For years we’ve had electric powered racing, whether it’s drag racing (NEDRA and the like), go-karts, motorcycles (TTXGP and the like) or cars (Formula E, Formula Lightning, etc). Electrically powered racers ran in separate classes, and often separate events, because while electric race vehicles might be fast enough they didn’t have the range to participate in regular gasoline powered races. Many in the field dream of doing so, however, and have been working for years to reach the point of competing directly against the gassers.
With my post last night going over Darvill Racing’s announcement that they’re entering the Southern 100
with an electric bike, the electric motorcycle racing field reached that threshold.
What Darvill (and Brammo) have achieved is an agreement to enter an internationally sanctioned race which traditionally had only gasoline powered bikes. The Southern 100 will be the worlds first internationally sanctioned motorcycle race with a mix of gasoline and electrically powered bikes.
In last nights post, I named off some other events where electrically powered motorcycles raced against gas bikes. While none of that happened at an internationally sanctioned motorcycle race, all were important stepping stones to reaching this threshold. The biggest was Lightning Motorcycles overall win last summer at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, by a big margin, racing against top riders and bikes from around the world. Surely that caught the attention of officials in high places.
|
Sponsored |
It’s another ball-o-wax however to have official FIM sanctioning lined up. It means electric racing is beginning to enter a phase of running in the regular races. Eventually it will become routine for electric bikes to be present in what had been a gasoline powered race.
- Hyundai/Kia investing in Arrival to co-develop electric vehicle technology - January 16, 2020
- EV charging station costs can be reduced, says Rocky Mountain Institute - January 16, 2020
- GM’s Hummer jaw dropping electric pickup return a sign of shifting car industry - January 13, 2020
- Every plug-in vehicle has the right to access charging stations - December 28, 2019
- eVgo offers CHAdeMO fast charging to Tesla owners – UPDATE - December 20, 2019
- Trump intervenes to kill EV tax break extension for Tesla and GM - December 17, 2019
- 2012 is calling wanting its all-electric Mini Cooper SE - December 17, 2019
- eVgo offering fast charging to Tesla’s on non-Tesla charging station - December 15, 2019
- DHL bringing electric delivery vehicle pilot project to USA - December 12, 2019
- Mayor Pete’s work at McKinsey included major study on energy efficiency and climate change - December 11, 2019
