New Zealand — Colorado-based Mr Dube is touring the country with his Killacycle, called the world’s fastest electric motorcycle and quite probably the world’s fastest electric vehicle.

The 500 horsepower bike is capable of more than 250kmh, can accelerate to 100kmh in less than a second, and, best of all, it can make 10 runs on a quarter-mile track on one charge.

No need for expensive high-octane fuel, no engine rebuilds after every run, and no emissions.

It costs just 15 cents to run down a drag strip, compared with the thousands for a petrol-powered drag bike.

Read the complete article at:
Electric motorbike definitely no drag

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

BOULDER, Colo. — The world’s fastest electric motorcycle is the KillaCycle.

Its creators, Bill Dubé and Eva Hakansson, are debuting their cycle in educational institutions aruond the country.

In May, 2009 professor Jean Koster  (aerospace engineering) welcomed the Killa Cycle and its creators to his  Alternative Energy Electric Vehicles class,  the first of its kind at CU.

Koster wishes to start a major project to build electric vehicles at CU in the next few years.

“The way Dubé and Hakansson designed the vehicles and how they approached the whole development is similar technology to what we would like to follow,” Koster said.

The KillaCycle dragbike goes from zero to 60 mph in less than a second. Dubé said the vehicle is silent, aside from some chain and tire noise.

The bike is powered by an  A123 Systems lithium ion battey, which he said are the world’s most powerful and the next generation of batteries. The bike weighs 653 pounds, including 200 pounds of battery weight.

Dubé is a scientist at CU’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and works on his bike in his spare time.

“I do this as a hobby,” he said. “I use my disposable income to build this. When it comes to the electric vehicle, it’s all about the battery.

The KillaCycle made electric drag-racing history in October 2008 with a new world record at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, covering a quarter mile in 7.89 seconds at 168 mph.

Source: ColoradoDaily.com

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Bill Dubé’s 500-horsepower Killacycle electric motorcycle goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under a second. He claims it is the fastest electric vehicle on the planet. In October, 2008, the Killacycle traveled a quarter mile in 7.89 seconds, topping out at 174 mph, a record.

Dubé, 56, an engineer and Rhode Island native who designing air chemistry instruments at the University of Colorado, is the bike’s designer, owner, and builder. He is out to prove that electric vehicles do not have to be “nerd-mobiles.”

“My main motivation is to prove to the public and manufacturers that electric vehicles can be something you enjoy driving. You have to make them marketable,” he said.

Indeed, he does it purely to prove the broad appeal of electric vehicles, and certainly not for money. “The best way to make a small fortune in racing is to begin with a large fortune,” he says, quoting NASCAR legend Junior Johnson.

At the heart of electric vehicles like the Killacycle are the batteries. A123 Systems Inc., based in Watertown, sponsors the Killacycle and provides its battery, but a spokesman said the company is in a “quiet period” prior to its planned initial public stock offering and could not comment.

Dubé read about A123’s lithium-ion battery technology in 2003 and decided to approach company officials. He thought drag racing was a great way to torture-test the company’s innovative battery cells. “I told them I’ll take the battery cells out to the drag strip and set a world record,” he said.

Electric-vehicle racing hit the start line about 15 years ago, when pioneers like Dubé began building the machines.

Mike Willmon, president of the 100-strong National Electric Drag Racing Association, based in Santa Rosa, Calif, .intends to increase public awareness about the performance side of electric vehicles.

A123 needs believers like Dubé. In January, the company lost a bid to provide battery cells for the Chevrolet Volt, the widely publicized hybrid vehicle due late next year from General Motors Corp. The contract was awarded to a Korean company, LG Chem Ltd.

What’s next for Dubé and the Killacycle? First, he wants to get the Killacycle to move at more than 200 miles per hour. And with two partners, he’s working on an enclosed motorcycle that promises to set a land speed record of more than 300 miles per hour.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites