We Obsessively Cover the Green Scene…

Looks like 3rd of June will be a red-letter day for electric motorcycles. Not only are we to have our hearts unbroken by Mission Motors, but it is also the exact same day that another of our two-wheeled favorites will ride into the spotlight. Moto Electra Racing has announced it will begin a journey from coast to coast with its Norton-styled retro-electro machine in a bid to make the record books for the quickest continental crossing by an electric vehicle.

The team will set out from Florida and drive to Santa Monica in about 3 days, with an estimated 20 stops for charging and cat-napping.

Inspired by a film about the first gas-powered automobile cross-country trip in 1903 – a time before gas stations and, for the most part, paved roads – the team plans to set out from the beach in Jacksonville, Florida and quietly hum their way to the Santa Monica Pier in California in about 3 days. That's about 2,500 miles along Interstate 10 at, or slightly below, the 70 mile-per-hour speed limit with an estimated 20 stops for charging and cat-napping.

In the saddle will be team stalwart Thad Wolff. The former AMA Superbike racer has lots of experience with the bike, having raced it in the TTXGP and claiming 2nd place overall in the North American 2011 season. He will be supported by team principal Brian Richardson and a group of students from James Madison University who will bring along a portable generator. The general strategy is to ride for two hours, then charge for one, being careful not to tax the batteries.

The bike itself is one sweet piece of work. Built around the famous Norton featherbed design, it is powered by an air-cooled AC motor and holds a battery pack which, while somewhat old, still holds an amazing 19 or 20 kilowatt-hours of energy (most comercially-available electric motorcycles offer about half that capacity, it's more than the 16.5-kWh in the Chevy Volt). While copies are not yet officially offered for sale, the team hinted in an email that it may be a possibility in the future

You can follow the effort on the Moto Electra Facebook page where it will post plenty of photos and keep fans abreast of its progress. You can read the official press release by simply scrolling below. Godspeed.

The Formulec EF01 is a pretty sweet all-electric race car, but it's really been just a place holder for the vehicles that will eventually form the FIA Formula E Championship grid. Along with an announcement that Renault will be a technical partner, the budding series has just released images of what we can expect the actual cars to look like when they take to the starting line. Think less Formula 3, and more Formula 1.

As it has been presented, the poetically-named Spark-Renault SRT 01E is a mix of mirror-like polished aluminum body work and carbon fiber struts and wings. Its aerodynamic package not only has the traditional elements that provide downforce and keep the wheels planted through the turns, but it also features a few touches like partially faired wheels to help keep the slipstream free of energy-robbing turbulence.

The collaboration is more than skin deep, too. According to Managing Director of Renault Sport Technologies Patrice Ratti, the French automaker will call on expertise derived from its experience in Formula 1 and its production of road-going EVs to keep the electrons in the drivetrain flowing properly. And we quote,

"Engineers from Renault Sport F1 and Renault Sport Technologies will collaborate with Spark Racing Technology team to optimize the electric and electronic layout and performance of the powertrain."

Besides the big partnership news, Formula E has also revealed that Bangkok, Thailand has been chosen as the ninth of ten cities that will host a race. Although it has a burgeoning auto-making industry, the Asian country lacks an international motorsport presence. This event should help raise that country's automotive profile and give the electric racing series one of its more interesting backdrops.

You can read the two official press releases by scrolling below, as well as view a clip of Formula E Holdings CEO Alejandro Agag discussing the concept of the series in a recent interview with the Financial Times.

You know the feeling you get when the hottie you have a big crush on starts dating someone else, which breaks your heart, but then that relationship suddenly ends and your petit chou fleur is romantically-available again and your heart becomes unbroken? (Just indulge us and say, "Yes.") Well, that's kind of how we feel about the appearance of the above teaser from Mission Motors promising the most advanced, "highest performing street-legal electric vehicle ever made."

The truth was, the Mission One design was dead, and the company would soon change its business model.

The Mission Motors story is packed with more twists and turns than any Californian canyon road. It burst onto the scene four years ago with the radically-designed, but super-powerful (and super-expensive) Mission One. A year later, it announced a production delay but the truth was, this design was dead, and the company would soon change its business model to one that focused on selling components to OEMs instead of motorcycles to the public. Our hearts were a little bit broken.

The startup then unveiled the fabulously-fabulous Mission R superbike and raced it in exactly one TTXGP event, where it won and set the EV-lap record at Laguna Seca (1:31.376, which stands to this day). Later, Mission fashioned the R into a street legal machine, handing it off to the likes of Jay Leno and the odd motorcycle journalist, and getting high marks for the two-wheeled effort. Still, no production plans were forthcoming.

