Technosanity #27: Zero X Motorcycle demo ride

While at the 24 Hours of Electricross race, I took a demo ride on the motorcycle. This is the video.
Technosanity #27: Zero X Motorcycle demo ride

Technosanity #26: Interview w/ Don Amador at 24 Hours of Electricross

Continued coverage of the 24 Hours of Electricross race, continuing from Technosanity #25: 24 Hours of Electricross - Interview with Neal Saiki. Don Amador is with the Blue Ribbon Coalition, an organization specializing with taking off-highway vehicles (OHV) into the wilderness (mission: "The BlueRibbon Coalition champions responsible use of public lands and waters for the benefit of all recreationists by educating and empowering its members").

He attended the race to measure noise levels to understand the potential for electric off-highway vehicles to address noise issues related to OHV use. With a noise meter he recorded the race as producing 60-67 dB whereas normal motorcycle races produce noise in the 100+ dB range. At 65dB it is the same as regular conversation between people.

Electric vehicles offer more than mitigating environmental damage from burning fossil fuels, and they offer more than a way out of the peak oil mess. They offer a solution to noise pollution in our cities.

After 100+ years of gasoline vehicle use our society has become immunized to the noise coming from them. But they are noisy even if we're not aware of that noise. Think of the potential change to the quality of our cities if there were a preponderance of electric vehicles.

Technosanity #26: Interview w/ Don Amador at 24 Hours of Electricross

Technosanity #25: 24 Hours of Electricross - Interview with Neal Saiki

On April 4-5, 2009, Zero Motorcycles held the 24 Hours of Electricross race. This was an endurance race for their brand of electric motorcycle, 24 hours in length, 10 teams, three battery packs per team, the winner being the team achieving the most number of laps during that period. I've never been to a dirt bike race, never ridden a "dirt bike" style motorcycle "on dirt", but am an electric vehicle enthusiast and was excited to see this race occur.

I've been to the NEDRA race, the National Electric Drag Racing Association has a goal, shared by Zero Motorcycles, of proving that electric cars aren't boring golf carts. Electric vehicle races are a great way to show electric vehicles can be fast. However the NEDRA race is in the form of a drag race, 1/4 mile, 10-15 seconds, and that's it. The Electricross race just kept going and going and going. What made this possible is a motorcycle frame design which allows for quickly changing the battery pack. I observed several times a racer would come in off the track, the pit crew quickly change out the pack, and within a minute or so the bike is back on the track (with a new rider).

Quick change battery packs are not a new idea. Famously this is a key of the Project Better Place plan, however the idea is very old and goes back to the earliest days of electric vehicles. Zero Motorcycles have simply done a great job of implementing this old idea.

Other coverage
Zero Motorcycles hosts first-ever 24 Hours of Electricross
Electric Motorcycle Impresses Motocross Crowd
First International Electric Motocross Sets Guinness World Records And Only Cost $100 To Power All 10 Dirt Bikes For 24 Hours.
Zero Motorcycles sets electric motorcycle endurance record
Technosanity #25: 24 Hours of Electricross - Interview with Neal Saiki

Technosanity #9: 36th Annual Silicon Valley EV Rally

The Silicon Valley EAA Chapter has done a yearly rally for, now, 36 years and I have been attending for 10 years or so. Back the major car companies showed up, the most impressive being GM's presence with the EV1. They'd arrive with one or two tractor trailer trucks with 4 EV1's and make them available for test rides. I got to test drive the EV1 a couple times due to this, and other car companies showed up back then as well. Needless to say, since GM axe murdered the EV1, that the major car companies did not show up today. But there were still a lot of people attending anyway.

Car companies in attendance included:-

AC propulsion: http://www.acpropulsion.com/

Green E Motors: http://greenemotor.com (since defunct)

Green Rides: http://greenrides.com (since defunct) -- BTW in the podcast episode I only mentioned the EVT4000. They also had on display a kitcar conversion they're getting ready to sell. It's a kitcar version of the old Spyder sports car, and converted to electric drive they're claim it will cost $50,000.

Electric Bikes: http://electric-bikes.com

Green Vehicles: http://greenvehicles.com (since defunct) -- I wrote a piece about their Triac on V is for Voltage

Electric Motorsport: http://electricmotorsport.com -- I wrote a piece about their GPR-S motorcycle on V is for Voltage

Technosanity #9: 36th Annual Silicon Valley EV Rally

Links:  http://audio.davidherron.com/technosanity/e000008.mp3

Technosanity #8: Growing popularity of high miles/gallon motorcycles

Parking cars, climbing on scooters
You may have noticed more scooters or motorcycles on the road this summer. They are small, usually very fuel efficient and cheaper to operate than a car. Many customers say they are giving scooters or motorbikes a try because of the great fuel mileage they get.

Electric scooters designed for commuters
The Vectrix is an electric maxi-scooter which recently came on the market. It has great cargo capacity, goes fast enough to travel on highway's, has enough range to handle typical commutes with ease, and zero emissions. The San Rafael dealership has sold 23 Vectrix scooters since they became available in May.

