Four Electric Motorcycles
For some reason, I really, really like electric motorcycles. It's an odd combination, the electric and the motorcycle, for several very good reasons that, had I been aware of these reasons at the time, might have convinced me to abandon the fascination and led me toward more profitable pursuits. Alas, it was not to be. I got hooked. In retrospect, though, my years tilting at this particular windmill has given me unique insights into what does and does not make for good electric motorcycle design.
I put those insights to the test last Thursday, and drove what I truly feel to be the very first practical, commercially available electric motorcycle ever to his the market: The Vectrix.
First, I'll give you the low-down on my EM cred. I first caught the electric vehicle bug about 20 years ago. I read all I could, and found in these readings a common theme: Compared to regular internal combustion engines (ICE, in the parlance) and the vehicles they propel, these battery-powered things were frickin' expensive. The components that comprise EVs find use in a wide variety of applications, and with proper treatment seldom wear out. Ah, but there aren't nearly as many of these applications as there are cars. This gives electric components a rarity that increases the prices.
In a brilliant stroke, I figured I would just get fewer parts and thus save money. Why drive four wheels when it's easier power-wise to drive two? This folly led me to convert Snake, a 1963 Suzuki 75. I played with my ill-equipped shop before farming actual assembly to the guy that sold me the surplus parts, Dave, a guy with a mad scientist's wet dream of a well-stocked garage. In half a day he got the thing running. Yes, it was held together literally by over-sized zip ties and scrap wire, bolted with whatever threaded crap he could find in the hundreds of coffee cans kept for spare bolt storage; but it worked. On the power stored in three surplus Optima Red Tops strapped to the stripped Suzuki frame, I could travel electrically for over 5 miles!
Optima batteries are not cheap. There is, however, a very good reason why I chose them over your standard automotive starter battery or deep-cycle trolling motor battery. Typical lead-acid batteries like those above use a liquid electrolyte of dilute hydrochloric acid. A drop will eat through your clothes if you don't wash it off immediately. I know. I have ruined my share of jeans hauling batteries hither and nigh, usually on and off the boats I worked. I decided before electrifying Snake that an accident on a liquid electrolyte battery-powered motorcycle compounded risk to an unacceptable level, making a simple spill on the bike an urgent issue of getting the bike off of me before more spills complicate matters. Long after building Snake with those spill-proof Optimas, I found my fears were confirmed. A stolen Mercedes blew her light, forcing me into a side-swipe crash with my ICE bike. I found myself pinned beneath my Honda. Had bystanders not lifted the bike off my right leg soon after the crash, I might have uncomfortably bathed it a bit and said goodbye to yet another pair of pants.
Optimas are still lead-acid, but use a paste electrolyte soaked in a proprietary fiberglass matting. The stuff just doesn't flow. As a result, those EV builder (who can afford it) can also take advantage of the fact that these batteries can be laid down on their sides to squeeze into tight spaces!
I played with Snake for a few years, always planning upgrades and new configurations and making mistakes. I let the smoke out of both the first controller and motor somehow. (BTW, that's a standard joke. It seems all electric and electronic components are powered by Magic Smoke. If you let that Smoke out, they don't work anymore.) While gathering this planning wool, a friend showed me a brand-new gadget reviewed in Cycle World (June, 1998), the Lectra.
The Lectra, leather-clad model not included.
Other than spill-proof batteries (Optimas again), the Lectra had three Must Have items that Snake lacked:
An alternating current propulsion system;
Decent, real-world acceleration and hill-climbing power; and
A finished appearence.
Recent readers will remember why I feel direct current drive systems are needlessly dangerous, though it never hurts to repeat.
My second and third requirement stems from my philosophy concerning New Things. Right now, electric vehicles are rare, usually restricted to museums, golf courses and warehouses. Road worthy electrics look the same as any other car -- or they don't. When the don't, they really don't. When they look like a collection of spare wires, exposed batteries and strange buttons stuffed into a crappy car, those driving behind these beasts get a negative impression of all electrics. Should these prominently labeled "ELECTRIC CARS" nearly stall on hills and in general keep honest road warriors from the timely completion of their appointed tasks, the impression Becomes Most Negative. Those behind make the assumption that the only people who would ever attempt to build and drive these rolling crap-fests are people to avoid by association, inconsiderate self-righteous pricks who feel "going green" and "saving the earth" is more important than keeping up with the pace of traffic.
I'll pause to explain. Folks, I like the idea of going green, of saving the earth. That's why I drive electric. I also like the idea of positively promoting methods anyone can adopt -- even to people who are least likely to give a shit about atmospheric carbon concentrations. Why not? They have money. They can get the EV bug just as easily as the nearest hippy or science geek. Driving a nice looking bike that keeps pace with traffic does more than simply reflect well on my personal values. It reflects well on all electric vehicles.
