KillaCycle
The KillaCycle is an electrically powered motorcycle purpose-built for drag racing. It was built and is managed by a small motorworks team owned and run by Bill Dubé. For ten years until December 2010 it was the fastest electric motorcycle in the world.[1]
In 2007 it achieved a certain amount of notoriety after a video of its inventor crashing into a minivan while attempting to perform a burn-out was widely circulated on the Internet.[2]
Technical specifications
- Weight: 281 kg (619 pounds)
- Battery pack : Lithium iron phosphate battery pack, made of 990 A123Systems M1 cells, combined voltage 374 volt,[3] weighing 79.4 kg. Energy content 27 megajoule (the energy of 572ml of gasoline), rechargeable in 10 minutes.
- Motors: Two Model L-91 6.7-inch DC motors, 2,000 ampere each, switchable between series and parallel connection, giving 2,000 foot-pounds of torque on the back wheel.[3]
Performance figures
- Power: 260 kW (350 horsepower)
- 0-60 mph: 0.97 seconds, which is more than 2.5 times the gravity acceleration [2]
- 1/4 mile: 7.89 seconds @ 270.36 km/h (168.00 mph)[1]
- Top speed: 274 kilometres per hour (170 mph)[4]
- The bike uses 2.12 megajoules (0.59 kWh), or roughly 7 cents' worth of electricity on a run down a quarter-mile drag strip,[3] which is the same amount of energy stored in 65 ml of gasoline.[5]
References
- ^ a b "Record Holders". National Electric Drag Racing Association. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
- ^ a b "Electric Motorcycle Inventor Crashes at Wired Conference".
- ^ a b c Joey Bunch (2007-09-02). "Electric motorcycle fries gas-fired competitors". Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
- ^ Easton, Paul (29 August 2009). "KillaCycle is a cordless whiz". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ AAAS - Center for Science, Technology and Congress