2011.07.13 - MonoTracer e150 and MonoTracer i1200 at Brno Circuit.

Peraves CEO Roger Riedener invited Cycle World‘s motorcycling journalist Steve Anderson to join us for an incredible 4 days of MonoTracering fun at the 21st Annual MonoTracer Driver Training at the Brno Circuit in the Czech Republic during the 2nd week of July 2011.  Steven rode out to Brno, CZ from Switzerland (~600mi) in a MonoTracer caravan on Monday, July 10th, 2011 with Roger and longtime cabin motorcycle advocate and journalist Paul Blezard.  Paul was Steven’s primary wingman throughout the week mentoring Steven in the wonderful world of high performance cabin motorcycles along with words of wisdom from many other veteran EcoMobile and MonoTracer pilots.  Steven is a longtime expert motorcyclist but this was his first time experiencing the motorcycling luxury, comfort, and safety provided by the DuPont™ Kevlar® monocoque fully enclosed MonoTracers.  He also had the privilege of running several hot laps of the Brno Circuit while piloting the 2010 X-PRIZE winning all electric MonoTracer e150 with its awesome power, gobs of torque, and fantastic smoothness.

2011.07.13 - Moto Journalists Steve Anderson and Paul Blezard taking the X-PRIZE winning MonoTracer e150 for some hot laps of the Brno Circuit.

Steven wrote a stellar review of what it is like to MonoTracer for the November 2011 issue of Cycle World.  Click here for a PDF version of the MonoTracer Cycle World article (1.6Mb) or below for individual JPEGs of each page and read for yourself all the fantastic quotes.  Steven eloquently captures the technical, the excitement, and the exoticness of the MonoTracer experience.

Cycle World November 2011 - MonoTracer (p48-49)

Cycle World November 2011 - MonoTracer (p50-51)

Cycle World November 2011 - MonoTracer (p52)

Cycle World November 2011 - MonoTracer (p1)

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2011.07.13 - Moto Journalists Paul Blezard (BMW S1000RR) and Steven Anderson (MonoTracer i1200)

2011.07.13 - Ferrari Rosso Corsa MonoTracer on the edge of pit lane at Brno Circuit.

[Source:  Cycle World, MonoTracer Article PDF (1.6Mb)]

2011.09.07 - MonoTracer i1200 parked at Warner Brothers Studios

If you’ve ever viewed any James Bond or other spy films you may be keenly aware of the incredible vehicles the spies choose to drive.  The exciting NBC TV series Chuck is no exception having featured an all electric Tesla Roadster on the Season 3 Episode 12 – Chuck Versus the American Hero.  In more recent episodes the gorgeous spy Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) can be seen driving a beautiful Lotus Evora.  I’ve been a forever fan of the TV series Chuck since the pilot episode aired 4 years ago.  Season 5 began a couple of weeks ago and the third installment airs this Friday, November 11, 2011 at 8PM (7PM central) on NBC.  The episode is called: Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips  (IMDB).  If you are a fan of the MonoTracer you surely will want to tune into Chuck this Friday evening…

NBC released a sneak peek of Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips viewable below:

5.03 Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips

2011.09.07 - MonoTracer i1200 cockpit view of Warner Brothers Studios.

[Source:  NBC]

Performance testing Reto Seitz's new floating front disc brakes on his MonoTracer at Sustenpass.

Gerold Hellwig, Reto Seitz and I just spent a whole week riding our MonoTracers in the beautiful South Tyrolean Mountains. We stayed, together with a group of about 30 BMW-riders from Motorrad-Briel, at the wonderful Bellavista Hotel, where host Marco Fosco is an avid motorcycle rider. Roland Briel organized this motorcycling adventure package under the name “Tornante ’11″ (Switchback 2011).

We took two MTI-1200 with the new front floating brake discs that Reto has kindly invented for us and traversed about 3000km in 7 days. Gerold brought the MTE-150 and managed to completely consume a brand new set of Continental Road Attack 2 and Race Attack Custom (160/60 ZR 18 front and 240/40 ZR 18 rear) in only 4 days of riding (about 1000km). The massive torque of the ACP all electric drive, combined with some of the grippiest road surfaces in the world, surely does its thing.

We did not play around though. Under normal road circumstances, meaning wider roads than mountain bike single trails or gravel tracks, we were not overtaken by a single vehicle, period. The new brakes performed flawlessly and will be standard as of now for all Peraves MonoTracers. They can also be retrofitted to 2009-2011 models.

