Indian team wins first TTXGP
Everyone knows that the hot favorites for the worlds first zero carbon Grand Prix at the Isle of Man are US giants Mission Motors and Brammo, who have invested millions of crisp US dollars in their electric machine and who have been working on this project for years now. To everyone's surprise, a minuscule Indian Team that started its preparation in a shed on the outskirts of London just a couple of months ago managed to top the time sheets.
Team Agni has vast experience with electric race bike, as team leader Cedric Lynch had built his first electric performance bike way back in 1981. The team had worked for months at a stretch for the TTXGP (the electric superbike GP).
This Indian took the frame of a 2007 Suzuki GSXR 600, fitted it with two Agni 95 reinforced motors and a Kokam lithium-polymer battery of 63 cells that could produce around 16 kilowatt-hours of energy.
The team claims that their e-Superbike can churn an impressive 40 to 50 bhp. So, it was no surprise that their creation was the first to complete the 37 miles course, with team rider Rob Barber riding at an average of 84.81 mph! Meanwhile, Brammo finished third and Mission Motors fourth.
Arvind Rabadia, a former newspaper delivery man worked with veteran engine developer Cedric Lynch to build the winning bike. And how much do you think the team spent on their winning bike? Nope, it's not a couple of millions, but the cost of Agni X01 was around $30,000. That's much lower than the millions spent by other entries.
Rob Barber, the TT racer who rode the Agni X01 for the TTXGP said that it feels like home as soon as you ride it. The rider says that Agni feels better and more peaceful the traditional Suzuki GSX as you can concentrate more because your eyes aren't bleeding.
The TTXGP received 60 entries from 15 countries to compete in the race. Only 16 actually landed at the starting line, out of which just nine finished the actual race.
PRO Class times
* Team Agni (Rob Barber): 26:41 (Agni Motors is indian company, building electric motors)
* Mission Motors (Thomas Montano): 33:45
* XXL (Thomas Schoenfelder): 34.07
* Brammo/Bike (Roy Richardson): 35:47
* Brammo/Bike (Mark Buckley): 35:52
* HTBLAUVA - TGM (Paul Dobbs): 41:53
Open Class times
* ManTTx Racing (Dan Kneen): 32:01
* Barefoot Motors Racing (Chris Petty): 33:35
* Electric Motorsport (Chris Heath): 36:26
* NSR - Kingston University (George Spence): 40:44
[Via: BikeIndia]
Ultra Motor to amp up India operations
UK-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer, Ultra Motor is planning to scale up its operations in a big way. The company is working on new model launches - up to six new two-wheelers this year - and is also looking at increasing the number of its dealerships in the country to 300, up from the current 170, over the next 12 months.
Ultra Motor, which is aiming for sales of up to 55,000 units in 2009-10, is also considering the possibility of setting up a new assembly plant near Gurgaon, which may be operational by mid-2010. Last year, the company had announced it would invest about Rs 150 crore towards expansion activity in India and the new plant would be a part of that.
The market for electric bikes and scooters in India is expected to grow in a big way over the next 3-5 years. Another major player - Hero Electric - is also looking at a sales growth of 75% in the next fiscal, for which the target is 70,000 units. The company is also working on expanding its dealer network to as many as 360 outlets, up from the current 100.
However, the current generation of electric scooters are bikes - which are extremely low on power (top speed in most cases is barely 25km/h!) and have a rather limited range - are likely to have a presence only in the entry-level segment. Until much more powerful electric bikes, with longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries, make an appearance, electric bike manufacturers are likely to remain niche players.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Lithium-ion battery tech breakthrough
One of the things that's hampering the development of new electric cars - and the public adoption of existing ones - is the time it takes for EV batteries to recharge. With existing EVs, their batteries usually need a few hours to charge fully, while some EVs are fitted with a small IC engine that can charge the car's batteries on the run.
Now, Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder - researchers at MIT - have developed a new Lithium-ion battery technology that could allow electric car batteries to get fully charged in just five minutes. While explaining that technology is beyond the scope of this article, two companies are said to have licensed the technology already.
However, the MIT researchers' technology will involve a new approach to manufacturing lithium-ion battery materials, and production-ready Li-ion batteries made using the new technology are expected to be ready only by 2011-12.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
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