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Spy photos from Austria have caught KTM testing a rather interesting motorcycle – one that does not run on a petroleum-based fuel, but rather it has an electric drivetrain at its core.

This isn’t the first time that KTM has experimented with an electric motorcycle, of course, with the KTM Freeride E being available in select markets. However, the machine seen here is a pretty big step forward for the Austrian brand, from its modest electric dirt bike.

Using the chassis of a KTM 390 Duke to house the battery, inverter, and motor, KTM’s electric street bike (we’ll call it the KTM E-Duke for now) looks like a rolling mess, but is what you would expect from a project in its early stages of development.

Today was a pretty big day in the electric vehicle world, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in a company blog post that the California based company would not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wanted to use their technology.

While the term “good faith” is a subjective one, Musk’s announcement opens up Telsa’s arsenal of patents to any other OEM, with the hope that the adoption rate of electric vehicles at these manufacturers will be improved.

Making Telsa’s patents “open source” effectively creates a minimum standard of technology in electric vehicles, and the move now means that OEMs should only use their own EV technology if it performs better than Tesla’s.

That’s a pretty big win for consumers, since Tesla’s technology is generally highly regarded. It also means that the jumping-in point for OEMs into electric vehicles is substantially lower.

If a small manufacturer, or small product team in a large OEM, wants to start an EV project now, they can use Telsa’s patented technology to jump-start their development, and bring something to market quicker.

New Jersey newspaper The Record is reporting that Mission Motorcycles, maker of the soon-to-be-released Mission RS and Mission R electric motorcycles, has filed a lawsuit against one of the company’s co-founders, Vincent Ip.

In its lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court in New Jersey, Mission Motorcycles asserts that Ip must relinquish stock in the EV startup, pursuant to a stock restriction agreement the Ip signed with fellow co-founders Mark Seeger and Andrew Ng.

It seems Erik Buell Racing has been thinking about alternative-fuel vehicles, as the company from East Troy had filed and received a patent for a hybrid drive motorcycle design.

There is nothing particularly astonishing about EBR’s patent, after all with hybrids being all the rage in the four-wheeled world, it was obviously only a matter of time before that same trend transitioned to motorcycles as well.

However, what is interesting about Erik Buell Racing’s patent is that it doesn’t set forth the Prius-inspired setup that you would expect, where an electric motor takes over or assists an internal combustion engine.

Instead, EBR’s setup is more like the Chevy Volt, with a small petrol-fueled generator being on-board to charge the bike’s batteries once they have been depleted by the electric motor, and thus killing the range anxiety that is prevalent in current EV bike designs.

There’s something happening on the electric side of the motorcycle industry, but no one is talking publicly about it. It’s a fragile idea, and it feels like even mentioning it could jeopardize its very existence. Because of this, I’ve wrestled with putting words down to discuss the topic, not wanting to be the person to spoil the whole thing.

However, lately so many influential people involved with electric motorcycles have independently brought up the subject with me that this discussion is not only becoming unavoidable, but perhaps airing the idea out in public will facilitate some sort of greater dialogue between the different parties. The concept that I’m referring to is of course consolidation.

The folks at MotoCzysz just got back from a trip to China (the EVS25 show in Shenzhen, China) where they debuted the MotoCzysz D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 — the world’s first fully integrated electric drive system. Complete with motor, inverter, oil pump, gear reduction, and differential housed in an aluminum chassis, MotoCzysz says the D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 is a complete plug-and-play system that can be used in the development of electric vehicles.

Based off the Portland company’s experience racing the MotoCzysz E1pc at the Isle of Man and FIM e-Power Championship, the MotoCzysz D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 uses Remy motors to produce 60kW (80hp) of continuous power, with a 75 kW (100hp) peak power delivery figure. The D1 comes with plenty of torque, 1000 Nm of torque to be precise (no, that’s not an extra zero, the motor makes 737 lbs•ft of torque). The feather-light D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 weighs under 150 lbs, making it ideal for a variety of applications. Available in May 2011, pricing will start under $8,999 as the MotoCzysz D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 will compete head-to-head with Mission Motors’ MissionEVT program.

An icon of motorcycling, the Honda Super Cub changed the perception of motorcycles in American culture by creating a bike that normal everyday people could use for basic transportation needs.

As times have changed, and a new-found desire for a cheap, efficient, people-pusher has emerged in the motorcycle industry, and Honda seems uncomfortable letting companies like Brammo tread on its domain.

Accordingly at the Tokyo Motor Show this week, Honda released an all new electric scooter design that plays heavily off its Super Cub predecessor. More info after the jump.

In a post titled “TTXGP”, Motoczysz, the American MotoGP hopeful, has posted up on the company’s blog what appears to be a message hinting at a shift in the company’s focus to developing an electric motorcycle.

“It became very apparent to me that I was working to catch up in an era coming to an end – maybe I should set off and try to lead in an era arriving” -MC

It seems Motoczysz will be abandoning their efforts for a new electric bike. Now the speculation will be what parts of the C1 prototype will make it into the electric GP contender.

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.