Refuel Electric Vehicle Event at Laguna Seca 7.1.18

[Butch]

I could not resist a pic if the Sinister Truckster Rig...

 

[HadesOmega]

I wonder how the cars did. The new Tesla Model 3 has done well at the track, but there were issues with the brake pads roasting. The Chevy Bolt has been driven fast at the track too. I wonder what the fast cars were out there.

I think one of the Tesla Model 3's was on the podium. The Chevy Bolt was 1st in it's class also. The 911 with the Zero electronics was 1st it's class also. The Radical won because it's the only one in it's class the Prototype Class. I think it got like a 1:36 or something. Something set a new class record, I have to look over the award ceremony video. It's a shame the Mission R and LS-218 didn't compete. But yes there were mostly Zero's out there. Also the Energica Ego set a new class record for production bikes, which I think is unfair because because that bike is super bike class =P

Here is the coolest thing to happen to me that day! I was out oogling around and I come back to my bike and Brian Wismann is checking out my bike. Brian Wismann used to work for Brammo and now works for Zero. He helped design the Empulse. He asked me a buncha questions about my bike. He said he still has the Empulse race bike also but he works for Zero now so he doesn't ride it. I got him to take a picture with my bike. That is so cool to meet someone who helped make the bike you're riding. He got 3rd place in the modified class I think.

Here's a video of Brian showing off the Empulse
[YOUTUBE]r8wtCJG0D1Y[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Smash Allen]

can they go 12 laps at race pace hitting 150mph each lap?

can they recharge on a 50amp in under 1 hour?

do they weigh less than 450lbs?

 

[Butch]

can they go 12 laps at race pace hitting 150mph each lap?
can they recharge on a 50amp in under 1 hour?
do they weigh less than 450lbs?

Gasoline is still king for some applications. Half an hour at 100 mph with heavy accelaration is a LOT of energy.

 

[HadesOmega]

can they go 12 laps at race pace hitting 150mph each lap?

can they recharge on a 50amp in under 1 hour?

do they weigh less than 450lbs?

I can tell you for 1 session that was about 15 minutes and maybe I got 4 or 5 laps because I'm slow I was down 25% (75% SOC) so I think if I could do 12laps I would be pretty much out of power by then maybe around 25% SOC. I was peering down at the power gauge while riding and it would pull as much as 36KWH at full twist on the Empulse. And the pack on the Empulse is 10.4KWH. I was hitting speeds of up to 90MPH on the straights, the Empulse is no superbike.

My Empulse can fully recharge with it's onboard charger at level 2 in 4 hours if fully drained. If you install dual superchargers that are available now I could charge at Level 2's full power of 6KWH and charge in half that time. But to answer your question NO not even with the supercharger.

My Empulse weights 470lbs. so almost but I think it's heavy. I'd like to point out I have an onboard charger it's literally takes up the whole area under the seat. If that were removed and the bike's charger is offboard I could probably save around 30lbs. There is no wet weights with electric bikes also.



That being said if you want to compare the best ev superbikes to an ICE superbike look at the winner of the production class this year and next years MotoE race bike the Energica Ego.

Unfortunately I can't tell you how many laps at race pace would drain the Ego's battery because I don't have first hand experience. But it will hit 150MPH that is it's electronic speed limit and I'm sure the Ego Corsa probably doesn't have this limit. It has an 11.7kwh battery pack so it is a little bigger than the Empulse pack. According to Cycleworld they say you can go 31miles at race pace on the Ego. So I remember for 1 session which was around 15 minutes I rode 15 miles but I only did like 4 or 5 trackday noob laps. So let's say 12 laps is almost 30ish miles. I would yes you could probably do it but it would be almost or totally out of electrons by then. But you figure they have the Isle of Man Zero class and that course is like 37 miles and so they get the bike to go that far somehow. But these are racebikes we're talking about.

The Ego is I think the first bike to have a Level 3 charging capability on a production bike. It can take advantage of Level 3 charging station with a CCS connection. It can recharge from 0%-85% in 30 minutes. From there on it has to charge it slower because it tapers off the power and starts balancing. So to answer your question yes it could fully recharge a battery in an hour.

