A Video of The Electric Motorcycle

The first motorcycle was built in 1885, and it was a the direct descendant of the bicycle, but had a loud, smoky and slow engine attached to it. Recently, the motorcyle has become a symbol of fearlessness and sheer mechanical prowess. The only problem is that most convential motorcycles run on pure gasoline. So what do we environmentalists drive? Finally, Craig Bramscher's Brammo has produced an environmentally friendly alternative. See how it works. Throttle jockey. It's called The Enertia. And it's the first production electric motorcyle to be sold in the United States in a Ricken Motor Store. It's made by Brammo in Ashland, Oregon and it's been in the works for two and a half years. The Enertia can do 55 miles per hour. It can go for 45 miles, and it takes about four hours to charge. When you first started on this bike, what were you trying to go for, conceptually? Who's the market? The concept of The Enertia is really something that should be easy to use for new motorcyclists, but also something that's thrilling for those who are very experienced. The design of the motorcycle is an homage to the past, but looking forward to the future. So you say that this is a tribute to the past? But I don't see that, so if you could explain that to me. It's subtle, but we're inspired by the past, as with the simplicity of the bike. We've removed a lot of the intimidation, and that's the goal through the simplicity and the light weight. If you look at the styling elements, you'll think dual-sport or super-moto when you first see the bike. It's really designed around being a motorcycle for the commuter in the urban enviornment. There's no clutch lever, or shifter. The frame of the bike extends from the headtube down to the motor, and it serves as a battery tray. The batteries actually sit inside the frame and the bike is designed around the batteries and motor. The motor sits down low to maintain a low center of gravity and its direct drive to the wheel. To turn on the bike, you start with the key, then the 'power on' button. Your dash will come up, but the bike isn't live at this point. It's not driveable until you hit the throttle on/off switch. The dash has a lot of information on it that the rider can use as feedback. You first got the battery level, this'll drop down as you go through the discharge, this'll tell you how many miles you've travelled, and how many miles you have remaining, and it's a live update, so it calculates this number based on the power consumption. How much of the individual components of this bike were designed in-house? Where are they manufactured? You're an American company clearly, how American is this? Most of the bike is designed in-house, the frame of the bike, the body panels, the instrument cluster, the battery charger, and the vehicle control unit. But components like the motor, and motor controller, we've gone to some really high-end companies in Europe. Forks come from Marzocchi, Brakes from Brembo. Our ignition system comes from Zotti, also an Italian company. The frames themselves are manufactured in Portland, Oregon by a company called Soppa and they produce a lot of the world's high-end mountain bike frames. The swingarm itself is made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by one of the suppliers to Harley and Buell. The Enertia Electric Motorcycle is first in its class, running solely on a lithium ion battery that is designed to last for ten years, it can be used by plugging the battery into a wall. The Enertia is a combination of speed and energy efficiency. With its sleek and simple style, this new motorcycle makes saving the planet look easy.