Not only is the Mission One electric motorcycle going to race in the world’s first clean emissions grand prix motorcycle race on the legendary Isle of Man, but the bike (unveiled at TED today) is from San Francisco, California and aims to be the fastest electric bike on the planet. Snip:
A Californian company has unveiled the world’s fastest production electric motorbike, the Mission One.
Manufactured by San Francisco-based Mission Motors, the bike is capable of 150mph – considerably quicker than the British-designed, pre-production TTX01 bike – and is on sale now to US customers, with deliveries due in 2010.
(…) North’s bike is powered by lithium-ion batteries – the type found in laptops and mobile phones – and will reportedly run for 150 miles between recharging, which takes two hours.
The model demonstrated was a hand-built prototype. It is yet to be tested on the road at 150mph, but a Mission Motors’ spokesman said they “have no doubt that this prototype will achieve its target speed”.
Tesla and Mission Motors are targeting affluent green motorists, with the Tesla selling for £92,000 in the UK and the first 50 limited-edition Mission Ones likely to sell for $68,995 (£47,100). A cheaper version of the Mission One is due to be announced this summer. (…read more, guardian.co.uk)