It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

Summary: The world's speediest electric motorcycle; an electric car that charges itself; and slow and steady breaks the EV range limit.

[Note: Post updated to address a technical detail about product motorcycles pointed out by commenters.]

For those of you out there who crave to be the guy or gal on the block with the coolest electric vehicle imaginable, I bring you three fun electric vehicle developments that I read about this week over at SmartPlanet, the ZDNet sister site bringing you all manner of information about technologies, people and philosophies that make the planet a smarter place.

Rider Paul Thede from Race Tech (Photo: Richard Hatfield)

Rider Paul Thede from Race Tech (Photo: Richard Hatfield)

#1: The world's speediest electric motorcycle This is something I will NOT share with my husband, who already endangers himself on two different motorcycles. (Note: he's a good driver, I don't trust the other people on the road.) But for those of you who have a need for speed, I just read that the Lightning Electric Superbike just broke the land speed record for electric bikes.

The record was broken at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where the bike hit 206.079 miles per hour, which was more than 30 miles per hour faster than the 2010 record -- which was also held by Lightning Motorcycles.

One of these custom built bikes will run you about $38,000, and that's if you don't decide to trick it out like my husband has done with both of his motorcycles.

#2: A car that charges as you go? SmartPlanet contributing editor Mark Halper reports from the England that a British car-racing team will soon start easing a technology for dynamic or "on-the-go" charging. The idea is that the roadway would include power strips that would charge a vehicle as it moves along. Yes, kind of like those toy car and train sets that you used to have when you were a kid.

Halper reports that Drayson Racing Technologies is working on the concept with HaloIPT, a company in London that develops wireless charging technology for electric vehicles.

A double shot of fun for those who have range anxiety and those who want something a little sportier in their electric vehicle design than the Nissan Leaf.

#3: My EV gets 1,000 miles to the charge. Yours? This third item originates in Germany, where a car called the Schluckspecht, apparently just managed to travel 1,000 miles on a single charge on a Bosch test track.

This is a concept car: it was developed by Pforzheim University, the Fraunhofer Institut EMI and the University of Offenberg. The test run took 36 hours; the previous single-charge record was 623 miles.

This design is something that you are not likely to see on real roads anytime soon. Consider that it took 14 lithium-cobalt battery packs to best the record. That is one seriously heavy battery load.

Topic: CXO

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

40 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion
  • Get me the Bike!

    ;-)
    kd5auq
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @kd5auq
      "wireless charging technology" Sounds like the things cancer is made of. I don't know anyone that wants to live under (or even near) a powerline for just that reason. Too many ions floating in the air, doesn't sound good.
      BaconSmoothie4-2
  • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

    "The idea is that the roadway would include power strips that would charge a vehicle as it moves along. Yes, kind of like those toy car and train sets that you used to have when you were a kid."

    Good idea, but sounds expensive. I seriously doubt any technology that requires ripping up the entire road system in the USA is going to take off.
    CobraA1
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @CobraA1 Maybe if it was done at intervals in the road, rather than the whole system. Focus on high density cities first.
      happyharry_z
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @CobraA1
      It all depends on the price and availability of petroleum. But yes, its expensive. It would have helped if they built it into roads since 1906. (rememer electric trams?) It would have saved fuel and reduced the eco-impact of cars
      Loggies
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @CobraA1

      Think of the jobs it would create. It would be a public works project on a scale not seen since FDR was president. Add to that the reduced reliance on oil and I think it's a winner!
      zysmith@...
      • Somebody still has to pay for it

        @zysmith@...
        And the electricity also has to come from somewhere. Something like this may well happen, but it won't happen quickly.
        John L. Ries
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @CobraA1 just Interstates. Virtually all of the urban areas in the USA are within EV battery range of an Interstate, and as anyone who has traveled them recently knows, they are under constant reconstruction anyway!
      ricegf
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @CobraA1 Well let's see here, might work in areas where it's dry, all the time. Gee where would that be... no rain, no snow and no impact from dew or moisture, Oh wait a minute, we're talking about electricity and conduction here, I sure hope that no one falls across the track with a heart attack or some type of other injury... could be a shocking experiance for them.
      dishnetman
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @CobraA1 - How would it be paid for? Not the construction, but the electricity provided this way? Taxes? Tolls? Increase in the electric rates of stationary users? Keeping track of your usage (and your car's location) and sending you a bill? Signing up for a monthly road-usage service, like an ISP?
      hiraghm@...
  • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

    Don't expect to see any of these "breakthroughs" on the road anytime soon - All carbon-fiber & aluminum construction, no lights, A/C, windshield wipers, or even a radio - in short, not street-legal or suitable for all-weather use. I'm not about to give up on my gasoline-powered car yet.
    Starman35
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @Starman35 While these breakthroughs are great news, there are good electric options out there in dealer showrooms today. And depending on how you drive, any one of them could be a good fit for you. I chose a Chevy Volt because it offers a nice balance of all-electric operation for 99% of my driving and a gasoline engine to power the system for those occasions when I need to go farther. If there were wires in the road to inductively charge, that would be even better as I would be able to save the gas for times where there were no embedded wires and I'm farther from home than the range of the batteries. By the way, I just got my OnStar report for the month and this month's edition includes economy data. I am reportedly getting 1726 MPG and my electric usage works out to 31 KWH per 100 miles. At my LADWP EV charging rate of about 2.5 cents per KWH, that means I can drive 100 miles for 78 cents. Still want to keep your gasoline-only powered car?
      JoeFoerster
      • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

        @JoeFoerster I don't like Chevies, but that's damned sexy! The only problem is it'd take 10 years for the fuel savings to quantify the cost of replacing my paid off gas guzzler. I'd effectively be replacing a gas bill with a car payment which isn't practical, however, they did price this car well so someone in a position to buy a new car could justify the additional cost over even compact options. Bravo Chevy! You finally made a car I'd want to buy.
        phatjmo
      • Only Until Electricity Rates SkyRocket says POTUS.

        @JoeFoerster , Joe as electricity rates jump to never before seen costs due to the Presidents plans. Then your cost per mile may rise further than a gallon of gasoline. What then?
        mrrobertbuenger@...
      • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

        @JoeFoerster - yes I do. I'm not yet ready to join or promote the green nanny-state.
        hiraghm@...
  • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

    The bike may have broken the land speed record but how is it on water???
    PJL500
  • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

    Whats the big deal? 50 years ago, 20 August 1962 to be exact, a 1920 indian motor cycle (883 cc) set a record of 178.971mph, at Bonneville. Now some nut with an electric thinks it a big deal to go 30 miles faster nearly half a century later on a motor cycle that is 80 years newer?
    dwstclair@...
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      How can a "custom built" run in a production electric bikes class?
      kenneth.kelley@...
      • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

        @kenneth.kelley. Exactly the question that came to mind as I was reading the article.
        Larry Huisingh
    • RE: It's electric: 3 electric vehicle breakthroughs

      @dwstclair@... You missed the point entirely! Recall (emphasis mine) ...

      "206.079 miles per hour, which was more than 30 miles per hour faster <b>than the 2010 record</b> ? which was also <b>held by Lightning Motorcycles</b>."
      David A. Pimentel