Does it weigh less than 450lbs? Hah not even close its a behemoth at 570lbs, it feels that way when you first hop on it but when you get riding you don't feel it. The Mission R was also around that weight.

The dude riding the Mission R told me he was down to 50% after one session. The Mission R has a bike battery pack about 14kwh. So that monster eats up a lotta power. He told me they raced that bike at Isle of Mann also. Haha I was talking to the rider and he told me you can tell how fast your riding by how low your SOC get's so I've got a long way to go =P

Then there's the Lightning LS-218 that was chillin at the event. I really wanted to see that beast run I mean it's "The World Fastest Production Motorcycle".


So I'll say this about electrics is you have the advantage of a static weight, the bike doesn't get heavier or lighter as power is consumed like an ICE bike. It is not affected by altitude or oxygen content. One disadvantage I have learned however is you're constantly losing horsepower. As your state of charge goes down so does your power. I found that really frustrating for drag racing. Because as I do more runs my bike will get slower, while the ICE bikes are getting faster because they are getting lighter and getting more dense air later in the day.

 

[Smash Allen]

I can tell you for 1 session that was about 15 minutes and maybe I got 4 or 5 laps because I'm slow I was down 25% (75% SOC) so I think if I could do 12laps I would be pretty much out of power by then maybe around 25% SOC. I was peering down at the power gauge while riding and it would pull as much as 36KWH at full twist on the Empulse. And the pack on the Empulse is 10.4KWH. I was hitting speeds of up to 90MPH on the straights, the Empulse is no superbike.

My Empulse can fully recharge with it's onboard charger at level 2 in 4 hours if fully drained. If you install dual superchargers that are available now I could charge at Level 2's full power of 6KWH and charge in half that time. But to answer your question NO not even with the supercharger.

My Empulse weights 470lbs. so almost but I think it's heavy. I'd like to point out I have an onboard charger it's literally takes up the whole area under the seat. If that were removed and the bike's charger is offboard I could probably save around 30lbs. There is no wet weights with electric bikes also.



That being said if you want to compare the best ev superbikes to an ICE superbike look at the winner of the production class this year and next years MotoE race bike the Energica Ego.

Unfortunately I can't tell you how many laps at race pace would drain the Ego's battery because I don't have first hand experience. But it will hit 150MPH that is it's electronic speed limit and I'm sure the Ego Corsa probably doesn't have this limit. It has an 11.7kwh battery pack so it is a little bigger than the Empulse pack. According to Cycleworld they say you can go 31miles at race pace on the Ego. So I remember for 1 session which was around 15 minutes I rode 15 miles but I only did like 4 or 5 trackday noob laps. So let's say 12 laps is almost 30ish miles. I would yes you could probably do it but it would be almost or totally out of electrons by then. But you figure they have the Isle of Man Zero class and that course is like 37 miles and so they get the bike to go that far somehow. But these are racebikes we're talking about.

The Ego is I think the first bike to have a Level 3 charging capability on a production bike. It can take advantage of Level 3 charging station with a CCS connection. It can recharge from 0%-85% in 30 minutes. From there on it has to charge it slower because it tapers off the power and starts balancing. So to answer your question yes it could fully recharge a battery in an hour.

Does it weigh less than 450lbs? Hah not even close its a behemoth at 570lbs, it feels that way when you first hop on it but when you get riding you don't feel it. The Mission R was also around that weight.

The dude riding the Mission R told me he was down to 50% after one session. The Mission R has a bike battery pack about 14kwh. So that monster eats up a lotta power. He told me they raced that bike at Isle of Mann also. Haha I was talking to the rider and he told me you can tell how fast your riding by how low your SOC get's so I've got a long way to go =P

Then there's the Lightning LS-218 that was chillin at the event. I really wanted to see that beast run I mean it's "The World Fastest Production Motorcycle".

thanks for taking the time, it looks like we are a lot closer to race spec performance than i thought! would love to rip the energica ego around thunderhill east i suppose i could settle for a lightning ls-218...