I loved my Lectra. I shared with the interweb world. I wasn't the only one. Matt and Derek also bought and loved and shared their experiences. As you read, you may notice the information kinda peters out. That's partly my fault. I contacted these guys, who contacted a few others, and all of us formed a private little Lectra owner's forum. We shared the quirks and foibles of our bikes with each other and, really, no one else. This was before LJ, before free bloggy services sprang to the fore. After the forum formed, neither Matt nor Derek did much updating, though the exceptions are worth reading.
My Lectra got me more involved with EVs. I joined Electric Vehicles NW here in Seattle, helping to open and run the Pike Place shop and giving the company and the EV movement much more visibility. That's me to the left as pictured on the front page of the Pike Place News, a little rag printed for the tourists and merchants. I'm posing alongside one of the biggest sellers of the time, a US Pro Drive electric assisted mountain bike. I used to ride the Lectra to the little shop. Right to it. Any visitors to the Market will probably recall the labyrinth of ramps in that place, installed in the days of pushcarts to help the farmers and butchers roll their merchandise to their personal nooks. I found through trial and error a rolling route down the alley and into the Third Level, where I would unlock the shop, plug in the bike and get to work. By the end of my shift it would be charged and ready for the ride home. I also did this at my boat job. Ah, archived memories.
My experience led me to Rodney. He had just ridden and was coveting the new Esarati 300, a scooter-styled EM with specs similar to my Lectra. I agreed to give it a test ride and give him my impressions. I took it for a harder ride than he did, deciding to damn the consequences and bring an unlicensed bike on the road for a real run. I felt my bike probably picked up a bit quicker, but on the whole the Esarati performed well. I did second Rodney's thoughts on the lack of disc brakes. Drums just don't cut it. With all that positive energy surrounding the Esarati, what happened?
Where'd it go?
I have no idea. Wired magazine even published a blurb touting the above Esarati, the 400 Blackhawk, supposedly the upgrade to the model Rodney and I rode. How one can offer an upgrade to a bike that never got sold, though, remains a mystery. Replace vaporware with better, more expensive vaporware? Please. Rodney never got his bike or his $300 deposit. I suspect if it lived up to the claims spouted by the company, that wouldn't be the case.
Further electric bike development died with with Bush's 2000 election. I wish it weren't true, but it is. Batteries, cars, motorcycles -- all disappeared within a few months of Shrub's ascendancy. Now that his star is falling, products and hope once again emerge.
Which brings us to the star of this entry, the Vectrix, available in the Northwest of the States at The Green Car Company. I compared this new offering with those from my past. First of all, it beats all in finish. This is one shiny, pretty bike!
My leg reflected in the Vectrix hub motor.
Clickee to embiggen!
That hub motor is the first I've seen in a commercially available conveyance other than an assisted bicycle. It's a beautiful piece of work, making the nuisance I used to have with adjusting, cleaning and replacing chains a thing of the past. It's smaller than any of the motors in any of the bikes I mention above, but packs quite a bit more power. More on that later.
Safety
First, some safety considerations. Every peruser of every motorcycle does what I call the test twist. Sometimes while astride, sometimes standing alongside, everyone interested in a bike grabs and twists the throttle. In an ICE bike, this is no problem. After all, you would hear if the engine were running. If it were in gear, you would have the clutch depressed or else that engine would die.
That is not the case with electrics. When on or off, they sound the same. I therefore look for something that will prevent the test twist from becoming the uncontrolled launch, some form of Test Twist Disaster Prevention. Snake controlled power through a jerry-rigged thumb switch, so TTDP proved unnecessary. The Lectra used a button on the left grip assembly near the horn switch labeled PWR, for Power. The dash had a glowing N for Neutral when the bike was on and ready. Twist in N and nothing happened. Pressing and holding PWR gave the rider a live throttle. Once you got rolling, even a little, you could release PWR.
The Esarati had no TTDP. None. I remember emailing the chief engineer in Ohio to alert him to such a necessity. I never heard back. Go figure.
I got this image from the Vectrix Photo Gallery
The Vectrix has the best TTDP system yet. Look closely at the blueish circle to the left of the speedometer. First, the rider has no power until the kickstand is up. When up, the left dash panel gives a "Ready" symbol, that worded bar to the center left. Next, one must grip one hand brake, grip the other, then release the first before the dash gives the beautiful GO you can just make out in the same display. It takes some practice. I confess I had to figure it out by myself, but once I got the hang of it things started quite smoothly.
After I determine I need not worry about some bystander launching the bike into a day-care parade, I check the balance. Snake sucked. The batteries were mounted too high. It was tippy. Get it just a little off upright and you soon will fall. Considering the weight it carried in spiralled lead, the Lectra balanced well. 180 pounds of batteries gives the bike the heaviest load of the four. By contrast, the Esarati carried almost no battery. It crammed four small gel cells in weird places and called it good. This conspicuous lack of lead raised the most eyebrows amongst the skeptics who questioned the manufacturer claims.
