It’s the Mission One. It’s the electric motorcycle the blogsphere is buzzing about. It’s green (in energy, not color…although there are a lot of earth tones going on in its design). It’s electric. It will hit 150mph, go 150 miles, make 100 ft lbs of torque, and take 8hrs to charge on a standard home outlet. Oh, and it’s also going to cost $68,995. That’s the bike in a nutshell, but digging deeper finds there is much more to it.
Electric motors, of course, mean instant power on tap, which will make for some neck-snapping launches. With a top-end that goes all the way to 150mph, the Mission One will easily get the road blurring by you on the street, and most tracks. Power-wise on paper, the Mission One seems to stack up to comparable gasoline-powered motorcycles.
But the Mission One is not like gasoline-powered bikes, and that’s the point.
Instead of hitting up the Exxon station, you hit up your wall outlet. Recharging is said to take just two hours using a 240v outlet, and 8 hours on your standard 120v wall jack. Even on a standard jack though, 80% of the bikes battery life can be recharged in only an hour. With all these ticks in the right box, it is easy to see why some many news outlets are praising Mission and their years of hard work. We’d have to agree as well, the Mission One sounds like it will be a great bike if it meets all these benchmarks, and the company seems to have the right people behind this project to make sure exactly that happens.
Mission Motor Company consists of the venerable dream team for motorcycling. As a former venture capitalist, I can say that I would invest in this product based purely on the team alone. Forrest North and his two co-founders, Edward West and Mason Cabot, are the main principles responsible for the Mission One concept, and they have found talent to match their ambition and scope, and who also have CV’s with companies like Tesla Motors, Ducati and Google on them.
It is easy to liken the Mission One to the Tesla roadster, and even easier to sandbag the idea after all the adversity that Tesla has seen over the past few years. It is true that electric vehicles are a technology and product that still have a tremendous amount of growing to do, and lockstep with that is more growing pains. Tesla has faced many of these problems, problems that probably all EV base companies will have to face as this space is vetted out. Tesla has also faced problems that are completely unrelated to electric vehicles, but no stranger to the world of startups (especially VC backed startups). And then again, some of the problems Tesla has faced have to be chalked up to plain and simple poor business, management, and personal decisions.
Are there issues with the Mission One concept? You bet. The sideline bike-builders have already pointed out there’s no mention of curb weight or chassis construction. Surely all those batteries will tip the scales on the heavy side, and maybe even throw the weight distribution and handling characteristics off. And we also have no way of knowing if the bike will be centered around another current gas-powered street bike, or be sourced from within. No one is even certain that the Mission One will be able to deliver everything it promises, or even make it out the doors of Mission Motor’s California office.
Looming over this bike is the fact tit hasn’t even been built yet. Sure there have been test mules for technological proof-of-concepts, and the CGI is all set and ready to go, but no one has put metal to welding torch and constructed the Mission One (at least not that we’ve seen so far, but then again this company did manage to stay off the radar for a few years while it was in development). A lot is learned and changed about a product when it’s actually built. There will surely be changes down the line. In the VC world, we realize that what a company looks like today isn’t what it will look like a week, month, or year down the line. What we look for are people who will be able to make the right decisions to guide and grow their vision in the face of adversity. Mission Motors seems to have those people, and their vision looks pretty good so far. Time will tell though.
Electric motorcycles are the future. Maybe not our immediate future, but our future none-the-less. For now, there are 50 Mission One’s available for pre-order for the 2010 production date. If you want to be able to say you owned one of the first of many generations of electric motorcycles to come, now is your chance to put your money down.
