Posted on 07/31/2015 2:08:25 PM PDT by Red Badger
(Photo: Victory Motorcycles, website)
A Minnesota company appears to have beaten Harley-Davidson to the punch by unveiling its first electric street motorcycle.
Medina-based Polaris Industries, makers of Indian and Victory motorcycles, has this week revealed its Empulse TT high-performance sport bike, which runs without gas and has a top speed of 110mph.
The Pioneer Press reports that with the Empulse appearing in Victory dealerships by the end of the year, Polaris has secured a key advantage over competitors Harley, whose Project LiveWire motorcycle wont be brought to market until battery technology has improved enough to allow for longer driving distances.
We wanted to get in early, and so we are, Victory Motorcycles product director Gary Gray told the newspaper. At Polaris, we are pretty proud of our speed to market. We think it gives us a big competitive advantage.
You can take a closer look at the Empulse TT here.
According to the Business Journal, the bike has a range of around 65 miles for typical riding, but those easier on the throttle might be able to get more than 100 miles out of a single charge.
The key to Polariss success getting the bike to market so early, Bloomberg reports, was its purchase in January of electric vehicle company Brammo, which provided the battery-powered technology that could be incorporated by Polaris Victory designers.
Brammo is very, very good at electric technology and we are very, very good at motorcycle engineering, so there was a good marriage there, Polaris VP of motorcycles Steve Menneto told Bloomberg, which says that the full recharging of the Empulse battery will take four hours on a 240-volt outlet, or nine hours on a standard 120-volt plug.
The bike will have a suggested retail price of $19,999, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Polaris isnt resting on its laurels either, as it says it will continue to improve its products in tandem with Oregon-based Brammo.
The day is coming when youll be able to ride 300 miles [on a single battery charge], energy consultant Mike Cornwell told the Journal Sentinel.
VIDEO AT LINK........................
Tires? Who wants one with tires?
$2/gal gas is not stimulating the market for eCars, apparently.
Ural with Konkurs launcher:
I wouldn't necessarily think that.
my first thought was OMG!
Those naked bikes have an appeal all their own. Love them.
My first thoughts have to do with saltwater environments and dissimilar metals corrosion. Seems like it'd be a maintenance nightmare waiting to rear it's ugly head on a mostly-alloys bike.
Yeah, there is that, but pipelining on a motorcycle? Awesome, regardless of the later headaches.
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