Despite their successes, the company looked like it was in trouble last Fall as it laid off a significant number of staff – the end, it seemed, was near. Instead of final repose though, the San Francisco concern is jolting back to life. It started looking for new employees again back in February and this latest teaser would indicate that it's reversed its business-model reversal and is going back, at least in part, to its original plan of selling its own electric motorcycles.

When the lights come up on the promised production bike June 3rd, we expect to see a machine based on the Mission R, but featuring further refinement and, perhaps, higher performance. Truly, spring has returned, the dream is once again alive. Our hearts, they are unbroken.

Institutional memory can be a funny thing. Sometimes short, sometimes selective, it always makes us wonder just how much effort was put in looking backwards before sending out press releases trumpeting a "first ever" product or event.

Case in point, the FIM has just announced the "first ever race for electric motocross bikes": the E-MX. While we can understand the desire to unremember unaffiliated happenings, such as the MiniMoto SX and, perhaps, Zero Motorcycles' 24 Hours of Electricross, it puzzles us how it manages to forget its own pioneering Ride Green Eco Enduro. It all just distracts from what could be a very significant bit of news – which we will now focus on, now that we feel better after getting that off our chests.

A significant hole in the electric motorcycle racing continuum might be about to be filled as the first E-MX event kicks off this week in at Circuit Zolder in Belgium, part of CleanWeek 2020. The contest will feature about a dozen riders, who will be split into two groups for sets of sessions for practice, qualifying and a semi-final. The top three riders from each group will then take to the track and face off in a five-lap final.

A varied assortment of riders includes the likes of 10-time world MX champion Stefan Everts and, interestingly, BMX Olympian Arnaud Dubois. Instead of his pedal bike, Dubois, and the rest of the riders, will compete using a small fleet of not-yet-for-sale-to-the-public KTM Freeride E motocross bikes. There will also be some representation from other manufacturers, as Zero Motorcycles and Quantya (now Vrone) bikes will be used for some "test runs" before the qualifying begins.

It's not clear whether the FIM E-MX, as it is called, will be an annual event or perhaps the beginning of a proper series. We, of course, hope it is the latter since motocross is the most popular form of motorcycle racing and the use of electric propulsion would help demonstrate to a wider audience the advantages of a quiet, yet powerful drivetrain. Scroll down for video from last September's original announcement which includes some getting-dirty demonstration footage, along with the official press release. If you happen to find yourself in the vicinity of Zolder Circuit on Thursday, definitely go check it out. Admission is free.

Tesla Motors has just revealed the latest edition of it 5-part announcement trilogy. Whereas the previous first installment had to do with the company's new leasing program, this episode is all about service and warranty, comes gift-wrapped in the glittery descriptor of "World's Best," and is accompanied by hints of a future battery upgrade.

The new plan improves on the California automaker's service program by adding a valet service that brings you a top-spec Model S Performance – or a Tesla Roadster, if you prefer – to temporarily replace your personal vehicle while it's being serviced. CEO Elon Musk states that this fleet of Model S service vehicles, which will initially number about 100, will ideally be less than three months old and also be available for immediate sale. Like your loaner more than your own car? You can keep it, paying "a price that is lower by 1% per month of age and $1 per mile" for your new ride and taking, likely, a similar hit on your trade-in.

Musk hinted that a 500-mile battery would not be an unreasonable thing to expect in four or five years.

Not only should the purchase scheme keep the loaner fleet nice and fresh, it may also create a cache of certified pre-owned inventory for buyers who are looking for a deal on a Tesla that starts at $69,900 from the factory, or who would rather not wait a couple months for a new, made-to-order car.

As well as no-travel hassle, Tesla has also made its $600 annual service optional without effecting the standard 5-year/50,000-mile warranty. The company has also made the battery portion of the warranty unconditional, meaning that, if you manage to somehow turn it into a useless brick (something that should be quite difficult to accomplish with the Model S), you will get a replacement unit of equal capacity free of charge.

Speaking of battery capacity, during the media call, Mr. Musk also offered some hope for those anxious for packs that hold more energy than the current EPA-estimated 265-mile/85 kilowatt-hour packs now available. In response to a question about upcoming technology improvements, he hinted that a 500-mile battery would not be an unreasonable thing to expect in four or five years. He then added that, eventually, Tesla would likely offer owners the opportunity to upgrade their vehicles with longer-range capabilities.

