Motorcycles

Mission One sets electric land-speed record with production prototype motorcycle

Mission One sets electric land-speed record with production prototype motorcycle
An electrifying wheelie on the Mission One electric superbike. Electrifying, get it?
An electrifying wheelie on the Mission One electric superbike. Electrifying, get it?
View 17 Images
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
1/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
2/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
3/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
4/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
5/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
6/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
7/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
8/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
9/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
10/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
11/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
12/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
13/17
Mission One at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Mission One in training for the top speed run
14/17
Mission One in training for the top speed run
Electric motorcycles can wheelie too!
15/17
Electric motorcycles can wheelie too!
An electrifying wheelie on the Mission One electric superbike. Electrifying, get it?
16/17
An electrifying wheelie on the Mission One electric superbike. Electrifying, get it?
Jeremy Cleland backs the Mission One electric superbike into a turn at the Infineon Raceway in California.
17/17
Jeremy Cleland backs the Mission One electric superbike into a turn at the Infineon Raceway in California.
View gallery - 17 images

Electric motorcycles, while economical, technologically fascinating and environmentally friendly, are unlikely to light a fire under the average petrolhead until they start tickling our inner hooligans... Which is why we're hanging out to throw a leg over the Mission One electric superbike. Fresh from its first run at the Isle of Man TTXGP, this battery-powered beast pulls power wheelies from faster than freeway speeds, handles like a dream and can top 150 miles on a battery charge.

And the latest feather in the Mission One team's cap is a national AMA land-speed record for electric motorcycles. Product Manager and test rider Jeremy Cleland pushed a production prototype - with the same powertrain that customers will get off the shelf in late 2010 - to a top speed of 161mph (259kph) and a two-way land speed record of 150.059mph (241.5kph) in poor conditions and high winds at Utah's Bonneville salt flats. Excellent.

Belting across a slushy salt lake, battling poor traction and harsh crosswinds at more than 150mph is a pretty fearsome job, but it's all in a day's work for Jeremy Cleland. Cleland, who spoke to us from the world's first electric motorcycle race a couple months ago, is the product manager for Mission One's electric superbike, and chief test rider into the bargain.

Part of Cleland's job is to drum up a buzz around the American-built electric superbike's fun and performance potential - and on September 1, he piloted the bike to a new national AMA land speed record for electric motorcycles, with a two-pass average run of 150.059mph at the Bonneville Speedway, hitting a peak speed of 161mph.

To put that speed into perspective, the Mission One team have taken their production prototype to a top speed similar to what the famous Killacycle electric drag bike manages over its fastest quarter-mile runs. And they've held it above that speed for a whole mile, going both directions to cancel out any wind assistance.

It's Mission One's first visit to the salt flats, and a remarkable achievement for this start-up company. More importantly, it's a bold display of the kind of performance we can expect from what will be just the first generation of electric performance bikes. This thing is able to get within 20mph of the 180mph limit that's imposed on most superbikes as part of a 'gentleman's agreement' between the major manufacturers - and it'll make that speed on debut.

"The Mission One is just an incredible motorcycle,” said Cleland who, in a previous life, raced both AMA and AFM, “This is a bike that can rip up the track at Infineon Raceway, do power wheelies at 80 mph, and then come out here to Bonneville and dismantle the prior electric world speed record. It pulls hard all the way from 0 on up to 161mph, all in one gear, with incredible torque. It's a riding experience like no other. The important thing to understand is this is not a one-off race vehicle, this is a production prototype. It is the same bike that we raced at the Isle of Man and features the same powertrain that we will be delivering to our customers in 2010.”

As much as I'm impressed by the top speed result, I must confess it's the wild wheelie photos that have caught my imagination today (there's lots of other shots in the gallery). Proof positive of the engine's meaty 100 lb-ft torque output that kicks in immediately from a standing start. That's right, from a standstill, this puppy can unleash around 17% more torque than this year's Yamaha R1 does at its 10,000rpm peak.

And here's where the potential of electric bikes starts to become apparent - as batteries continue to advance and store more and more energy, electric engines can be tuned to deliver virtually any sort of riding experience, from learner-friendly to brutal wheelie machine - at the flick of a switch. Traction control or wheelie control becomes a doddle to implement, because you'll have incredibly intimate control over the engine. It's all simply a matter of software.

The Mission One is more than the world's fastest road-legal electric motorcycle - it looks like the first battery powered roadbike that's going to deliver a serious hooligan giggle factor along with its green credentials. Congratulations, guys!

View gallery - 17 images
6 comments
6 comments
Christian Breiding
A silent motorcycle engine will get you killed in Los Angeles. Even hi-revving street bikes don't put out enough sound to clear the way when they split freeway lanes. An electric? Forget it, it's a death sentence.
Loz
I would contend that anyone who needs to rely on the sound of their exhaust to stay alive in traffic is putting too much faith in car drivers' hearing. And what does clearing cars out of the way when you're lane splitting have to do with "getting you killed?"
robinyatesuk2003
I agree with Loz,,,,,,,,anyone who thinks you clear the way in traffic by using the motorcycle exhaust is an idiot !
Facebook User
fantastic to see new speed record, be great to see on the Island,
all the best 2010
dD
James Nielson
Ya, what robinyatesuk2003 said! I realize that there's a GRAIN of truth to the "be heard, don't get run over" argument, but as Loz said, if THAT's what you think is gonna keep you alive, good luck. Call me crazy, but my personal strategy for survival is to consider every driver COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS TO ANYTHING ON 2 WHEELS. THAT you can rely on. Safe riding.
Flying Crowbar
Citizen Vern, I agree. People are so oblivious to motorcycles it amazes me nearly every time I\'m out; or parked. Like one day stopped at a subway. While eating I saw a woman park, get out of her minivan and walk right into my bike, promptly falling over with a look of total dumbfounded surprise in her face.
Motorcycles are invisible.