were not on probably because (1) the mounting brackets were not in place, and/or (2) the reporter wanted to show the inner workings of the electric motorcycle. The batteries are stock, and would be too expensive to custom build them to fit a mold (the bike conversion already costs $15,000, and that's probably in addition to the cost of the donor bike). This is not a "production" electric motorcycle, it is a CONVERSION of a production motorcycle, so all the original fairings will be put back on eventually. And if the Vermont winters limit riding a motorcycle, then MOVE! New technologies are not useless just because YOU can't use them. There are plenty of people living in GOOD climates that can drive it year round.
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woodman 2:32PM (6/05/2007)
This has been on DIGG for a few days now. But, I like it! Too bad we cant get one of those for $6000 yet. We need more info on this bike.
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Don 5:58PM (6/05/2007)
Wow! That looks...hideous.
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Dan 11:00PM (6/05/2007)
I think that the better way to judge exhaust emissions, instead of parts per million as listed in the article above, is to define emissions as they do in the EU - mass-per-distance (grams of CO2/NOx/particulates per km). If you want to get even better, make it mass-per-distance-per-person. So if you have a car that emits 200 grams of CO2 per km, but there are 4 people in that car, you are doing better than the motorcycle at 100 grams of CO2 per km with one person.
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