It all sounds pretty good to us, and we can't help but think if this upstart company keeps it up, surpassing sales of the Chevy Volt might seem a minor accomplishment. For more details on this newest warranty arrangement, you can get more details in a blog post on the Tesla website.

There's nothing like conflict to make a story more compelling, and in the man-against-nature drama that is the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, we can add-man-against-man to the electric motorcycle portion of the event.

Putting his battery-powered trans-Atlantic airplane endeavors momentarily on hold, Chip Yates is coming back to the race to the clouds to defend his 2011 electric motorcycle record. With his own custom machine now in residence at the Peterson Automotive Museum, his steed of choice will be sourced from the stables of Lightning Motorcycles; builders of the fastest two-wheeled destroyer of electrons.

His main competition is to come from Greg Tracy, someone with more than a passing knowledge of the super-twisty 12.42-miile course. With six Pikes Peak wins aboard various gas-powered motorcycles, Tracy is now going to try his hand at kicking amps aboard the Amarok P1A.

The Lightning Motorcycles superbike is all about more, while the machine from the Canadian upstarts is all about less.

What makes this match-up perhaps even more interesting is the completely opposite approaches of the two efforts. The Lightning Motorcycles superbike is all about more, while the machine from the Canadian upstarts is all about less. The Amorak relies on fewer than 100 ponies from a pair of DC air-cooled Agni motors within its super-light monocoque aluminum chassis while Yates will be astride a much heavier AC-powered beast with about double the power.

No doubt the P1A will prove more nimble through the 156 turns up the now fully-paved Pikes Peak, but will that advantage be enough to keep it ahead of the wheelie-prone Lightning? We'll find out June 30th when the event is live-streamed on Redbull.tv.

If neither of these bikes manage to somehow not make it to the finish line, it won't mean an electric motorcycle won't complete the course. Hollywood Electrics and Zero Motorcycles are also teaming up to send six riders astride various Zero models in search of hill-climbing glory including the Electric Cowboy, Brandon Nozaki Miller and TTXGP competitor Jeremiah Johnson.

Scroll down for the official press releases from the both Chip Yates and Amarok Racing.

Doughnuts. They're not just those delicious disks of deep-fried delight sometimes stuffed with custard or jelly, and perhaps lightly dusted with confectioners sugar (mmmm... doughnuts). No, they are also a time-honored, tire-smoking way of demonstrating automotive power and virility.

Since many people's familiarity with electric vehicle performance begins and ends with golf carts, it seems only natural that a publicity tour for the upcoming FIA Formula E racing series employ the stunt on the very same Los Angeles streets on which it intends to race in 2014. With former Formula One driver Lucas di Grassi spinning the Momo steering wheel of the prototype machine – the actual cars used next season are being prepared by Spark Racing Technology with help from the likes of McLaren – many scorched-rubber circles were served up for the enjoyment of the onlooking crowd this past Earth Day.

You can find an assortment of photos from the promotional visit in the gallery above, then scroll down for video of the electric doughnut making mayhem along with the official press release for the event.

The wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow and fine, but, if you're demonstrably in the right, and have (a lot) of patience and a capable lawyer, good things can happen. An example of this might be a particular David versus Goliath Tesla case that has just been resolved.

David Vespremi, former director of communications for the California automaker (and new Epic Torq owner) was part of a mass firing, which ousted Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard called, at the time, a "Stealth Bloodbath" in which 26 employees were let go at once without advance warning. Unwilling to take what seemed like a wrongful dismissal lying down, Vespremi and his legal representative Yosef Peretz took his case to the courts. A similar situation is playing itself out over at Fisker Automotive, where recent sudden layoffs have triggered a federal lawsuit over alleged violations of the US Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which mandates a 60-day notification period before mass layoffs.

In any case, after five long litigious years, Vesprimi has just received word that the court has found in his favor as regards to his entitlement to 10,000 shares of stock options. This translates to $207,000 in cold, hard cash.

While Tesla will certainly be happy to put this case behind it – the company has, no doubt, already spent far more than the final award on the proceedings – it still faces further fallout from the decision.

With the principles of its obligations to former employees vis-à-vis stock options now established, it faces a further class action suit filed on behalf 99 other former workers with carbon-copy claims. While that may add up to a significant out lay for Tesla, it might find comfort in the fact that at least some of that money may very well find its way back in the form of orders for more of its Model S.

We have asked Tesla for a comment on the situation, but did not get a response before publication. We will update this post when we hear back.

*UPDATE: Tesla says, "We don't comment on pending litigation."

