An enterprising man in New York has managed to build an electric motorcycle which he's referring to as the Battery Box. This term comes from the design of the frame, which is just large enough to house the battery components and is built from aluminum for minimal weight. The batteries are a lithium polymer chemistry and offer 48 volts with 40 amp hours of power. Based on the voltage, we assume that the two electric motors are DC. One motor is hub mounted at the rear and provides 6kW of power while an additional, smaller 3kW motor adds some additional acceleration when called upon.

Front forks from an Italian moped contribute to the Battery Box Motorcycle's light weight. The builder claims that this bike represents his first design and a second, more refined machine will be offered for sale for an expected price of $8,000. Check out the video after the break for some more information. Thanks for the tip, Mark!

[Source: Battery Box Motorcycle]

Click above for more shots of the Saint Thomas EV

BMW once came up with the idea to enclose a scooter and add some safety equipment to it. Crash tests showed surprisingly favorable results, but the idea never seemed to catch on and the C1 is no longer for sale. The fact that it already proved unsuccessful on the commercial market once hasn't stopped others from considering the idea. One such group is the Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. A group of students at this high school has created an enclosed electric motorcycle which uses sixty volts worth of lithium phosphate batteries powering a Briggs and Stratton ETEK pancake-style permanent magnet electric motor.

The current configuration is said to be good for a top speed of sixty miles per hour and a range of forty miles. The chassis is constructed from chromoly tubing. The body is made from a carbon fiber and Kevlar composite and should therefore prove very strong. The full seat even features a seatbelt. We are not certain that anything quite like this will ever be available for purchase again, but its good to see it in concept form at least.


[Source: The Kneeslider]

Click on the image for more shots of the Deus Ex Machina concept

Bumsuk Lim, a professor at Art Center Pasadena in California, has started a new program which aims to push the boundaries of future motorcycle design. Lim projects two-wheeling as a possible green revolution of sorts, saying, "There is no point in designing existing vehicles and simply adding green technology to the same old problem when we have the opportunity, and the moment in time, to make a greater change! Why not use these new environmentally safe technologies to change the way we ride?"

Judging from the first design we've seen from Jake Loniak, convention has taken a back seat to design. Called Deus Ex Machina, which means God Out of a Machine, the three-wheeled vehicle is a melding of motorcycle and exo-skeleton, complete with artificial vertebrae and pneumatic muscles. A built-in helmet, which sits atop the machine at rest, tilts forward with the body of the rider, making for a leaned-forward riding position. If it were ever built, which seems rather unlikely, the vehicle is projected to accelerate to sixty in three seconds and travel up to sixty minutes at a speed of up to seventy-five miles per hour, all after a fifteen minute charge of the Doped NanoPhosphate batteries and ultra-capacitors.


[Source: GreenCarDesign via Hell For Leather]

At the INTERMOT show in Cologne, Germany, running from October 8-12 this year, there will be a special section at the Innovation Centre which will showcase alternative drive two- and three-wheelers. The show will include vehicles that are already on the market, like the Vectrix scooter and electric E-Max scooter, and future vehicles, like a natural gas-powered Suzuki and hybrid Piaggio MP3, on display. A solar-powered test track powered by Salon AG will be on-hand for visitors to test out some of the latest electrically-driven machines and to recharge spent electric vehicles.

INTERMOT organizers believe that now is the time to put alternative energy on display, and they are intending to highlight the fact that environmentally friendly does not necessarily equal low performance. Besides alternatively-powered vehicles, the exhibit will also display eco-friendly parts, accessories and clothing related to the two-wheeled industry. The entire list of all INTERMOT exhibitors can be found at this link.

[Source: INTERMOT]

Click on the image able fore more pictures of the Zero X

Last year, we introduced our readers to the Zero X electric off-road motorcycle, which is capable of a forty-mile range after a two-hour charge. Last year the bike was selling for just under $7 grand, and although it is now going for nearly $7,500, we hear that they're having no problem selling the bikes. In stark contrast to Vectrix, Zero Motorcycles is reportedly looking for enough funding to undergo expansion in order to keep up with demand.

What is even more exciting is the new Zero S on-road electric motorcycle that the company is currently rolling out. The new S model will come complete with everything needed to register it on the street, including lights and turn signals, and is expected to be available this summer. Of course, the key to any electric vehicle is the battery, and the unit used by Zero contains 168 individual lithium ion cells and is expected to endure six years of hard riding.


[Source: Zero Motorcycles via The Kneeslider]

Two pieces of interesting Vectrix news coming your way today, you lucky readers! One, we hear that Vectrix might be debuting their long-rumored electric Superbike on November 6th in Milan. We'd be very happy if this one turns out to be true, and even happier if the bike were equipped with lithium ion batteries. For sportbike use, we'd want to see at least 100 miles per hour from the bike with excellent acceleration. We also think that the range should be better than the scooter too, which would of course also raise the price of the cycle. Trade-offs!

The second piece of news to share was featured in the print version of Popular Science in their April '07 issue. We've known for some time that Vectrix was planning to have a three-wheeler based on the Piaggio MP3's innovative leaning front suspension system, but we missed the picture from PopSci (.pdf), which claims that the bike will be out in '08 and will cost $12,000. We can't verify any of that information, though, so we'll wait for an official announcement from Vectrix on the matter before we get too excited.

[Source: Motoblog, Popular Science]

Suzuki is planning on sending a few concept motorcycles to the Tokyo Motor Show. One of those, the Biplane, has gotten some attention over at Autoblog. We thought that the Crosscage would be better suited to our green-minded readers, as it comes equipped with a fuel cell and lithium ion batteries. No gasoline engine appears to be present. Take a minute and read the press release past the break. Sea bass... uh, I mean Suzuki appears to be using the fuel cell technology from Intelligent Energy, makers of the ENV bike. It looks like the hydrogen may be stored directly in the center of the frame, right where the two intersecting tubes of the frame come together. That would leave plenty of room in the area normally reserved for the gas-tank of a normal motorcycle for the batteries. This is really just conjecture at this point, though, so we'll have to wait until we hear some English press releases to be sure exactly what is going on inside this cool-looking bike.

Besides the fact that the bike is powered by a fuel cell and batteries, the bike looks pretty sporty. Considering the reputation that Suzuki has earned with their GSXR series of bikes, that should not be a shocker to anybody. What is rather interesting, though, are the suspension systems on the bike. That front fork looks suitably high-tech, being single-sided along with the rear swingarm. We're not counting on ever seeing this bike in production form, but it's still an awesome design.

[Source: Suzuki]