Roger Weichert of Mediafusion assembled this fun video edit from the footage captured on GoPro HD HERO cameras.  It includes the following short sequences: One of me riding the yellow MTE-150 behind Gerold in the blue MTI-1200 up the Pordoi pass from the south from the town of Canazei up to the Hotel Bellavista.  The second clip shows me in the MTI-1200 following a very clean riding biker on a Honda up the Campolongo pass from Arabba towards Corvara.  The third clip is a ride down the north face of the Pordoi towards Arabba. Great weather, great company, great food and the safest bikes in the world to really enjoy these challenging roads.

MonoTracering in the Dolomites

We also traversed all the following mountain passes during this week:

Brenner (Brennero) | Brocon | Campolongo | Cereda | Cibiana | Duran | Falzarego | Fedaia | Furkel (Furcia) | Gampen (Palade) | Grödner (Gardena) | Jaufen (Monte Giovo) | Karer (Costalunga) | Kreuzberg (Monte Croce di Comélico) | Lavazè | Manghen | Mendel (Mendola) | Niger (Nigra) | Penser (Pénnes) | Pordoi | Reschen | Rolle | San Pellegrino | Sella | Staulanza | Stilfser (Stelvio) | Tonale | Tre Croci | Würz (Erbe)

If somebody is really serious about his riding, then the “Tornante ’12″ by Motorrad-Briel in 2012 is the date to paint red on your next year’s agenda. I’ll certainly be there again. Like this year, we will give dozens of passenger rides to the “cabriolet bikers” in the newest MonoTracers. And like this year, there will be several orders to be taken…

-Roger

"This is the Zero Emission vehicle I was looking for." - Stormtrooper TK-421's comment upon discovering the all electric MonoTracer e150 Speeder Bike of choice while patrolling planet earth. (Dragon*Con 2011.09.03)

When rapid and efficient transportation is the priority, there is no better vehicle than the MonoTracer.

On Saturday, September 3, 2011 MonoTracer owner Shinji attended the gaming and science fiction convention Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia.  Shinji captured this fun photo with Stormtrooper TK-421 revealing that the MonoTracer is the Speeder Bike of choice when patrolling planet earth with the requirement of rapid and efficient transportation.  All that is missing is Princess Leia with a Luke Skywalker TK-421 riding “blaster” as the MonoTracer comfortably accommodates two people.  While the particular vehicle in the photo is a MonoTracer i1200, the photo caption imagines how a Stormtrooper might comment upon seeing a zero emissions all electric MonoTracer e150 which sounds very much like a Speeder Bike from the movie under acceleration.  See the below video clip for the classic Return of the Jedi Speeder Bike chase scene on the planet Endor.

Return of the Jedi – Speeder Bike Sequence

[Links:  Dragon*Con, Dragon*Con Wiki, Stormtrooper, Speeder Bike, Return of the Jedi Speeder Bike Sequence]

2011.07.07 - Ferrari Rosso Corsa MonoTracer i1200 at the Ferrari Factory entrance in Maranello, Italy.

Earlier this month I had the privilege of a lifetime to MonoTracer 2500mi throughout Europe during the first 2 weeks of July.  My MonoTracer adventures began in Switzerland where within a couple of hours after landing in Zurich I found myself MonoTracering for 200mi alongside Peraves CEO Roger Riedener in a pair of gorgeous MonoTracer i1200s to the amazing 3 day BMW Motorrad Days event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We had a great MonoTracer booth with 6 MonoTracers including the all electric MTE-150 expertly organized by our German MonoTracer sales representative Gerold Hellwig.  After the event I MonoTracered down to Italy for a few days via the picturesque Alps passing by the Stelvio Pass.

While in Italy I took a day to go visit the Ferrari factory in Maranello where I snapped some beautiful photos of the gorgeous Ferrari Rosso Corsa MonoTracer i1200 in front of the Ferrari factory entrance.  Even at the Ferrari factory the vehicle drew a crowd and I overheard comments from some of the exiting employees asking among themselves if this was a new Ferrari prototype?