Finally, success! Chris Anthony has been trying to launch a three-wheeled electric vehicle for years now – first, with the ill-fated Aptera Motors, which he co-founded, and now with his own Epic EV. Last Saturday, all that effort came together in a triumphant event that saw the Torq Roadster introduced to David Vespremi, former Tesla Director of Communications and first official customer.

For Vespremi, getting the Torq is also the fulfillment of a dream. While he enjoys driving high-performance vehicles (he has a Toyota MR2 with a few hundred horses), the low reliability factor and outrageous noise that's an integral part of the gasoline-powered experience has long lost its luster. Of course, the Roadster built by his former employer would likely quench his thirst for speed, but its price tag was almost double that of his new topless track toy and is now out of production.

The Torq is just a tick less quick than the Tesla, but promises that visceral open-driving feel of an Ariel Atom or KTM X-Bow that is unavailable to drivers in the US. Yes, there is that whole 3-wheel thing, but a test drive convinced our pioneering protagonist that the configuration "didn't kill the handling." It also allows for street-legal homologation.

We're looking forward to hearing more about this latest electric sports car from a customer's perspective, which David says he'll provide in a few weeks (with video, please). In the mean time, he's written a blog post that tells the back story about his purchase.

Feel free to peruse the gallery of pics from the official launch (more here) and scroll on down for the official press release.

Sim-Drive continues to move towards its goal of evolving the gloriously fantastical all-electric eight-wheeled Eliica into a mass-produced passenger vehicle by 2015. Introducing the SIM-CEL (Cool Energy Link), the third iteration in the Sim series of prototypes.

At first blush, this latest creation would seem to be taking a few steps backward – it only seats two and its range is given as 324 km (201 miles) on the JC-08 cycle, 17 fewer miles than its predecessor. However, a closer look at the numbers, and the car itself (pictured above), reveals the progress; this thing is amazingly aerodynamic. It boasts a slippery drag coefficient of 0.199. Combined with its four direct drive in-wheel 65-kW (87-horsepower) electric motors, it is now said to achieve an efficiency of 91.2Wh/km (again, on the JC-08 cycle). That's rather impressive.

What makes the SIM-CEL even more remarkable, and helps it stand out from other super-sleek efficient contenders, is the fact that it can also move with a quickness. Its 0-to-100 km/h (62 miles per hour) time is given as 4.2 seconds, which puts in the same class as a Tesla Model S Performance. How now, VW XL1?

Another big difference in this latest vehicle is its construction. While its 1580-kg (3483-lb) weight is identical to that of the previous SIM_WIL, despite having a smaller, 29.6-kWh battery, its dimensions are significantly larger in every direction. (Click here to see a photo of all three Sim-Drive vehicles parked adjacent each other.) To accomplish this, the CEL retains the space-frame substructure of its siblings but uses CFRP (carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer) for its exterior shell.

The high tech incorporated into this prototype doesn't stop there, though. Included in the package are laser-driven high beams that work with LED headlights to illuminate the night 1.5 times as far as the previous lights.

Scroll down for a short clip of SIM-CEL in motion. While the quick blast of acceleration doesn't translate impressively to video, it does give us a chance to check out that unique body work.

Quick. If we say, "electric scooter," what springs to mind? A retro-styled off-brand offering from China? A plush maxi-sized conveyance for mature riders? Anything except, we imagine, the E-Speed concept from KTM that was just revealed at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show.

This sexy little beastie could very well be the butterfly knife of electric scooters: fun to play with, but deadly serious about slicing and dicing city traffic (*Disclaimer: Don't play with knives. You can put an eye out.) Built lean, with its aluminum battery enclosure doubling as the main chassis component, it doesn't just look sporty, it embodies it.

The E-Speed concept is quiet enough to not interfere with the sweet nothings it whispers to your inner hoon.

Packing an 11-kW (14.75 horsepower) liquid-cooled motor, the E-Speed offers 26.5 pound-feet of twist to help it reach its 85 kilometer-per-hour (53 mile-per-hour) top speed quickly, and in a fashion quiet enough to not interfere with the sweet nothings it whispers to your inner hoon. Quality flex bits from WP Suspension attached to the swingarm and front fork – both single-sided – should keep things well planted and allow for sharp handling. Luckily, it also features ABS brakes to reel you in if you get too close to the edge.

Range-wise, the 4.36-kWh lithium battery, running at over 300 volts, can carry passengers 60 km (37.28 miles) and charge to full in two hours. The 576 individual 18650-type cells are said to be good for 1,000 full cycles.