At over 300 pounds, the Vectrix weighs in heavier than all the other bikes -- but is the only one designed to carry two people! With that provision, all is forgiven. Still, the weight is substantial. Though it looks like a scooter, it drives like a motorcycle. It balances very well. Much of the perceived weight you see up top is empty; this is the first EM to boast secure storage for a helmet and personal items! Very nifty, key-locked compartments in the steering column and under the seat provide the kind of personal item protection scooter owners have come go expect from gasser models. It's about time.
Next in the safety checklist I worry not about how quickly I can start, but how well I can stop. I always test brakes before I need them. Snake's ancient drum brakes sucked -- another reason it's in a scrap metal heap. The Lectra had a great front disc brake and a so-so drum brake rear. This makes sense, since 75% of the stopping power of a motorcycle can be found in the front wheel. Using a less-expensive but adequate drum brake for the rear is standard practice with motorcycle manufacturers. Ah, but that rear brake pedal also engaged regenerative braking, an advantage of the ac drive! The top few degrees of the pedal arc were attached to a variable control that gradually increased the regenerative torque, variably slowing the bike with the motor and feeding that power back to the batteries. Press harder beyond this top arc and one also engaged the rear drum brake normally. Combining the two systems in one pedal made for a more robust rear stop than I was used to even in ICE bikes. It works well.
There were two quirks. When I first got the bike, I used regen every chance I could. I figured the power would otherwise just be wasted. True, but . . . . First, the Lectra used 24 volts for both the drive and accessories. When the batteries were near to fully charged, regen current just spiked the power to the whole bike. I kept burning out the weakest point of the electrical system, the brake light. I went through two $10 24V bulbs before I figured this out. So much for avoiding waste.
Also, thanks to a laziness or weirdness with the real axle design, tightening the chain shortened the rear brake cable. It wasn't much, but all the chain adjustments gradually accumulated. Finally, I was halfway to work one day when I smelled something burning, and pulled over to see the drum smoking. I had to borrow some wrenches from a thankfully nearby firetruck to loosen the entire cable to avoid an expensive tow.
The Esarati had front and rear drum brakes and no regen. Rodney and I agree it sucked at making quick stops.
The Vectrix has beautiful Brembo Italian performance disc brakes front and rear -- and regen! Furthermore, the engineers worked the regen not into the brakes but into the twist throttle. When you're rolling, simply pushing back on the throttle slows the bike. It's very intuitive. I found I could hold my desired speed easily by riding not the brake but the throttle. At stops, back throttling brought me nearly to a stop.
Oh, and once you come to a stop, there's a neat trick that every heavy bike should have. Throttle back just a bit and the bike will reverse! That's right, folks, even though it weighs over three hundred pounds, you never have to worry about getting stuck after parking downhill again!
Acceleration
Once I determined I could stop when necessary, it was time to Go. Snake used to go as well as it appeared it should. That is, it did move. I set no records. The Lectra was the champ, able to climb 21% inclines at at least 25mph carrying my 200 pounds for the ride. On the flats I could maintain 45mph. The Esarati? Well, it did go, though was slower than the Lectra and had a bit less climbing power.
The Vectrix? Oh, baby. I did not treat that throttle gently. I not only kept up with town traffic, I blew a few off the stoplight. It was freakin' great. After spinning about town, I then took it on the freeway!
I do have one complaint, similar to that I had with my Lectra. Most motorcycles are geared. One starts in first, throttles back and gears up, then twists all over again. Without gears, EV bikes have a conundrum. Their throttles maintain about the same power to twist ratio as gassers, giving the rider a similar level of control. When I reached speed, however, I found the throttle had more twist to it. I would have to do this weird hold and reposition with my hand to reset my twisting grip. I was ready for this for the freeway run -- or so I thought. I pre-over-gripped, gave it a big twist, and found I still had to reach for more once I hit just under 100 kph! (The Vectrix speedo reads metric.)
And the acceleration -- wild. I'm used to electrics leaping to about 25 or 35 mph, then hitting a wall and more slowly climbing to top speed. I thought this was due to air drag, something that really robs motorcycles especially of their power over ab out 25 mph. I was wrong. It was due to crappy motor systems. The Vectrix proved this. I could pretty much accelerate at a constant rate all the way to 60 mph! Once I got to 60 the acceleration party ends, but who cares. Getting to 60 on an electric scooter was reward enough. I didn't do a lot of freeway driving, unfortunately. I had this image of suddenly losing power before the next ramp and having to figure out the next step. Therefore, only a mile on the freeway. Just enough to know I could. Still, the distance remaining estimator on the dash showed I had 40 miles left to travel. I should have risked it.
I rode that bike for over an hour. Much was stop and go, town driving, some freeway, but still -- it lasted over an hour. I stress this because I have never ridden any other all-electric vehicle for over a half an hour. Lead-acid batteries just don't have the storage capacity as the Vectrix's nickle-metal hydride. Also, I should mention that, after that hour of riding, the charge indicator showed much more than half the battery charge left to go. Ah, yeah.
Though I had no direct Vectrix experience with the following EV issues, I'll share what I know just to further the comparisons. I find the differences revealing.