My European MonoTracer adventures are way too many to recount in a single blog but the final destination was the Brno GP Circuit in the Czech Republic where Peraves held an incredible 21st annual 4 day Art of MonoTracering event.  On the 3rd day Roger Weichert of Mediafusion collected some great GoPro HD HERO footage of our MonoTracering fun on the Brno Race Track and edited the fluid video below.

MonoTracers on Brno GP Circuit (1m 21sec)

Click here for a full MonoTracer Lap of the Brno GP Circuit (4m 7sec)

Click to view slideshow.

MonoTracer MTE-150 and McLaren MP4-12C at Samedan Airport.

I spent a wonderful weekend in St. Moritz, where 140 invited sportscars formed the “Sportscars of St. Moritz” at the Hotel Kempinski where we took part as sponsors.  We showed the MTE-150 and the blue MTI-1200 MonoTracers.

We arrived in style and parked the all electric MonoTracer-E right in front of the main entrance of the Hotel courtesy of Hotel-Director Rupert Simoner, himself a hardcore Ducatisti (Troy Bayliss 1098R), who’s joining in on the fun at Brno.

MonoTracer MTE-150 parked in front of the main entrance of Hotel Kempinski - St. Moritz

I took the MTE-150 #7009 for a 100-mile-loop and flatted the battery pack down to 10% SOC, using 160 Wh/mile going from St. Moritz over the Julier Mountain Pass down to Tiefencastel, back up to Davos, over the Flüela Mountain Pass to Scoul and back up to the airport of Samedan.  I overtook about 60 Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, etc. on the spirited ride and made quite an impression. The toughest fight was up the Flüela against a sliding, screaming, backfiring Gumpert Apollo Supercar, basically a road-legal Group C racecar.  Sniffed him up finally when he made a slight error…

Back at the Samedan airstrip in the park fermée, the drivers of most of the overtaken supercars came by and found out that they were passed up by an electric monster scooter…   Everybody wanted a brochure, that’s for sure!

One guy who followed me for about 5 miles through the twisties in his F430 Fiorano Stradale said he clearly saw the rubber from the rear Avon getting layed down on the tarmac during fast exits.  Some good old fun.

I parked right beside my new hero car, the fantastic-no-BS-McLaren MP4-12C. Okay, it may lack the drama of the new Lambo Aventador, Gumpert Apollo (dreadful finish), Pagani Zonda S, Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, but you don’t get more F1 technology like true monocoque chassis, 600 hp turbo motor, active suspension for just 250’000 US$.  It’s Ron Dennis’ finest!

-Roger

Click to view slideshow.

With body removed, the AC Propulsion Power Electronics Unit (PEU) is visible in the Yokohama electric Race Car.

This Sunday, June 26th, 2011 a Yokohama sponsored electric race car set another EV record in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb powered by an AC Propulsion electric drive system, similar to the one that powered the X-PRIZE winning MonoTracer-E.  We’ve been a forever fan of ACP powered EVs as they have consistently blended high performance, high efficiency, fantastic regen, and superior reductive charging in their phenomenal, versatile, and compact bi-directional electric drive systems.  I’m eagerly looking forward to the production MonoTracer-E which will sport ACP’s very latest and best electric drive technology.

World Record Setting Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Yokohama sponsored AC Propulsion powered electric Race Car.

AC Propulsion press release:

AC PROPULSION POWERS YOKOHAMA-SPONSORED ELECTRIC VEHICLE TO NEW RECORD AT PIKES PEAK INTERNATIONAL HILL CLIMB

– AC Propulsion Continues to Set the EV Bar with Unrivaled Technology and Performance –

San Dimas, Calif. (June 27, 2011) – AC Propulsion, a global leader in electric drive design, development and manufacturing, announced today that the Yokohama-sponsored electric race car using AC Propulsion’s proprietary electric drive system broke its own 2010 record at the 89th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The AC Propulsion-equipped vehicle won the hill climb’s Exhibition Class and set a new EV record with a time of 12:20:084, besting last year’s record-breaking time of 13:17:575 by nearly one minute. It was also the race’s fastest EV among both cars and motorcycles.

“AC Propulsion electric drive systems deliver performance,” said AC Propulsion CEO Tom Gage. “Our string of Pikes Peak EV records–especially this one, where we are well into the 12-minute bracket–clearly demonstrates that electric vehicles can get up the hill fast. Now that more people are buying EVs, it’s important to offer really good performance. For us, the old racing slogan holds: win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”

For Team Yokohama’s winning EV race car, AC Propulsion engineers developed a high-performance cooling system for the vehicle’s 200-kW induction motor so it could operate at maximum output throughout the ascent up the mountain and break the record set last year with the same motor. (That motor powered the Yokohama-sponsored EV that beat the previous EV record set by Jeri Unser in 2003 by 65 seconds.)

