Zero Motorcycles to host 24 Hours Of Electricross
If you happen to have an electric motorcycle, ATV or quad and always wanted to have your name in the record books, your chance for glory might be arriving this upcoming 4th of April. Zero Motorcycles is hosting the world's very first 24 hour off-road endurance event for battery-powered vehicles and you're invited to give it a shot. All the action happens "in the heart of San Jose" at the 408MX Motocross Track and registration (PDF), which must be sent in by March 20th, is free. While everyone that enters will get some type of prize (plus free drinks and snacks!), only the top three finishers will bring home trophies so plan on bringing your "A" game.
If you're an enthusiast and don't yet have an electric bike, Zero says they want to give you a chance to be involved and will make a "special effort" to make that happen. We're not sure exactly what they mean by that but we do know that anyone who buys a Zero X now
[Source: Zero Motorcycles]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DasBoese 9:34AM (3/01/2009)
Sweet.
Motorsports has always played a pivotal role in bringing new technology to the masses. With electric bikes becoming more diverse and affordable, there should be more local, grassroots events of this kind, that'd be an ideal way of promoting the technology in the offroad community and in general.
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ale 12:48PM (3/01/2009)
I saw on tv a couple of weeks ago comparing one of these bikes to a gas-powered one, and that ZERO bike was bangin', performance was about on par w/ a gas bike
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Dave 5:32AM (3/02/2009)
Zero has a street bike in the works, too. Should be released this year some time.
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Ms. Literate 11:46AM (3/02/2009)
The author said:
"We're not sure exactly what they mean by that but we do know that anyone who buys a Zero X now will get about $745 back at tax time next year due to the federal tax credits now in effect. "
No. The new legislation has a 2.5 kWh power pack minimum for two wheeled plug in vehicles and the current Zero X power pack is 2 kWh.
The forthcoming Zero S street moto should qualify for the tax credit, however.
Please, someone at Autobloggreen actually read the legislation and report how the tax credits work for all different plug in vehicle types (the credits are quite complex now and no one has reported their effects properly yet).
When in doubt about tax credits or tax matters in general, please consult a tax professional.
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Read your own articles? 11:54AM (3/02/2009)
This article on the electricross event would be much, much better if it got more details on the electricross event (logistics for the teams, rules to inform those who have never attended or participated in a motocross event, safety for such a mixed particpation of vehicle types and skill levels, etc.) and simply referenced the earlier autoblog green article for details on the tax credits.
The tax credit's relationship to Zero Motorcycles is reported here:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/02/20/zeros-electric-motorcycles-quality-for-stimulus-tax-credits/
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Domenick Yoney 1:01PM (3/02/2009)
Thanks for your comments. I apologize for the lack of detail concerning the event. Unfortunately, I received the email announcing it early on Saturday morning and when I called to get the type of details you and I both would have liked to have, their offices were not open. The URL at Zero with the Electricross information is http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/electricross/. I will be contacting them to find out more about the event and hope to post about it in the future.
Regarding the tax credit, I had seen the earlier ABG article and linked to it in the post above. I did misstate the exact nature of the tax. It is a state sales tax deduction of 10% that was also in the federal stimulus package. The URL at Zero concerning tax credits and sales tax deductions is http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/incentives/
Nicely repaired 9:55AM (3/03/2009)
Thank you for making the distinction between the federal tax credit and the separate state sales tax deductions which have quite different characteristics and are subject to limitations and for providing a link to Zero's excellent page that details how both programs work with Zero purchases.
We're all looking forward to more details on the electricross event.
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