Rising Fuel Prices and Recession Fears Spur Nationwide Interest in Motorcycles and Scooters
A July 21, 2008 article in PowerSports Business reported that first half scooter sales increased by sixty five percent, validating a consumer trend towards more fuel efficient transportation. "The era of smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles is upon us," commented Anthony Havens, Sparta's CEO. "Until recently, motorcycles and scooters were considered the choice of enthusiasts, or people who were just interested in fun and recreation. But, with gas prices dramatically rising, we believe a growing number of consumers will be interested in buying or leasing motorcycles and scooters for extremely practical reasons. With most motorcycles averaging from 40 to 60 miles per gallon and many scooters averaging up to 70 or more miles per gallon, a lot of people are now interested in acquiring these vehicles for commuting to and from work and for local and mid-distance transportation."

70 Extra Parking Spaces for Growing Biker Population
In New Zealand they're having enough growth of motorcycle riders to require more parking.

US drivers log 12bn fewer miles in June
In the U.S. the roads are less crowded than ever, perhaps due to this 'Staycation' effect.

‘Auto rickshaw’ gives Waukesha man cheap, fun ride
3 wheels and 70 miles per gallon
In other countries (India, China, etc) three wheeled cycle-car's are pretty popular. In India the auto-rickshaw's are the ubiquitous taxi service available any time of day or night. They began life as scooters but with a bench seat in the back and a cover to help keep out rain. Some are importing these into the U.S.

Aptera Typ-1 pushes design and efficiency to new ground
The Aptera looks for all the world to be a wingless airplane. It is an electric three wheeled vehicle whose aerodynamic styling creates the airplane illusion. It gets a 200 mile range per charge, holds two people plus cargo. It is due to begin delivery to paying customers in late 2008 and they have well over 2000 people pledged to buy vehicles.

Number of motorcycle deaths increasing in Washington
Motorcycle safety is everyone’s responsibility
Motorcycle Safety Foundation -- http://www.msf-usa.org/ -- Get trained and licensed. -- Wear personal protective gear — Ride unimpaired by alcohol or other drugs. -- Ride within your own skill limits. -- Be a lifelong learner by taking refresher rider courses.

National Highway and Transportation Administration -- http://www.nhtsa.gov/ -- motorcycle fatalities 2,116 in 1997 to more than 4,800 in 2006 -- Motorcycle registration has jumped 63 percent between 1997 and 2005.

Motorcyclists Learn Safety First
Motorcycle Safety Foundation Calls for Commencement of Motorcycle Crash Causation Study
Death by Motorcycle: Rates Continue to Rise
Motorists push for motorcycle lanes
Can Rising Motorcycle Fatalities Be Blamed on a Lack of Helmet Laws?
Gas prices drive increase in motorcycle injuries
Motorcycle riding is inherently dangerous, the motorcyclist is less visible, and in case of collision there is no protection. What gives a motorcyclist safety is to avoid crashes, and you do this through practicing safe operation, through being aware of the traffic, planning ahead what actions to take, etc.
In case of collision wearing safety gear reduces the extent of injuries. Yet there have been a decrease in U.S. states requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. Crazy.

What I took from the motorcycle safety training is the value of awareness. They teach an awareness practice you can use while riding a motorcycle. It involves constant scanning the road ahead of you for potential dangers and preemptively planning responses in case of problem. A key thing is to look far enough ahead to account for your reaction time. That is, how far down the road will you travel in 4 seconds? It's because 4 seconds (or so) is the typical reaction time, and if an emergency comes up you'll have 4 seconds before your reaction kicks in. Can you do it? Only if you pay attention to where you're going and what you're doing (thank you Yoda).

But an interesting side learning for me from this has to do with improved safety in car driving. Namely... I know that I'm not the only one who does this, that essentially everybody is doing this: I get in my car and somehow I get to my destination and don't remember how I got there and my mind wandered the whole time. HOW SAFE CAN THAT BE?

That's not safe at all, is it? Hm? Be honest now. That's a totally dangerous thing, right? Somehow it works most of the time and perhaps we're being lulled by how often it works. But let's be real ... this is dangerous.

Perhaps everybody should be required to learn to ride a motorcycle and take the motorcycle safety training ...?

Anyway, back to motorcycles

Motorcycles are fuel efficient... they require less resources to build the motorcycles.. and they take less land.

That last is a little hard to see and I want to make sure it's understood. Ponder if you will the typical city. Wide highways, perhaps 8 lanes each way, lots of parking lots, a garage at each house, lots of city streets, etc. Shopping centers are required to size their parking lots based on the maximal shopping time (Christmas) meaning the lots are only half full most of the time. Same for the roads, if a highway becomes clogged during rush hour the citizens will bitch and moan to the highway administration until the highway people build more roads. But the rush hour is, uh, an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening meaning they're sizing the roads to handle the worst part of the day and the other 22 hours of the day the roads are not so clogged.

In short there's a lot of land tied up with storing cars while they're parked, and space for them to drive around.

Because motorcycles are smaller that means you can pack more motorcycles per unit of road and park more motorcycles per unit of parking lot. Motorcycles and bicycles represent a better land use deal than do cars. An even better land use arrangement is mass transit systems.

Technosanity #8: Growing popularity of high miles/gallon motorcycles

Links: 

http://audio.davidherron.com/technosanity/e000007.mp3