Vectrix The Electric

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC BIKES ?
Electric bikes seem like they could be the answer to air pollution and disappearing oil reserves. But will we ever see an electric superbike to match the performance of current bikes? we will investigates the possibilities.
What will we do when the oil runs out? It's a finite resource, and since most scientists now seem to accept that by burning oil [and coal and gas), then releasing the carbon dioxide generated into the atmosphere, we're altering the climate. Possibly with disastrous results. Even if you're sceptical about climate change, or simply don't give a hoot, it's hard to argue that petrol as we know it probably won't be powering the bikes we'll be riding in fifty year's time. As deposits of crude oil get used up. petrol will become scarcer, more expensive, and (eventually! run out altogether.

Among the options, one of the most promising—on the face of it—seems like electricity. Generate electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, wave power, nuclear reactors or whatever other method you can. use it to charge up a battery in a bike or car, then drive off. Perfect.

Energy rich
But it's not so easy. Petrol is actually an incredibly dense energy store, and petrol engines can output a lot of power. By comparison, batteries hold much less energy inside them (see Watt's the story?). Battery technology is improving all the time—lithium batteries as used in mobile phones and laptops are much lighter and hold more energy than basic lead/acid batteries used to start your motorbike.
But even if a battery can be developed to hold as much energy as a tank of fuel, which will also fit on a bike, charging it quickly is another matter (see 'Guilty as charged'). It's simply not possible to transfer and store electrical energy anywhere near as efficiently as petrol does.

Switch off
So whatever the future holds for bikes - hydrogen-powered fuel cells, synthetic petrol, bio-diesel-fuelled turbo-diesel engines or bio-ethanol. it seems unlikely that we'll ever be plugging in an electric GSX-R to the socket in the garage.

FUTURE BIKES: PLAUSIBLE POWER METHODS

3 FUEL CELLS
Stored hydrogen gas made from renewable electricity is converted back into electricity inside a fuel cell. It can store much more energy that batteries, but not as much as petrol. Hydrogen is dangerous (remember the Hindenberg Zeppelin?) and hard to store. But Suzuki has a concept bike, and BMW has a fleet of 7-series cars running on it in Munich. Best bet at the moment.
BE BIO-ETHANOL
Ethanol lyes, the stuff you drink in beer] can be used to power modified petrol engines. It can be made from fermenting plants and distilling the results - in the same way as whisky and vodka are made. The US is already expanding this, but it makes food more expensive and there isn't enough arable land in the whole UK to provide enough fuel for all the cars.
BIO-DIESEL
Vegetable oil from rapeseed or similar plants can be converted into a diesel substitute. But as with bio-ethanol. there isn't enough land to grow bio-fuels and food for everyone.



VECTRIX SUPERBIKE

Electric scooter firm Vectrix showed off an electric superbike concept model at the Milan bike show last year looks suitably I futuristic, and the performance isn't so bad - top speed of 124 mph from its £0 kW ISO hp! engine. However the range is pitiful if you use this performance: 41 miles at 75 mph, 124 miles at 25 mph. That's down to the battery capacity: 7.5kW/h. Using the engine at full chat would drain the battery in 7.5kVWh ^60 kW = 0.125 hours, or seven and a half minutes. Even at 124 mph. you'd be looking for a plug after 16 miles. Vectrix claim a charge of 80 per cent in two and a half hours.
Vectrix also make a range of two, and three-wheeled scooters These have a more plausible performance package: top speed is 60 mph, range is around 65 miles, and if you had a 20 mile commute, and could recharge at work, it'd make a reasonable scooter replacement. But the Vectrix scooter costs over £7.000-nearly three times the cost of a Honda S-Wing 125 maxi-scooter.