God's Gift to Electric Motorcycles: Mission One EV Sport Bike

By Robert Scardino

Robert Scardino

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I'm a writer stuck in an engineer's brain with a debilitating case of autoholism. While studying at the University of Illinois I discovered my... More

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1,427 views Feb 5, 2009

Mission One EV Motorcycle

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What happens when a Tesla Motors castoff and an award winning industrial designer join for a brainpower tryst? A freaking fast electric motorcycle is born.

Mission Motors unveiled the world's fastest production all-electric motor cycle at TED2009 yesterday to googly eyes and slackened jaws. The bike is the product of former Tesla engineer Forrest North and designer Yves Béhar whose other notable projects include the Jawbone Bluetooth Headset, the Slingbox, and the One Laptop Per Child XO computer.

So they have impressive résumés, but what about the bike? It has a top speed of 150 mph, goes 150 miles per charge and recharges in under two hours. A proprietary lithium ion battery pack stores the juice for the bike and regenerative braking helps charge it. Did I mention that it's fast?

If you've never heard of Mission Motors, you're not alone. There has been little, if any buzz about this motorcycle until it was unveiled yesterday. The company operated in "stealth mode" (their words) for over a year leading up to this release. Some other EV companies could learn a thing or two from that strategy.

There's another company that started by producing motorcycles and ended up becoming one of the most innovative automakers in the world. (Hint: Starts with "h" and rhymes with "Honda.")

Source: Mission Motors via Autoblog