In the gas motorcycle market one can purchase street legal versions of bikes that are almost what the pro motorcycle racers ride on the track. I haven’t checked to see what the difference is, but if you want to spend enough money a fully amped up Honda 600cc superbike can…
Last night before going to bed I attempted to put together some thoughts on comparing relative performance between the Zero S’s and Empulse TTX’s at the eRoadRacing event at Laguna Seca yesterday. The goal was to take a close look at the actual performance in race conditions of those two…
One of the questions about the eRoadRacing grid at Laguna Seca is the relative performance of the Empulse TTX’s and Zero S’s. These are manufactured electric motorcycles from Brammo and Zero, and there’s debate over which approach (transmission versus direct drive) is better. The results of the weekend showed the…
After yesterday’s eRoadRacing qualifying at Laguna Seca, todays race looked to be a shoe-in for Brammo to win 1st and 2nd, a three way contest for 3rd, and so on, just like it was in qualifying. Today was one of those race days where the results leave you scratching your…
Shane Turpin (Brammo) In todays qualifying round for the eRoadRacing World Cup at Laguna Seca, Shane Turpin (Brammo) took pole position, with Eric Bostrom (Brammo) taking second, and Kenyon Kluge (Zero) taking the last spot on the front row. Zero S’s did very well, with two of them beating the…
The big show this weekend in electric racing is the 2013 eRoadRacing event at Laguna Seca. It’s being held in conjunction with some other little event you may have heard of, MotoGP, and is a continuation of the e-Power/TTXGP joint events which began in 2010. The last three years it…
Oscar Pena, Zongshen Zongshen team member Oscar Pena is leading the European eRoadRacing series after taking 2nd place in both of the races at Valencia, and leading team-mate Ho Chi Fung crashing out in the 2nd race. Overall Zongshen took almost all the podium spots, and are the big winners…
Zongshen has the pole position in both eRoadRacing races this weekend at Valencia. Both qualifying rounds were held today, with two Zongshen riders finishing 1st and 2nd in each race, giving them 1st and 2nd positions in the starting grid for both races. Because there will be two eRoadRacing races…
One of the puzzles in the process of replacing the e-Power and TTXGP series with the eRoadRacing electric motorcycle race series has been – where’s the website? The eRoadRacing crew have unveiled what they’re calling a “temporary installment” and are promising a fully integrated website that will “offer fans all…
Zongshen The eRoadRacing 2013 season is now underway with an event in Valencia Spain. I’ve been seeing postings on Facebook about the practice round today, and the eRoadRacing organizers have now sent out a press release. It says Zongshen, Agni Racing and Renegade Z are racing, which means a conspicuous absence…
Just a few days ago Formula E had announced that Spark Racing Technologies (SPARK), their technology subsidiary, had been approved for homologation by the FIA to provide cars for Formula E’s 2014 season. Now they’ve announced selection of Berlin as the 10th city in the 2014 season. This completes the…
GM and TimberRock are developing support for an integrated solar power system, with grid energy storage and electric car charging, enabling smart grid goodness. Electric cars are often pictured in front of wind turbines or solar panels, because we want clean fuel for our clean cars. GM’s OnStar division just…
One of my colleagues over on PlugInCars.com (where I write news articles) wrote a piece that tried to diminish the need for electric racing. The thesis is a) the current crop of electric race cars is slower than gas race cars, b) what we need is longer range, not faster…
Spark Racing Technology today announced they’d created a consortium of companies that together will produce the electric race cars for the Formula E racing series. A decision by the FIA World Council on June 28, 2013 formally approved SPARK’s application for homologation as the supplier of all the electrical single-seaters to…
Browsing on Facebook I found this item posted by Brammo showing some pictures with them meeting Chip Yates at Thunderhill Raceway. Thunderhill is of course Brammo’s usual test track. Chip Yates is an AMA licensed racer, and in 2010-11 he had built an electric motorcycle meant for racing. He’d originally…
