Comments on: Mission Motors Keeps Moving: All-Electric Bike Tops 150MPH

By: Mission Motors Continues to Break Records

Mission Motors Continues to Break Records — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:55:38 +0000

[...] motorcycle. In 2009, the Mission One broke the electric motorcycle land speed record, topping 161 mph on Utah’s Bonneville salt flats. But that was just Mission Motors getting revved [...]

By: burnie west

burnie west — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:03:43 +0000

Chris, there is a huge infrastructure abuilding developing alternative power sources – all of which transform wind, waves, tides, sunlight, and so on into electricity. The Mission Motors bike adds to the market for both electricity generation and for more advanced battery technology. This adds to the demand, which necessarily reduces the fruition time.

By: Chris MacDonald

Chris MacDonald — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:45:47 +0000

Very cool stuff, speaking as a fan of things that go fast.

But from an environmental point of view, isn’t there something a bit fishy here? As I understand the relevant physics, for any object with mass to go really fast, it has to expend a lot of energy. Energy has to come from somewhere. The Mission One may be “zero emissions” at the tailpipe, so to speak, but depending where it’s charging its batteries, it’s highly unlikely that it’s truly “zero emissions”…most electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels? I realize that’s not exactly news. But my point is that, while (I suspect) fast *electric* motorcycles are, yes, going to be more environmentally sound than fast gas-burning motorcycles, isn’t the whole going-fast thing (for a what’s supposed to be a consumer product) always going to be problematic?

I *am* attracted to the whole “proof of concept” thing, and the idea that breaking a record draws attention to the whole notion of electric vehicles. But really, do production models need to go 150 mph?

Chris.