Charging
All electrics need to be charged. That goes without saying. Yet I am constantly amazed at how difficult some are to charge. Snake, a work in progress that never progressed, needed to have each of its batteries charged individually. It took a day and a half to recover from a half-hour ride. Snake, though, did not have an onboard charger. At the time, there simply weren't any decent automatic chargers for 36V available.
Let me stress "automatic." We drivers of gassers are not used to complicated refueling. Stick nozzle in hole, squeeze, recap, drive. That is not a lesson most EVs of the '90s seemed to learn. Many EVs used chargers that required constant diligence to use safely. In the age of computers, very few of the handy silicon had left the beige boxes and been put to use in the car.
I'm happy to report that, other than Snake, the bikes all have plug-and-forget automatic chargers. The Lectra had a nylon sack that hung under the seat, and the charger just in front of it. It could be a pain, I admit, to pull the cord out of that sack and plug it in to the charger. One could also drive off while plugged in. Bad, bad, bad. I got in the habit of buying the brightest charging cords I could find and draping them across the seat so I wouldn't forget . . . again. (BTW, I personally feel the perceived liability involved in moving current to EVs probably killed the cars.)
I never got a chance to play with the Esarati charge system. Whatever.
The Vectrix keeps its cord under the seat, just like the Lectra. Ah, but this cord is neatly stowed not in a cheesy nylon bag, but in an upholstered locked compartment spacious enough to hold a helmet! Furthermore, Vectrix engineers took advantage of the charging down-time to play with the displays. When charging, the speedometer converts to an ampmeter! Just divide the needle reading (again, in kilometers per hour) by ten and you see in real time how much current the charger is feeding the batteries. None of the other bikes and precious few electric cars I've seen have that sophisticated and convenient a charging instrumentation design.
The Lectra and (IIRC) the Esarati did have a charge level indicator, something you could glance at just to see how full the batteries were. The Lectra's weren't that fancy, though, just five green LEDs to estimate the approximate state of charge both when riding and charging. No ammeter.
Battery Regulation
Why a Vectrix ammeter is crucial has to do with how blasted simple a lead-acid battery proves to be. Most ICE cars today use flooded lead-acid for a very good reason. Let's say you try to start your ICE, crank and crank, and drain the battery fast. That causes heat in the battery. Now let's say you're in a hurry, and grab the biggest charger you can find. If you leave that hot battery on the big charger too long, the electrolyte will boil. How does one fix this problem? You're stuck popping the caps off the battery and adding water. Big deal.
It's a bigger deal for the other scooters. Let's say you over-charge the Lectra, say, by riding the regen down a long hill when the pack is fully charged. Up to a certain point, nothing will happen. After that point, though, the electrolyte will start to boil and may spew out the vent holes. Lose electrolyte in an Optima and it is gone forever. You'll just have to buy a new battery, preferably four, since a balanced pack works a whole lot better. Last I checked, Lectra Optimas were at least $169 apiece.
I regard the fact that one could screw up the batteries as nearly criminally negligent. You see, there are products out there that monitor batteries, shedding extra voltage as heat to prevent overcharges, activating fans to prevent overheating, even giving mini-charges to weaker cells while underway to prevent those weaker cells from ending the ride prematurely. Just a little installed regulation would probably given my Lectra an extra thousand miles or so. As it was, a chronically undercharged battery and lack of replacement cash permanently sidelined by bike.
The Vectrix gets its range from a battery developed by Stanley Ovshinski, the nickle-metal hydride. These are vastly different from lead. They tend to overheat during both charge and discharge. For that reason, I suspect, Vectrix employed fully automatic battery regulation. It's about time! A central computer monitors each cell's voltage and temperature, reducing current and powering cooling fans as needed.
I'm not sure I've raved about the Vectrix nearly enough, but all the excitement has tired me. I will end on a very positive note. I'm not the only one excited about these bikes. They have been in development for over ten years. Bush's presidency may have been the best thing that could have happened to the company; it gave them time to refine the product and incorporate technical advances that would have otherwise been omitted. The Lectra proves that omissions can be critical.
Last month, the Green Car Company held a demo session for the Vectrix, taking over a parking lot and offering rides to those interested. Sales and tech honchos from Vectrix headquarters in Rhode Island flew out to help showcase the beasts. The response was quite a bit more enthusiastic than originally estimated. Even though publicity for the event was lacking due to an oversight of some sort, over fifty folks gathered before the event started. That weekend hundreds test rode the bikes.
I've conducted these fairs myself, touting the Electric Vehicles NW products. I'm familiar with the venue and probable outcome. Products are sold at these things, but not in droves. Usually, folks might drop by the shop and buy later. These events are primarily promotional. Also, let's all keep the bottom line in mind. At over $11,000 US dollars, the Vectrix ain't cheap.
The result?
They sold eight of them that weekend.
Trust me, folks, this level of positive response is unprecedented. As I mentioned above, this might very well be the first practical electric vehicle offered for sale in almost a century.