 

[HadesOmega]

thanks for taking the time, it looks like we are a lot closer to race spec performance than i thought! would love to rip the energica ego around thunderhill east i suppose i could settle for a lightning ls-218...

Yeah I would LOVE an Energica I've ridden the Eva and it rips, but yeah it is heavy (but it has a reverse function!) and it does have a hefty price tag I think they go for around $25k now they used to be $30k. There was a dealer in Mountain View that was selling last years model for $17k. And GASP the LS-218 goes for $38k! But yeah the Energica is in my opinion the best electric bike on the market currently. With the Level 3 charger you could actually go on longer rides with it.

Level 3 charging technology is also not hard to implement because it's basically offboard charging, your using a HUGE charger it looks like a gas pump pretty much haha. So there is no weight penalty because you're not carrying the charger. Chris told me for the Moto-E racers they'll be using portable Level 3 chargers, which are pretty much MASSIVE batteries, think like a portable phone charger but not so portable haha.

It's only a matter of time electric bikes are getting better and better. Which is why I'm kind of saddened the Empulse is kind of dead in the water right now, Zero kind of doesn't have any competition right now. But it's only a matter of time I'm waiting for the day one of the big four build and sell a Japanese electric motorcycle. There are actually 2 Japanese electric race bikes I am aware of the EVmirai and the Mugen Shinden both those teams race in the Isle of Man and Pikes Peak Race to the Clouds.

 

[HadesOmega]

Episode 1 is out! I'll probably make a seperate post in the moto photos and videos section later.
[YOUTUBE]MSNEdBP-AL8[/YOUTUBE]

Episode 2 out also!
[YOUTUBE]L7_dmhJT9CI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Smash Allen]

Yeah I would LOVE an Energica I've ridden the Eva and it rips, but yeah it is heavy (but it has a reverse function!) and it does have a hefty price tag I think they go for around $25k now they used to be $30k. There was a dealer in Mountain View that was selling last years model for $17k. And GASP the LS-218 goes for $38k! But yeah the Energica is in my opinion the best electric bike on the market currently. With the Level 3 charger you could actually go on longer rides with it.

Level 3 charging technology is also not hard to implement because it's basically offboard charging, your using a HUGE charger it looks like a gas pump pretty much haha. So there is no weight penalty because you're not carrying the charger. Chris told me for the Moto-E racers they'll be using portable Level 3 chargers, which are pretty much MASSIVE batteries, think like a portable phone charger but not so portable haha.

It's only a matter of time electric bikes are getting better and better. Which is why I'm kind of saddened the Empulse is kind of dead in the water right now, Zero kind of doesn't have any competition right now. But it's only a matter of time I'm waiting for the day one of the big four build and sell a Japanese electric motorcycle. There are actually 2 Japanese electric race bikes I am aware of the EVmirai and the Mugen Shinden both those teams race in the Isle of Man and Pikes Peak Race to the Clouds.

yea...for $10k i could get another bmw s1000rr...that's probably the cost of a level 3 charger!

i waited 8 years from 2009 before i got the bmw, i'll probably have to wait another 8 years before i can afford an electric race bike...gives me some time to learn how to ride

Episode 1 is out! I'll probably make a seperate post in the moto photos and videos section later.
[YOUTUBE]MSNEdBP-AL8[/YOUTUBE]

Episode 2 out also!
[YOUTUBE]L7_dmhJT9CI[/YOUTUBE]

that's a trip to hear so much while on track, can you hear your tires slipping?

 

[Butch]

yea...for $10k... edit...

that's a trip to hear so much while on track, can you hear your tires slipping?

on the dirt bike, the Alta, the tires make the most noise of all the moto functions when you are accelerating and breaking traction. That is kinda only what you hear. When decelerating you hear the chain, which is indicative of how fast your rear wheel is spinning. Or not. Fantastic tool to keep the rear wheel from not locking up.

Oh, you can hear yourself laugh.

 

[Smash Allen]

on the dirt bike, the Alta, the tires make the most noise of all the moto functions when you are accelerating and breaking traction. That is kinda only what you hear. When decelerating you hear the chain, which is indicative of how fast your rear wheel is spinning. Or not. Fantastic tool to keep the rear wheel from not locking up.