This year’s Yokohama EV, a rear-wheel drive, open-wheel race car, was built by Summit Motorsports and driven by Japan’s Ikuo Hanawa. It used fuel-efficient Yokohama BluEarth tires and SANYO Electric Co. lithium-ion batteries. The Pikes Peak AC-180 motor, rated at 268 horsepower (200kW) at 6000-7000 rpm and 258 lb.-ft of torque from zero to 5000 rpm, is a high performance version of the AC Propulsion AC-150 motor found in the BMW MINI E. The drive system utilizes the proprietary tzero-technology that also powered the MonoTracer MTE-150 to a first place victory in its category and achieved the highest efficiency overall in the 2010 Progressive Automotive X PRIZE.

Now in its 89th year, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, also known as the Race to the Clouds, is the best-known hill climb in the world. Racing to the 4,301-meter summit, participants cover a 12.4-mile course beginning at the 2,862-meter level. The race is famous for the severity of its conditions: rapidly changing temperatures and weather, a combination of tarmac and gravel surfaces and 156 turns.

About AC Propulsion:
AC Propulsion is a global leader in the design, development and manufacture of electric vehicle technology. AC Propulsion’s proprietary tzero technology is a complete solution for electric vehicles, and can be customized for every class of electric vehicle, from a sports car to an SUV to an 8-ton city bus. AC Propulsion has been making EV motors without the use of rare earth materials for more than 20 years. The company is also a leader in the development of Vehicle to Grid (V2G) capable vehicles, as well as the research and development of V2G technology. Media contact number: 310-383-0956.

About Yokohama: Yokohama Tire Corporation is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., a global manufacturing and sales company of premium tires since 1917. Servicing a network of more than 4,500 points of sale in the U.S., Yokohama Tire Corporation is a leader in technology and innovation. The company’s complete product line includes the dB Super E-spec™ – the world’s first tire to use orange oil to reduce petroleum – as well as tires for high-performance, light truck, passenger car, commercial truck and bus, and off-the-road mining and construction applications. For more information on Yokohama’s extensive product line, visit www.yokohamatire.com.

Ikuo Hanawa smashes his own Pikes Peak record for Yokohama on Sunday, June 26th, 2011. (Photo courtesy of Yokohama)

[Source:  AC Propulsion, Autoblog Green]

Love is a corso rosso red thing - not always from Italy though!

Daring to be different at BMW Motorrad Days

In addition to the comprehensive line-ups of BMW and Husqvarna models on display at this year’s BMW Motorrad Days, there are some very interesting machines for visitors to see on site at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, including the BMW-powered MonoTracer and new MonoTracer-E from Swiss company Peraves.

Is it a bike or is it a car? Whatever your opinion, these hand-built, high-performance sports machines have the riding characteristics of a motorcycle, but benefit from two seats and a closed cabin for extra comfort and weather protection. What’s more, they are extremely economical, with the MonoTracer returning 100 kilometres from just 4.1 litres of fuel, with emissions of just 99 g of CO2 per kilometer.

...my mean green lean machine...

These impressive figures aren’t at the expense of performance either, as the MonoTracer is capable of speeds up to 160 mph (240 km/h) and acceleration of 0 to 60 mph (100 km/h) in 4.8 seconds, thanks to the legendary four-cylinder BMW K 1200 LT engine that powers it and its wind-tunnel developed aerodynamic body that allows it to slip through the air with ease.

As motorcyclists, we’re sure you’re wondering what it’s like to ride this long-wheelbase machine? While there are similarities to both cars and motorcycles, the MonoTracer is neither one, nor the other, so you have to learn a new way of driving/riding. For a start, you can’t put your feet down at a traffic light, or stop junction, as you would on your bike. MonoTracer uses retractable stabilizers to hold it in position, which can then be raised when you move off. It leans like a motorcycle, and allows for serious cornering angles (up to 52 degrees) but of course the riding position is completely different, as are the controls.