I will have one, but will wait a few years. I've done the beta thing, buying the latest cool thing before the company or the product has had a chance to stabilize. It's expensive. I do have a much more positive feel for the Vectrix than I have had for any other product I can think of, but sadly still must wait before I take the financial plunge myself.
I put those insights to the test last Thursday, and drove what I truly feel to be the very first practical, commercially available electric motorcycle ever to his the market: The Vectrix.
First, I'll give you the low-down on my EM cred. I first caught the electric vehicle bug about 20 years ago. I read all I could, and found in these readings a common theme: Compared to regular internal combustion engines (ICE, in the parlance) and the vehicles they propel, these battery-powered things were frickin' expensive. The components that comprise EVs find use in a wide variety of applications, and with proper treatment seldom wear out. Ah, but there aren't nearly as many of these applications as there are cars. This gives electric components a rarity that increases the prices.
In a brilliant stroke, I figured I would just get fewer parts and thus save money. Why drive four wheels when it's easier power-wise to drive two? This folly led me to convert Snake, a 1963 Suzuki 75. I played with my ill-equipped shop before farming actual assembly to the guy that sold me the surplus parts, Dave, a guy with a mad scientist's wet dream of a well-stocked garage. In half a day he got the thing running. Yes, it was held together literally by over-sized zip ties and scrap wire, bolted with whatever threaded crap he could find in the hundreds of coffee cans kept for spare bolt storage; but it worked. On the power stored in three surplus Optima Red Tops strapped to the stripped Suzuki frame, I could travel electrically for over 5 miles!
Optima batteries are not cheap. There is, however, a very good reason why I chose them over your standard automotive starter battery or deep-cycle trolling motor battery. Typical lead-acid batteries like those above use a liquid electrolyte of dilute hydrochloric acid. A drop will eat through your clothes if you don't wash it off immediately. I know. I have ruined my share of jeans hauling batteries hither and nigh, usually on and off the boats I worked. I decided before electrifying Snake that an accident on a liquid electrolyte battery-powered motorcycle compounded risk to an unacceptable level, making a simple spill on the bike an urgent issue of getting the bike off of me before more spills complicate matters. Long after building Snake with those spill-proof Optimas, I found my fears were confirmed. A stolen Mercedes blew her light, forcing me into a side-swipe crash with my ICE bike. I found myself pinned beneath my Honda. Had bystanders not lifted the bike off my right leg soon after the crash, I might have uncomfortably bathed it a bit and said goodbye to yet another pair of pants.
Optimas are still lead-acid, but use a paste electrolyte soaked in a proprietary fiberglass matting. The stuff just doesn't flow. As a result, those EV builder (who can afford it) can also take advantage of the fact that these batteries can be laid down on their sides to squeeze into tight spaces!
I played with Snake for a few years, always planning upgrades and new configurations and making mistakes. I let the smoke out of both the first controller and motor somehow. (BTW, that's a standard joke. It seems all electric and electronic components are powered by Magic Smoke. If you let that Smoke out, they don't work anymore.) While gathering this planning wool, a friend showed me a brand-new gadget reviewed in Cycle World (June, 1998), the Lectra.
The Lectra, leather-clad model not included.
Other than spill-proof batteries (Optimas again), the Lectra had three Must Have items that Snake lacked:
Recent readers will remember why I feel direct current drive systems are needlessly dangerous, though it never hurts to repeat.
My second and third requirement stems from my philosophy concerning New Things. Right now, electric vehicles are rare, usually restricted to museums, golf courses and warehouses. Road worthy electrics look the same as any other car -- or they don't. When the don't, they really don't. When they look like a collection of spare wires, exposed batteries and strange buttons stuffed into a crappy car, those driving behind these beasts get a negative impression of all electrics. Should these prominently labeled "ELECTRIC CARS" nearly stall on hills and in general keep honest road warriors from the timely completion of their appointed tasks, the impression Becomes Most Negative. Those behind make the assumption that the only people who would ever attempt to build and drive these rolling crap-fests are people to avoid by association, inconsiderate self-righteous pricks who feel "going green" and "saving the earth" is more important than keeping up with the pace of traffic.
I'll pause to explain. Folks, I like the idea of going green, of saving the earth. That's why I drive electric. I also like the idea of positively promoting methods anyone can adopt -- even to people who are least likely to give a shit about atmospheric carbon concentrations. Why not? They have money. They can get the EV bug just as easily as the nearest hippy or science geek. Driving a nice looking bike that keeps pace with traffic does more than simply reflect well on my personal values. It reflects well on all electric vehicles.
I loved my Lectra. I shared with the interweb world. I wasn't the only one. Matt and Derek also bought and loved and shared their experiences. As you read, you may notice the information kinda peters out. That's partly my fault. I contacted these guys, who contacted a few others, and all of us formed a private little Lectra owner's forum. We shared the quirks and foibles of our bikes with each other and, really, no one else. This was before LJ, before free bloggy services sprang to the fore. After the forum formed, neither Matt nor Derek did much updating, though the exceptions are worth reading.
