The World's Fastest Electric Motorcycle

Team KillaCycle Prove Green Motorcycle Drag Racing is Possible

Feb 11, 2009

Question: what goes from 0~60 mph in 0.97 seconds, and doesn't use any gas doing it? Answer: an electrically powered drag racing motorcycle, the KillaCycle.

Mention an electrically powered vehicle and most people will conjure up images of postal delivery vans, or golf karts (or just yawn at the very thought). But Bill Dube – owner and crew chief of the KillaCycle - and some friends wanted to change those images. And in the late 90s they decided it was time to show the world the true potential of electrically powered vehicles.

The best way of showing off the potential of this motive power, they decided, was to build a drag bike. The bike would not only be very fast, it would also be environmentally friendly.

By October 2008, the team had achieved their ambition. The KillaCycle is the fastest electrically powered vehicle in the world – car or motorcycle. At the October NHRA nationals at Bandimere Speedway rider Scotty Pollacheck recorded a fastest ever et (eclipsed time) over the standing quarter mile with a 7.89 second run – a world record. Another world record claimed by the KillaCycle was a top speed of 174 mph recorded at the end of one of its quarter mile runs.

To achieve these incredible performance figures the KillaCycle is a very special high performance motorcycle. Bill Dube describes his machine as “like a giant cordless drill with wheels.” Technologically that may be an apt description, but the truth is that the KillaCycle took many hours to develop and lots of input from some highly skilled people.

1210 Lithium-Ion Batteries

Although outwardly similar to any current gasoline powered drag bike, the power-train couldn’t be more different. Using two DC (direct current) electric motors, the KillaCycle has no less than 1210 lithium-ion, Naophosphate™ batteries. These batteries are similar to the ones found in laptop computers and were developed by A123 Systems Inc. in collaboration with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

The chassis of the bike is conventional drag bike technology. A tubular steel frame supports the two DC motors (mounted low in front of the rear wheel) and the large (200 lbs.) battery pack. To transmit more than 800 ft/lbs. of torque, produced by the two DC motors developing over 500 horse power, an 10-inch wide M & H Racemaster tire is fitted on the rear wheel.

The electronics are controlled by a Café Electrics Inc. Zilla computer control unit. This unit is programmed to deliver just the right amount of power at any given point on the drag strip. At the lights, the control unit configures the motors to work in series (delivering maximum torque), however, as the bike powers down the strip the Zilla changes this configuration so that the motors operate in parallel.

Thermally Sensitive Batteries

One of the more technically challenging aspects of the KillaCycle’s technology is the charging system. The team uses a Manzanita Micro PFC-50. Just like the batteries in a laptop, the lithium-ion batteries on this bike are thermally sensitive.

The charging unit works with a BMS (Battery Management System) to control the rate of charge, as Bill explains: “We have a BMS on the battery pack that signals when each parallel group of cells is full, and regulates the peak charging voltage to each parallel group of cells. Without a BMS you will quickly ruin lithium-ion cells by overcharging or allowing them to become over discharged.”

From a full charge the KillaCycle can make seven runs – including burn-outs. A suitable charge takes around four minuets to complete.

Alternatives to Internal Combustion Engines

With numerous world records, it is safe to say that Bill and his colleagues have admirably demonstrated the performance potential of electrically powered vehicles. With the whole world becoming more environmentally aware, motorsport must look to alternatives to the internal combustion engine. What the KillaCycle team has achieved are not just the performance aspects of electric vehicles, but also that people can still race without polluting the planet.

The KillaCycle and others like it have generated so much interest that this year the IOM TT races will see the first ever races for alternative energy vehicles. The TTXGP will be held during the classic Manx races and could be the forerunner to environmentally friendly motorcycle racing.

The copyright of the article The World's Fastest Electric Motorcycle in Motorcycle Racing is owned by John Glimmerveen. Permission to republish The World's Fastest Electric Motorcycle in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.