Oh, you can hear yourself laugh.

the audible differences between electric and gas excites me...yea everyone loves the scream of the engine, but just think if you could scream in someone's ear "MOVE BITCH, GET OUT THE WAY"

what would actually happen is that max would then have to listen to me yell at myself "HIT THE FUCKING APEX"

 

[Butch]

t...edit...
what would actually happen is that max would then have to listen to me yell at myself "HIT THE FUCKING APEX"

I have to yell at folks "ON YOUR LEFT!!!" frequently when I catch up. Otherwise, they don't know i'm there.

 

[HadesOmega]

yea...for $10k i could get another bmw s1000rr...that's probably the cost of a level 3 charger!

i waited 8 years from 2009 before i got the bmw, i'll probably have to wait another 8 years before i can afford an electric race bike...gives me some time to learn how to ride



that's a trip to hear so much while on track, can you hear your tires slipping?

No I can't hear the tires at all. If anything all I really hear is the whoosh of air around you and the whine of the motor/chain. You can definitely hear the regen on the Empulse when you roll off throttle also. But yeah I don't hear the tires at all so that probably means I'm not pushing the bike hard enough haha the stock tires are Continental SportAttack2s so they're pretty good tires. It's crazy when an electric bike blows past you also haha that's why you hear me get all excited I don't know they're there till they're ahead of me.

I'll tell you this when I rode the Alta Redshift on the dirt you can definitely hear the tires spinning. It just makes a gritty sound as the knobs churn through the dirt. Kind of like you hear a 4x4 truck spin tires when it's crawling.

 

[Smash Allen]

I have to yell at folks "ON YOUR LEFT!!!" frequently when I catch up. Otherwise, they don't know i'm there.

why do i get such a kick out of this?

No I can't hear the tires at all. If anything all I really hear is the whoosh of air around you and the whine of the motor/chain. You can definitely hear the regen on the Empulse when you roll off throttle also. But yeah I don't hear the tires at all so that probably means I'm not pushing the bike hard enough haha the stock tires are Continental SportAttack2s so they're pretty good tires. It's crazy when an electric bike blows past you also haha that's why you hear me get all excited I don't know they're there till they're ahead of me.

I'll tell you this when I rode the Alta Redshift on the dirt you can definitely hear the tires spinning. It just makes a gritty sound as the knobs churn through the dirt. Kind of like you hear a 4x4 truck spin tires when it's crawling.

it's weird to think about for sure, i need to get out on one!

 

[HadesOmega]

Episode 3 - Charging Adventure


[YOUTUBE]PVtgWgdiCPI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Killroy1999]

I have to yell at folks "ON YOUR LEFT!!!" frequently when I catch up. Otherwise, they don't know i'm there.

Butch, did I hear right that you were doing the "superman" ?

 

[HadesOmega]

Butch, did I hear right that you were doing the "superman" ?

Speaking of superman haha I should have bought the picture but there was one Alta Redshift SM on the track and I was looking at the track picture and they were doing the superman (or planking) through the corkscrew haha it may popup somewhere. I way too focus on riding down the corkscrew to try and pose for a shot haha.

 

[Smash Allen]

Butch, did I hear right that you were doing the "superman" ?

Speaking of superman haha I should have bought the picture but there was one Alta Redshift SM on the track and I was looking at the track picture and they were doing the superman (or planking) through the corkscrew haha it may popup somewhere. I way too focus on riding down the corkscrew to try and pose for a shot haha.

Isn’t that the Bike butch has? Was he wearing his Kenny Roberts yellow leathers?? That would be a great picture

 

[HadesOmega]

Haha maybe it was Butch I didn't see him out there. I never encountered it, it did run the TT also.

Episode 4 - Track Session 2 Empulse Unleashed!

[YOUTUBE]gJBbrqxdnpY[/YOUTUBE]

 

[HadesOmega]

Episode 5 - Refuel TT at the Corkscrew


[YOUTUBE]pKrkjAoInsQ[/YOUTUBE]