My Lectra got me more involved with EVs. I joined Electric Vehicles NW here in Seattle, helping to open and run the Pike Place shop and giving the company and the EV movement much more visibility. That's me to the left as pictured on the front page of the Pike Place News, a little rag printed for the tourists and merchants. I'm posing alongside one of the biggest sellers of the time, a US Pro Drive electric assisted mountain bike. I used to ride the Lectra to the little shop. Right to it. Any visitors to the Market will probably recall the labyrinth of ramps in that place, installed in the days of pushcarts to help the farmers and butchers roll their merchandise to their personal nooks. I found through trial and error a rolling route down the alley and into the Third Level, where I would unlock the shop, plug in the bike and get to work. By the end of my shift it would be charged and ready for the ride home. I also did this at my boat job. Ah, archived memories.
My experience led me to Rodney. He had just ridden and was coveting the new Esarati 300, a scooter-styled EM with specs similar to my Lectra. I agreed to give it a test ride and give him my impressions. I took it for a harder ride than he did, deciding to damn the consequences and bring an unlicensed bike on the road for a real run. I felt my bike probably picked up a bit quicker, but on the whole the Esarati performed well. I did second Rodney's thoughts on the lack of disc brakes. Drums just don't cut it. With all that positive energy surrounding the Esarati, what happened?
Where'd it go?
I have no idea. Wired magazine even published a blurb touting the above Esarati, the 400 Blackhawk, supposedly the upgrade to the model Rodney and I rode. How one can offer an upgrade to a bike that never got sold, though, remains a mystery. Replace vaporware with better, more expensive vaporware? Please. Rodney never got his bike or his $300 deposit. I suspect if it lived up to the claims spouted by the company, that wouldn't be the case.
Further electric bike development died with with Bush's 2000 election. I wish it weren't true, but it is. Batteries, cars, motorcycles -- all disappeared within a few months of Shrub's ascendancy. Now that his star is falling, products and hope once again emerge.
Which brings us to the star of this entry, the Vectrix, available in the Northwest of the States at The Green Car Company. I compared this new offering with those from my past. First of all, it beats all in finish. This is one shiny, pretty bike!
My leg reflected in the Vectrix hub motor.
Clickee to embiggen!
That hub motor is the first I've seen in a commercially available conveyance other than an assisted bicycle. It's a beautiful piece of work, making the nuisance I used to have with adjusting, cleaning and replacing chains a thing of the past. It's smaller than any of the motors in any of the bikes I mention above, but packs quite a bit more power. More on that later.
Safety
First, some safety considerations. Every peruser of every motorcycle does what I call the test twist. Sometimes while astride, sometimes standing alongside, everyone interested in a bike grabs and twists the throttle. In an ICE bike, this is no problem. After all, you would hear if the engine were running. If it were in gear, you would have the clutch depressed or else that engine would die.
That is not the case with electrics. When on or off, they sound the same. I therefore look for something that will prevent the test twist from becoming the uncontrolled launch, some form of Test Twist Disaster Prevention. Snake controlled power through a jerry-rigged thumb switch, so TTDP proved unnecessary. The Lectra used a button on the left grip assembly near the horn switch labeled PWR, for Power. The dash had a glowing N for Neutral when the bike was on and ready. Twist in N and nothing happened. Pressing and holding PWR gave the rider a live throttle. Once you got rolling, even a little, you could release PWR.
The Esarati had no TTDP. None. I remember emailing the chief engineer in Ohio to alert him to such a necessity. I never heard back. Go figure.
I got this image from the Vectrix Photo Gallery
The Vectrix has the best TTDP system yet. Look closely at the blueish circle to the left of the speedometer. First, the rider has no power until the kickstand is up. When up, the left dash panel gives a "Ready" symbol, that worded bar to the center left. Next, one must grip one hand brake, grip the other, then release the first before the dash gives the beautiful GO you can just make out in the same display. It takes some practice. I confess I had to figure it out by myself, but once I got the hang of it things started quite smoothly.
After I determine I need not worry about some bystander launching the bike into a day-care parade, I check the balance. Snake sucked. The batteries were mounted too high. It was tippy. Get it just a little off upright and you soon will fall. Considering the weight it carried in spiralled lead, the Lectra balanced well. 180 pounds of batteries gives the bike the heaviest load of the four. By contrast, the Esarati carried almost no battery. It crammed four small gel cells in weird places and called it good. This conspicuous lack of lead raised the most eyebrows amongst the skeptics who questioned the manufacturer claims.
At over 300 pounds, the Vectrix weighs in heavier than all the other bikes -- but is the only one designed to carry two people! With that provision, all is forgiven. Still, the weight is substantial. Though it looks like a scooter, it drives like a motorcycle. It balances very well. Much of the perceived weight you see up top is empty; this is the first EM to boast secure storage for a helmet and personal items! Very nifty, key-locked compartments in the steering column and under the seat provide the kind of personal item protection scooter owners have come go expect from gasser models. It's about time.
