VIDEO: Brammo rides Detroit to Washington, 40 miles at a time
Brian Wismann on the Brammo Enertia - click above for high-res image gallery
Earlier this week, Brammo's director of product development Brian Wismann along with Dave Schiff of Crispin Porter Bugosky, began a ten-day journey meant to take them to Washington, DC. The trip, which is being chronicled on the site shockingbarack.com is intended to raise awareness of the company's new electric motorcycle, the Enertia, and electric vehicles in general.
The trek began at Zingerman's deli in downtown Ann Arbor, MI, which just happens to be a a few blocks from this blogger's office. Brian and Dave swung by office for a visit to show off the bike - which they prefer to call a powercycle - and chat about what it can do. Along the route to the capital, they'll be making plenty of similar stops, partly to demonstrate the bike but mostly out of necessity. While the Enertia is undoubtedly a neat ride, it underscores two of the major problems with EVs. They are expensive ($11,995 for the Enertia) and have limited range. This bike only has a 42-mile range and then takes four hours to charge. That means plenty of short hops to cover the 520 miles to DC. On the plus side, it should only take about $4 worth of juice to make the trip.
Hopefully sales will bring volumes that help bring the cost down. In the meantime, check out the video after the jump.
Gallery: Brammo Enertia: Shocking Barack
[Source: Green Fuels Forecast]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
wincros 1:21PM (10/15/2009)
"This bike only has a 42-mile range and then takes four hours to charge. That means plenty of short hops to cover the 520 miles to DC."
That publicity is not doing the EV advocates any favors.
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letstakeawalk 2:29PM (10/15/2009)
However, it is exactly what consumers want to know.
paulwesterberg 3:11PM (10/15/2009)
Whereas this trip is not possible with any hydrogen vehicle currently in production.
jpm 4:19PM (10/15/2009)
Exactly what I was going to say. Sadly I think this may garner negative publicity because of the high price and low mileage, which doesn't make it a solution yet. If the price was cut in half and the mileage up'ed to about 60-70 with a matching top speed, then they might have a solution. But we have to give them credit for trying and doing this ballsy journey.
letstakeawalk 4:20PM (10/15/2009)
Paul, you're going off topic, and you're wrong.
I will concede that many of the stations are currently private, but I would work under the assumption that for a promotional trip such as this, access would be possible.
7 stations in Ann Arbor - Detroit area.
1 station in Columbus, OH. (approx 250 miles)
1 station at Penn State, PA (approx 330 miles) or 1 station in Charleston, WV (approx 141 miles)
1 station at Ft. Belvoir, outside of Washington, DC (approx 350 miles form WV or approx 250 miles from PA)
The Toyota FCHV (maybe on sale in 2015?) has a range of about 400 miles, which would give a comfortable margin of error in getting to the refueling stations.
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/locator/stations/
Serge 4:28PM (10/15/2009)
No EV advocate that I know of claims that BEVs, especially the initial generation, are panacea for transportation industry that is immediately capable of replacing your average gasser.
With that said, being upfront about benefits and limitations of any technology is an absolute requirement for positive publicity and acceptance by the public. Some people choose a BEV, because they are fun to drive, cheap to maintain and fuel, displace foreign oil use and their range limitations are acceptable. Some people will buy an ER-EV for the same reasons and having convenience of a range extender powered by readily available fuel. Some people will simply buy a hybrid or a small fuel efficient car and some will keep buying gas hogs. What's changing is car buyers having more choices; what will stay the same is making purchase decisions based on needs, wants, and financial ability.
Snoopy 5:54PM (10/15/2009)
From a basic standpoint, this is good, honest publicity.
What people against EVs end up doing with it may be a completely different story. It's possible that they don't even see it as a threat. Who knows.
DasBoese 7:00PM (10/15/2009)
Hm, let's see:
This trip, Brammo vs. FCHV: Riding a motorcycle that'll guarantee lots of attentention and with the possibility of meeting lots of interesting people during recharging breaks, or spend a couple hours in a boring metal box that looks just like another car, and that you'll have to fuel at a pump like every other car?
I'll take the Enertia, thanks.
matte 6:02AM (10/16/2009)
letstakeawalk:
"The Toyota FCHV (maybe on sale in 2015?) has a range of about 400 miles"
.. you forgot to mention that it will most likely cost 10 times more...
i really like the "maybe on sale 2015" - by 2012 you will be able to buy a Tesla Model S with 300 mile range, lower running costs, no need for special refill stations, better performance for most likely less $ than the FCHV (a FCHV price lower than $100k would surprice me, as low as the projected $65k for the 300 mile model S would be a near miracle)
... by 2015 you can also for example buy a 6 year old Volvo with 800 mile range and 70 mpg for, shall we guess, $8k?...
letstakeawalk 1:27PM (10/20/2009)
Now that we've veered way OT, which Volvo do you mean?
"by 2015 you can also for example buy a 6 year old Volvo with 800 mile range and 70 mpg for, shall we guess, $8k?..."
If it will be 6 years old in 2015, then what 2009 Volvo gets 70mpg?
Richard 1:47PM (10/15/2009)
Short range, long charge time, not-too-great top-end speed, AND it's ugly? Looks like a winner to me!
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john 2:35PM (10/15/2009)
Been following their adventure. Totally awesome way to get electric motorcycles noticed. Keep it up guys.
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Bill 2:35PM (10/15/2009)
And couldn't they buy these guys some decent motorcycle gear?
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NeilBlanchard 3:07PM (10/15/2009)
Hi Bill,
I agree - sneakers and a 3/4 open face helmet don't cut it! I've never seen a leather jacket with a hood before...an nice Aerostich ( http://www.aerostich.com/ ) and a full face helmet and riding boots would have been a lot better.
Sincerely, Neil
Bill 3:34PM (10/15/2009)
And how about a helmet that's actually from this century? That metalflake 3/4 looks like something from the 60s, and may in fact BE something from the 60s. Not safe.
Mark Kiernan 2:38PM (10/15/2009)
I think the bike is a beauty, also silent and clean. Where I live there are tons of kids on scooters with exhausts cut off so they make make and pollute.
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Michael 2:49PM (10/15/2009)
At this point it is perfect for commuting, however battery technology is evolving fast. To learn more about electric motorcycles go to www.ElMoto.net.
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Nick From Montreal 3:32PM (10/15/2009)
This is neat. I'm all for product people driving their own creations. Hopefully, they'll come back to the lab and insist that a 40-miles range is *way* too short to be practical. They should at least offer a more expensive version that can do 120-miles.
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gorr 5:54PM (10/15/2009)
I doubt unfortunatelly for them that is will be a success, too short a range and long recharge time and high price for few performance.
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Snoopy 5:59PM (10/15/2009)
If I lived on the route, I would absolutely take part in the Share an Outlet or Share a Couch options available on the site. Sadly (at least as far as this goes), I'm up in Canada, so that's not possible.
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