KillaCycle electric-motorcycle sets new drag record

The KillaCyle has again caused record-keepers to reach for their erasers with a world beating run of 7.890 seconds for the quarter mile at the Bandimere Speedway in Colorado. The day out for owner/designer Bill Dube’ and his team was topped off by an earlier run in which the 500hp two-wheeler set a new top speed mark 174.05 mph.

The KillaCycle has consistently set and broken its own world records since 1999 including becoming the first electric vehicle to break the 8 second barrier (7.991) in November last year. The run of 7.89 seconds @ 168 mph is a new official NEDRA record and makes KillaCycle the world’s quickest electric vehicle of any kind over the quarter mile.

The 200 lbs (90 kg) nano-phosphate™ battery cells from A123 Systems that give the KillaCycle its incredible punch are the same battery cells are found in DeWalt cordless hand tools, prompting the makers to describe it as "just a giant cordless drill with wheels". It's some drill though! The bike's performance in conventional terms is 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 0.97 seconds, and it only uses around $0.07 worth of electricity for each run.

The team attributed the most recent success to a number of contributing factors including preparation of the temperature-controlled track surface by Larry Crispe and the crew at Bandimere and the work done on the two Hi-Torque Electric motors by Jim Husted which enabled them to withstand a current of 1850 amps, a figure "well beyond what we ever had before"... not to mention the brave soul hanging on to the controls (check out the video below), driver Scotty Pollacheck.

Source: KillaCycle.