Specifications
Powertrain
Battery Pack: High Energy Lithium-Ion w/ Integrated Thermal Management System
Motor: Liquid-cooled, 3-phase AC Induction
Torque: 100 lb-ft @ 0 to 6,500 rpm
Transmission: Single speed
Chassis
Suspension/Front: Ohlins 43mm inverted fork; fully adjustable, 4.5-in travel
Suspension/Rear: Ohlins Single shock w/piggyback reservoir; fully adjustable, 4.5-in travel
Brakes/Front: Dual Brembo 310mm disc; Brembo radial-mount forged 4-piston calipers
Brakes/Rear: Brembo 220mm disc; single-piston caliper
Wheels/Tires/Front: Marchesini forged aluminum 3.5″ x 17″, 120/70ZR17 – race Compound
Wheels/Tires/Rear: Marchesini forged aluminum 6.0″x17″, 190/55ZR17 – race Compound
Target Performance
Top Speed: 150mph
Range: 150 miles per charge (est. EPA drive cycle)
Recharge Time: Under 2 Hours @ 240V (8 Hours @ 120V)
Interactive Feature: Adjustable regenerative rear wheel braking
Interactive Feature: Intuitive / adjustable data acquisition system
PRESS RELEASE
America’s Newest Motorcycle Company, Mission Motors, Launches at TED2009
Mission One, World’s Fastest Production Electric Sportbike
Design by Yves Béhar & fuseprojectLONG BEACH, CA – February 4, 2009 –Today, Mission Motors unveils a revolutionary vehicle, the Mission One, the world’s fastest production all-electric motorcycle, at TED2009. Mission Motors CEO, Forrest North, along with lead designer Yves Béhar, founder of fuseproject, will present the vehicle in development onstage to the TED audience on February 4. Mission Motors will exhibit the vehicle throughout the conference at the Kohler LivingHome at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, and will be on hand to discuss the company’s vision for a radically new brand of motorcycles. The company will also provide attendees the opportunity to see inside the product development process through the installation of a motorcycle design studio inside the Kohler LivingHome.
“The Great Unveiling,” the TED2009 theme, makes a fitting platform for the launch of Mission Motors’ first vehicle, the Mission One. It is the first production electric sportbike that features uncompromised performance and an iconic new design created by world-renowned designers Yves Béhar and fuseproject. With a top speed of 150 MPH and an estimated range of 150 miles, the Mission One rivals gasoline sportbikes while dwarfing the performance of any other electric motorcycle on the market. The electric drivetrain creates a riding experience unlike anything currently available on a production vehicle. The electric motor’s linear torque curve provides peak torque at zero rpm, a feature gasoline engines cannot match. The motor delivers faster acceleration than most gasoline sportbikes without ever having to shift gears.
The announcement formally debuts Mission Motors, a San Francisco-based company geared to redefine the world of performance motorcycles, which was founded in 2007 by entrepreneurs Forrest North (CEO), Edward West (President), and Mason Cabot (VP of Engineering).
Building on their backgrounds in engineering, a desire to develop clean vehicles, and a passion for motorcycles, the Mission Motors founders developed a proprietary high energy lithium ion battery pack that could provide both the range and acceleration needed for a high performance sportbike. The company (named Hum Cycles at the time) placed second in the transportation category of the 2007 California Cleantech Open, the largest cleantech business plan competition on the West Coast.
“As a motorcycle enthusiast and engineer I knew I could combine my passion for motorcycles with my passion for innovation and create a motorcycle that truly sets a new standard in the perception of electric vehicles,” said Forrest North, Founder and CEO, Mission Motors. “With the Mission One, we’re writing the next chapter in motorcycle design, delivering a new riding experience without sacrificing performance or design in a zero emissions vehicle.”
With core engineering underway and an attractive business model, North and his co-founders turned to Yves Béhar’s fuseproject to create Mission’s unique brand and creative direction, as well as an iconic industrial design for the first product. The engineering team at Mission Motors and the design team at fuseproject worked in close collaboration to design the Mission One from the ground up, creating a machine that makes a bold statement about performance, technology, sustainability and design.
“This project was a dream come true: a statement about how design can make performance and sustainability come together without compromise,” said Yves Béhar. “I believe Mission is an icon for a new era of efficient and exciting vehicles. Designed to express speed and efficiency in it’s overall sharp lines, the Mission bike is also highly detailed with special attention to a riders needs, bringing a high level of product design and ergonomics to a new generation of performance transportation.”
About Mission Motors:
Mission Motors is building the fastest production electric motorcycle in the world. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company combines innovative technology, iconic design, and superb performance with the freedom of a zero emissions riding experience. Mission’s elite team of engineers is creating the first motorcycle company built on the innovative spirit of the Silicon Valley. The concept is simple: Redefine the world of performance motorcycles. For more information on Mission Motors, visit www.ridemission.com.
Source: Mission Motors