The question remains, though: will KTM build it? The official press release makes all kinds of happy noises about electric motivation, quoting CEO Stefan Pierer as saying, "We at KTM are completely convinced of electric mobility as a perfect complement to conventional powertrains." However, this is the same man that earlier this month told Italian website Motociclismo that lithium batteries were too expensive and dangerous to use.

Hopefully Mr. Pierer, after a long talk with some battery engineers and a spin around the block will come to his senses and figure out how to commercialize this concept. In the meantime, you can check it out from all angles in the gallery. Scroll on down for the official press release and full specifications.

The journey of the Torq roadster from Epic EV has been pretty low key for a three-wheeled bullhorn of a car that screams, "LOOK AT ME!!!" with its volume stuck at 11. There hasn't been a flood of press releases calling attention to the effort and there are no bizarre long-form commercials featuring giant wasps. Yes, the company did bring the finalized production version to SEMA 2012, but it was relegated to the parking lot as part of the Dub Show Tour and seemed to go mostly unnoticed.

That might be all about to change. Epic EV has announced it's having a coming out party for its unique all-electric Torq on the 6th of April at its R&D facility in Vista, CA. Along with delivering the first example to a paying customer, the company also is promising some Ride and Drive action and the release of the full specs and accessory pricing. The Torq Roadster's base price is $65,000.

The Torq has undergone some major re-engineering since we first spotted the original prototype back in 2010. With help from the good folks at Palatov Motorsports, the chassis and suspension underlying the topless machine has been sorted and balanced for optimal performance, while the exterior design has been touched by Designs By 11 and Motive Industries.

Now, three-wheel vehicles haven't received a lot of American love in the past, but Epic is betting that four-second, battery-powered jaunts from 0-to-60 and over a G's worth of lateral acceleration might win people over. Indeed, they hope to build over 50 cars this year and many more in 2014. Scroll down to check out the official press release and let us know if you'd take that bet in the comments.

The Formula E all-electric racing series continues to make all kinds of happy announcements ahead of its inaugural 2014 season. This time, the good news is the publication of a provisional calender with eight of the ten eventual locations.

The US will be bi-coastally blessed when the racing action starts, with one event planned for Miami and another for Los Angeles. In addition to the Rio de Janeiro and Rome races previously revealed, the schedule also includes Beijing, London, Buenos Aires and Malaysia's Putrajaya. The final two cities are still unknown, though organizers have expressed an interest in events in both Africa and Australia.

When cars do eventually line up on a starting grid, the Drayson Racing Technologies entry will, at the very least, have competition from China Racing. With previous experience in A1GP, Superleague Formula and FIA GT1, it should prove a formidable foe. It is hoped that, in all, ten teams will be ready to roll by the time the green flag drops for real.

Scroll on down for the official press release and let us know which two cities should pick up the remaining pair of open spots.

A new electric supercar is born. Sort of. Mostly.

Applus Idiada recently lifted the sheet from the very slick all-electric Volar-E at the Circuit de Catalunya to reveal a vehicle that has the fingerprints of Rimac Automobili all over it. Indeed, it appears to be the exact same unit that the Croatian company announced delivery of, while keeping its appearance and customer details under wraps. This collaboration, however, has made the project somewhat controversial.

The Volar-E is the result of a tender put out by the European Commission that sought a company to "complete construction of an electric car designed for competition" that demonstrates that electric propulsion doesn't have to be slow and unexciting. Boasting 1,000 horsepower and 1,000 Nm (738 pound-feet) of torque from four electric motors, the Volar-E would certainly seem able to fulfill that requirement. However, it seems some doubts are being raised as to whether the Applus followed the letter of the agreement and completed enough of the work itself to be in compliance with the conditions of the tender.

After the demonstration event, Quimera Chairman Javier de Rocafort – who, we assume, also had eyes on the original contract that covered half of the cost of construction – tweeted about the situation, "quite depressing..." and "...the winner doesn't deserve it". Later tweets contain language that indicate his organization has plans to contest the award of the tender. And we quote (in part), "...we're preparing a new "surprise" to the bad guys."

While we'll have to wait and see how that situation plays out, we should note that in speaking with Motorpasion Futuro, Applus Idiada stated that its car only shares about five percent of its components with the Rimac Concept_One. Although it certainly looks similar to that electric antecedent, there are significant differences.

Whereas the original is slightly larger in every dimension and sports a monocoque chassis, the Volar-E has a skeleton comprised of steel and chrome molybdenum tubes. With only 38 kWh of energy available from the battery pack, it would also seem to lack the range of its big brother.

Scroll below to watch video of its public track debut and get more details from the official press release.