Ariel Atom Builders Unveil Enertia Electric Motorcycle

ryan July 9th, 2007 11:39 AM Link

interesting idea, and a decent one as well for those within a few miles of work. imagine coming out after your 9 hour workday and having your bike fully charged, ready to ride home…..

sounds fun to me!

Scratch July 9th, 2007 12:13 PM Link

$15,000???!!! They can’t be serious… even at $12,000 that’s pushing it.

Bumblebee July 9th, 2007 12:46 PM Link

A third of the world’s population tuned into this? And there was a concert on Antartica?

Uh, really?

smokeydog001 July 9th, 2007 1:16 PM Link

Hell, you can get a Ural for $10,999!

mo July 9th, 2007 2:06 PM Link

this thing looks gay.

Noise Maker July 9th, 2007 2:41 PM Link

“imagine coming out after your 9 hour workday and having your bike fully charged, ready to ride home…..”

Especially after reminding yourself that the boss just paid for that ride home

Don July 9th, 2007 2:46 PM Link

Wow. That thing’s…ugly.

And pricey.

André July 9th, 2007 3:51 PM Link

I don’t see the Tesla of motorcycles here. I see another EV1.

Tony Belding July 10th, 2007 10:31 AM Link

Comparison with Vectrix maxi-scooter?

The Vectrix seems to have somewhat better price and performance than the Enertia. I think the Enertia suffers from what Jay Leno calls “veggie burger” syndrome — because a veggie burger looks like a hamburger but doesn’t taste like one. It promises something it can’t deliver.

The Enertia looks like a motorcycle, but it doesn’t perform like a motorcycle. The Vectrix looks like a scooter but easily outperforms most scooters. That’s probably a better place to be in terms of marketing.

George July 10th, 2007 3:03 PM Link

Interesting idea but for $15K, heck no. 50mph top speed, not usable for most of us, even on the back roads where the speed limit is 45-55mph and most folks are doing at least 55mph the whole time. The target top speed should have been 60mph to appeal to more folks all over the country taking short distance non interstate roads to work. It should also be a heck of a lot cheaper. I can almost get the new Ducati 1098 for that kind of money and still consider it green because I would get twice the mpg I get in my car.

Winding Road » Archive » Ariel Atom Builders’ Pending Supercar Goes Electric, Changes Name July 13th, 2007 12:10 PM Link

[…] According to the article, Bramscher has come to believe that his firm has a “moral obligation” to become a green company. As a result, the planned Falconer V-12 has been jettisoned, and the car will now run not on gasoline, but electricity. With this change in propulsion comes a change in name—the Rogue GT will now be known as the Enertia GT, a name that echoes that of the plug-in electric motorcycle that Brammo unveiled just this past week. (Click through to the jump for more details and the link) […]

Dean July 16th, 2007 7:46 AM Link

If available, I’ll take one. I’m a motorcyclist first, a cage driver second.

Yesterday I rode from Northern Illinois home to NC in 24.5 hours and 1001 miles.

The idea of riding something other than a gasoline vehicle is fine by me. In fact, sanding around a campfire many years ago at a BMW rally, I realized just that. As long as I can lean it into a corner, I’ll ride it.

Fernando Beyer July 18th, 2007 9:22 AM Link

I am concerned about the environment, I don´t drive anymore to conmute; instead I ride a Kawasaki Ninja 250. I enjoy 60 mpg, and it does 100 mph, and it costs less than $3,000. I don´t think that this electric montorcycle is yet a better choice that my Ninja.

Brad Stovall August 4th, 2007 1:02 PM Link

3 hours to recharge and only 45 mile range and $15,000? What about nano batteries in the new Pheonix truck coming out in 2008. Takes 30 minutes to recharge and has a much further range. This motorcycle is not cutting edge technology!

Brad Stovall August 4th, 2007 1:19 PM Link

update on phoenix truck..range 136 miles, 95 mph, recharge less than 10min. That I can live with. Better still I ride my bike to work. It uses no gas and I am loosing weight and getting stronger. Talk about green!!!

Jared August 25th, 2007 1:11 PM Link

What everyone so blissfully enjoys forgetting is that the electricity has to be generated by a powerplant, which is much dirtier than modern cars. Also, if you think summer brownouts from people just running their AC is bad, stop and imagine what it would be like with everyone charging up their cars. Most of these “green” alternatives are nothing more than pipe dreams until we come up with cleaner more plentiful sources of electricity. I’d also be willing to bet that the electricity to charge an electric car or bike like this, is more expensive than than gas.

ROGER OLSON October 9th, 2007 1:04 PM Link

A perfect transportation option for campers. Lightweight,quiet and economical. Plug into shore power at the campgrounds of the world and whiz around on their dime!

Danny A. October 18th, 2007 11:32 PM Link

Interesting insights all. Although I’m a dedicated motorcycler, Brad S. has, to my mind, the most salient idea in riding his bicycle to commute. for those of us for which that’s not possible I have the following comments.

a) Motorcycles are NOT green. They are in fact several times more polutting PER MILE than the average US SUV! The ‘05 Ninja 250 for example releases 1.5g/mi. of HC plus 15g/ mi. of COx and 1g/ mi. of Evap. emmisions. Compare that to an ‘05 Ford Explorer at 0.15 g hydrocarbons per mile. That’s 10% of the emmisions PER MILE of the bike and the Ford is dirty in its class (about 20x worse than a Dodge Durango).

Less fule used but used a lot less well.

b) The average M/C sold in the US is just over $10K.

c)Where I live in CA the electricity comes from PG&E. They supply with an agragate CO2 load of 222g/ kwh. (Less for what they generate, more for what they buy). That makes the well-to-wheel ecconomy pretty good (c. 2-6 cents per mi.) and the polution load austoundingly good compared to gas power.

I’ve ranted too long. I won’t buy one until the range increases, efficiency (AC?) and the price drops about 40% but I’m glad they’re getting the ball rolling.

Regards for now.

-Danny