Six years in the past, I turned into fortunate to attend Intersolar in San Francisco. Whilst that became very cool, the highlight for me was getting to see and take a seat on a file-breaking electric motorbike on display at one of the networking events.
This electric bike (the Lightning) had currently set a brand new land pace report at Bonneville Salt Flats (charged thru portable solar no much less), and I interviewed Lightning CEO Richard Hatfield, delving into the ground breaking generation behind international’s quickest electric bike.
Only a few months later, this motorcycle became modified to race on the infamous Pikes Peak. It now not only won, putting a brand new document inside the manner, the next exceptional motorcycle changed into a complete 20 seconds in the back of.
Whilst Lightning has switched attention to bringing a avenue version of this motorcycle to the marketplace for a top-notch $US13,000, Pikes Peak continues, and this 12 months superb matters passed off again.
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Race is a run on a public avenue that climbs from 2,860m to four,300m over a mere 20km and 156 bends as soon as a yr, and has completed so seeing that 1916.
Like all road-based circuits, it has a sad tune record of injury and loss of life that unfortunately accompanies humankind’s ceaseless tries to push machines, generation, and pace to the final restriction.
In 2019, 4 electric-powered bikes entered the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, becoming a ninety-three different competitions in a menagerie of the manufacturing facility and homemade automobiles and motorcycles. However, two of these bikes didn’t make it to the finish line and proved a few interesting matters.
The University of Nottingham’s motorcycle (featured in an interview remaining 12 months here) finished in a quite credible 15th region universal and 4th area within the motorbike elegance. For a university-based totally group on a basically handcrafted bike with constrained funding, that’s exquisite.
Twenty-seven seconds and eight positions (typical) in the back of crew UoN was a largely unmodified manufacturing electric avenue motorcycle made by using Zero Motorcycles. The new 2019 Zero SRF is the present-day iteration through Santa Cruz-based Zero Motorcycles and changed into piloted via rookie Cory West.
The beating 72 competition up the mountain put the new SRF in the pinnacle 25% of all automobiles (and the 8th motorbike ordinary) that’s a pretty remarkable result for an electric-powered road motorcycle run via a small private team (assisted however no longer formally run by using Zero Motorcycles).
It sincerely highlights just how some distance the generation has come and how motorsport constantly improves the breed. The new Zero SRF consists of a host of improvements that had been training from previous high-performance events the bikes had entered.
The Lightning’s 2013 report time of 10:00.694 remains safe for now but, with the UoN crew coming in at 10:0019.04 and the Zero coming in at 10:46:233.
Notably, multiple Pikes Peak winner and motorcycling legend Carlin Dunne, who rode the Lightning to its document in 2013, turned on his way to. Still, any other record wins this yr on an all-new manufacturing facility special Ducati Streetfighter V4; however, tragically became the 7th racer to die at the direction while he crashed on the closing bend before the finish line.