Next in the safety checklist I worry not about how quickly I can start, but how well I can stop. I always test brakes before I need them. Snake's ancient drum brakes sucked -- another reason it's in a scrap metal heap. The Lectra had a great front disc brake and a so-so drum brake rear. This makes sense, since 75% of the stopping power of a motorcycle can be found in the front wheel. Using a less-expensive but adequate drum brake for the rear is standard practice with motorcycle manufacturers. Ah, but that rear brake pedal also engaged regenerative braking, an advantage of the ac drive! The top few degrees of the pedal arc were attached to a variable control that gradually increased the regenerative torque, variably slowing the bike with the motor and feeding that power back to the batteries. Press harder beyond this top arc and one also engaged the rear drum brake normally. Combining the two systems in one pedal made for a more robust rear stop than I was used to even in ICE bikes. It works well.
There were two quirks. When I first got the bike, I used regen every chance I could. I figured the power would otherwise just be wasted. True, but . . . . First, the Lectra used 24 volts for both the drive and accessories. When the batteries were near to fully charged, regen current just spiked the power to the whole bike. I kept burning out the weakest point of the electrical system, the brake light. I went through two $10 24V bulbs before I figured this out. So much for avoiding waste.
Also, thanks to a laziness or weirdness with the real axle design, tightening the chain shortened the rear brake cable. It wasn't much, but all the chain adjustments gradually accumulated. Finally, I was halfway to work one day when I smelled something burning, and pulled over to see the drum smoking. I had to borrow some wrenches from a thankfully nearby firetruck to loosen the entire cable to avoid an expensive tow.
The Esarati had front and rear drum brakes and no regen. Rodney and I agree it sucked at making quick stops.
The Vectrix has beautiful Brembo Italian performance disc brakes front and rear -- and regen! Furthermore, the engineers worked the regen not into the brakes but into the twist throttle. When you're rolling, simply pushing back on the throttle slows the bike. It's very intuitive. I found I could hold my desired speed easily by riding not the brake but the throttle. At stops, back throttling brought me nearly to a stop.
Oh, and once you come to a stop, there's a neat trick that every heavy bike should have. Throttle back just a bit and the bike will reverse! That's right, folks, even though it weighs over three hundred pounds, you never have to worry about getting stuck after parking downhill again!
Acceleration
Once I determined I could stop when necessary, it was time to Go. Snake used to go as well as it appeared it should. That is, it did move. I set no records. The Lectra was the champ, able to climb 21% inclines at at least 25mph carrying my 200 pounds for the ride. On the flats I could maintain 45mph. The Esarati? Well, it did go, though was slower than the Lectra and had a bit less climbing power.
The Vectrix? Oh, baby. I did not treat that throttle gently. I not only kept up with town traffic, I blew a few off the stoplight. It was freakin' great. After spinning about town, I then took it on the freeway!
I do have one complaint, similar to that I had with my Lectra. Most motorcycles are geared. One starts in first, throttles back and gears up, then twists all over again. Without gears, EV bikes have a conundrum. Their throttles maintain about the same power to twist ratio as gassers, giving the rider a similar level of control. When I reached speed, however, I found the throttle had more twist to it. I would have to do this weird hold and reposition with my hand to reset my twisting grip. I was ready for this for the freeway run -- or so I thought. I pre-over-gripped, gave it a big twist, and found I still had to reach for more once I hit just under 100 kph! (The Vectrix speedo reads metric.)
And the acceleration -- wild. I'm used to electrics leaping to about 25 or 35 mph, then hitting a wall and more slowly climbing to top speed. I thought this was due to air drag, something that really robs motorcycles especially of their power over ab out 25 mph. I was wrong. It was due to crappy motor systems. The Vectrix proved this. I could pretty much accelerate at a constant rate all the way to 60 mph! Once I got to 60 the acceleration party ends, but who cares. Getting to 60 on an electric scooter was reward enough. I didn't do a lot of freeway driving, unfortunately. I had this image of suddenly losing power before the next ramp and having to figure out the next step. Therefore, only a mile on the freeway. Just enough to know I could. Still, the distance remaining estimator on the dash showed I had 40 miles left to travel. I should have risked it.
I rode that bike for over an hour. Much was stop and go, town driving, some freeway, but still -- it lasted over an hour. I stress this because I have never ridden any other all-electric vehicle for over a half an hour. Lead-acid batteries just don't have the storage capacity as the Vectrix's nickle-metal hydride. Also, I should mention that, after that hour of riding, the charge indicator showed much more than half the battery charge left to go. Ah, yeah.
Though I had no direct Vectrix experience with the following EV issues, I'll share what I know just to further the comparisons. I find the differences revealing.
Charging
All electrics need to be charged. That goes without saying. Yet I am constantly amazed at how difficult some are to charge. Snake, a work in progress that never progressed, needed to have each of its batteries charged individually. It took a day and a half to recover from a half-hour ride. Snake, though, did not have an onboard charger. At the time, there simply weren't any decent automatic chargers for 36V available.
