High School students build enclosed electric motorcycle
Click above for more shots of the Saint Thomas EV
BMW once came up with the idea to enclose a scooter and add some safety equipment to it. Crash tests showed surprisingly favorable results, but the idea never seemed to catch on and the C1 is no longer for sale. The fact that it already proved unsuccessful on the commercial market once hasn't stopped others from considering the idea. One such group is the Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. A group of students at this high school has created an enclosed electric motorcycle which uses sixty volts worth of lithium phosphate batteries powering a Briggs and Stratton ETEK pancake-style permanent magnet electric motor.
The current configuration is said to be good for a top speed of sixty miles per hour and a range of forty miles. The chassis is constructed from chromoly tubing. The body is made from a carbon fiber and Kevlar composite and should therefore prove very strong. The full seat even features a seatbelt. We are not certain that anything quite like this will ever be available for purchase again, but its good to see it in concept form at least.
Gallery: Saint Thomas EV
[Source: The Kneeslider]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Speqtre 10:58AM (6/21/2008)
Awesome and inspiring - just imagine what improved battery tech will do for efforts like these. Two wheels in front would greatly improve stability and allow a fully enclosed chassis, making this much more appealing (to me at least.) Great job guys! (and gals?)
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Dad 12:46PM (6/21/2008)
With the upright seat it looks very uncomfortable and with the enclosure, you lose what make a motorcycle fun to ride.
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David Wright 4:24AM (6/22/2008)
And like all such upright enclosed bikes - it can presumably be expected to blow over onto its side in a crosswind!
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EV-1 6:21AM (6/22/2008)
Either there's a GOSSIP STORY OF TESLA
here at ABG, or there's some weird
crazy odd-ball idea showing up.
When are 'we' (ABG) going to deal with important
issues like LONG DISTANCE TRUCK TRANSPORT !?
Are you really aware of what that ever quoted
MPG figure
is for those dinosaurs of BigRig Trucks ?????
I'm sorry, but the proportions are suspicious here.
Issues like blowing soap bubbles from your push-bike seem just a tad disconnected from the reality of Global Environment Crisis we're facing . . . all of us.
I'm glad ABG exist.
Just concerned of the proportions, sometimes.
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feizi 11:15AM (6/30/2008)
news
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Richard Mohr. 8:51PM (6/23/2008)
Hey Jeremy ,do you still have the Kilowatt?I am looking for such a car.You can call if you like@
(510)701-5292 or 205-8441........Richard
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Frank77 11:10PM (8/16/2008)
EV-1: Big rigs MPG isn't that bad when you consider how many tons of cargo they are usually hauling. It's maybe half the gas mileage of an H2, and a rig can haul maybe 100x the cargo that an H2 can haul. You'd do a lot better to convince H2 owners to switch to something else, not that it's that hard these days.
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