Let me stress "automatic." We drivers of gassers are not used to complicated refueling. Stick nozzle in hole, squeeze, recap, drive. That is not a lesson most EVs of the '90s seemed to learn. Many EVs used chargers that required constant diligence to use safely. In the age of computers, very few of the handy silicon had left the beige boxes and been put to use in the car.
I'm happy to report that, other than Snake, the bikes all have plug-and-forget automatic chargers. The Lectra had a nylon sack that hung under the seat, and the charger just in front of it. It could be a pain, I admit, to pull the cord out of that sack and plug it in to the charger. One could also drive off while plugged in. Bad, bad, bad. I got in the habit of buying the brightest charging cords I could find and draping them across the seat so I wouldn't forget . . . again. (BTW, I personally feel the perceived liability involved in moving current to EVs probably killed the cars.)
I never got a chance to play with the Esarati charge system. Whatever.
The Vectrix keeps its cord under the seat, just like the Lectra. Ah, but this cord is neatly stowed not in a cheesy nylon bag, but in an upholstered locked compartment spacious enough to hold a helmet! Furthermore, Vectrix engineers took advantage of the charging down-time to play with the displays. When charging, the speedometer converts to an ampmeter! Just divide the needle reading (again, in kilometers per hour) by ten and you see in real time how much current the charger is feeding the batteries. None of the other bikes and precious few electric cars I've seen have that sophisticated and convenient a charging instrumentation design.
The Lectra and (IIRC) the Esarati did have a charge level indicator, something you could glance at just to see how full the batteries were. The Lectra's weren't that fancy, though, just five green LEDs to estimate the approximate state of charge both when riding and charging. No ammeter.
Battery Regulation
Why a Vectrix ammeter is crucial has to do with how blasted simple a lead-acid battery proves to be. Most ICE cars today use flooded lead-acid for a very good reason. Let's say you try to start your ICE, crank and crank, and drain the battery fast. That causes heat in the battery. Now let's say you're in a hurry, and grab the biggest charger you can find. If you leave that hot battery on the big charger too long, the electrolyte will boil. How does one fix this problem? You're stuck popping the caps off the battery and adding water. Big deal.
It's a bigger deal for the other scooters. Let's say you over-charge the Lectra, say, by riding the regen down a long hill when the pack is fully charged. Up to a certain point, nothing will happen. After that point, though, the electrolyte will start to boil and may spew out the vent holes. Lose electrolyte in an Optima and it is gone forever. You'll just have to buy a new battery, preferably four, since a balanced pack works a whole lot better. Last I checked, Lectra Optimas were at least $169 apiece.
I regard the fact that one could screw up the batteries as nearly criminally negligent. You see, there are products out there that monitor batteries, shedding extra voltage as heat to prevent overcharges, activating fans to prevent overheating, even giving mini-charges to weaker cells while underway to prevent those weaker cells from ending the ride prematurely. Just a little installed regulation would probably given my Lectra an extra thousand miles or so. As it was, a chronically undercharged battery and lack of replacement cash permanently sidelined by bike.
The Vectrix gets its range from a battery developed by Stanley Ovshinski, the nickle-metal hydride. These are vastly different from lead. They tend to overheat during both charge and discharge. For that reason, I suspect, Vectrix employed fully automatic battery regulation. It's about time! A central computer monitors each cell's voltage and temperature, reducing current and powering cooling fans as needed.
I'm not sure I've raved about the Vectrix nearly enough, but all the excitement has tired me. I will end on a very positive note. I'm not the only one excited about these bikes. They have been in development for over ten years. Bush's presidency may have been the best thing that could have happened to the company; it gave them time to refine the product and incorporate technical advances that would have otherwise been omitted. The Lectra proves that omissions can be critical.
Last month, the Green Car Company held a demo session for the Vectrix, taking over a parking lot and offering rides to those interested. Sales and tech honchos from Vectrix headquarters in Rhode Island flew out to help showcase the beasts. The response was quite a bit more enthusiastic than originally estimated. Even though publicity for the event was lacking due to an oversight of some sort, over fifty folks gathered before the event started. That weekend hundreds test rode the bikes.
I've conducted these fairs myself, touting the Electric Vehicles NW products. I'm familiar with the venue and probable outcome. Products are sold at these things, but not in droves. Usually, folks might drop by the shop and buy later. These events are primarily promotional. Also, let's all keep the bottom line in mind. At over $11,000 US dollars, the Vectrix ain't cheap.
The result?
They sold eight of them that weekend.
Trust me, folks, this level of positive response is unprecedented. As I mentioned above, this might very well be the first practical electric vehicle offered for sale in almost a century.
I will have one, but will wait a few years. I've done the beta thing, buying the latest cool thing before the company or the product has had a chance to stabilize. It's expensive. I do have a much more positive feel for the Vectrix than I have had for any other product I can think of, but sadly still must wait before I take the financial plunge myself.