Flip up the side door and look inside the ‘cockpit’ and you’ll see motorcycle handlebars, as well as pedals either side of the center console. The clutch is operated by the left pedal (as on a car) and the right pedal operates the brakes. You change gear via a switch on the left handlebar and there is also a conventional brake lever on the right bar.

The MonoTracer has been in production since early 2009, although only around 20 of them are made each year. For those interested in electric platforms, an electric-powered MonoTracer-E will also be on show at BMW Motorrad Days. It will be on sale to the public later this year and boasts operating costs of around one tenth of the already very economical MonoTracer, albeit with a higher purchase price due to the cost of the batteries.

Charging costs for the MonoTracer-E on a peak electricity tariff are approx € 0.59 and of course you can forget about the clutch (you don’t need one) or the cost of any oil, fuel and air filters too. A full charge gives a range of about 300 km (at a constant 100 km/h) after which the MonoTracer-E battery has to be charged for at least 1-hour (20kW connection) or for 5-6 hours at any household plug-in.

The MonoTracer-E has already made it into the Guinness Book of Records, as the fastest, most efficient and dynamic electric vehicle in the world. With only a few of them in existence worldwide, don’t miss out on the chance to see this amazing vehicle and its K 1200 LT-powered counterpart at BMW Motorrad Days, where you can also meet representatives from the Peraves company and arrange a test ride/drive at a later date.

For more information, pictures, videos and reviews of the MonoTracer, please visit www.peraves.wordpress.com  To see this machine in the metal, visit BMW Motorrad Days in Garmisch-Partenkirchen from 1-3 July. All the latest information can be found at www.bmw-motorrad.com/motorraddays

Peraves MonoTracers - The world's most energy-efficient high performance vehicles.

[Source:  BMW Motorrad, BMW Motorcycle Magazine]

Lane splitting with the MonoTracer in SoCal helping to reduce congestion, fuel consumption, and emissions.

Last year I was invited on the spot to join Chris Paine at the September 2010 Opportunity Green Conference and gave a podium talk without any slides.  Here is a recap:

Mainly, I told the true story that occurred while driving down from Simi Valley on the highway with the MonoTracer on that very morning.  My wife was quietly sitting in the back of our little tandem seater and suddenly asked why we were still moving while everybody else was sitting in traffic?  At that time, I was using the “MonoTracer-lane”, so I was lane splitting on the right side of the HOV lane.  Watch a sample video here - MonoTracer lane splitting in SoCal:

I told her it’s because everybody is sitting in their cars alone and because a car occupies a whole lane, even if it’s just a little Smart.  Or in fact a Prius, LEAF, whatever.  Small cars or electric cars do not use less space in traffic nor do they punch a smaller hole in the air which would reduce their energy consumption.  Nobody will drive closer to the back of a Smart just because it’s a shorter car.  The Smart driver will leave an even bigger gap to the front because he does not have a crush zone on his car.  Anyway, we continued for about a mile before she replied “hey, it’s really true, they are all in there just by themselves!”.  The audience at Opportunity Green laughed.  They wanted to hear more.  There is no more.  Why?

Because the story ends here.  If we want to prevent the total collapse of private individual mobility in mega-clusters, we need to go a) electric AND b) single-track tandem seating like the MonoTracer or narrow cars like the Tango or Nissan Land Glider.  We can reduce the amount of energy needed to a) produce these vehicles by a factor of up to 6 on average, counting all of the primary resources like electric energy and water used for instance in the production of aluminum, etc. (The MonoTracer uses ten times less total resources than a Prius, for instance.) and b) a tandem two-seater uses about 3 times less energy to run than a side-by-side two seater.  Physics are cruel and the frontal area is multiplied with the drag coefficient and the amount of energy needed to move that vehicle at highway speed is exponential.  Wanna save the planet?  There is no alternative other than walking or mass transport to the MonoTracer solution.  But even the famous Swiss Mass Transit System around Zurich uses on average more energy per passenger mile than the all electric MonoTracer…

Happy MonoTracering, Roger

Additional references:  LaneShare.org, CalMSTA, CHP Lane Splitting, Lane Splitting wiki

Swiss Engineering Magazine - The Key to Best Overall Efficiency (page 32)

Swiss Engineering Magazine - The Key to Best Overall Efficiency (page 31)

Peraves also ran a full page MonoTracer ad on the Third Cover (inside back cover) of this May 2011 issue.  Translated the advertisment reads:

Show the Men with the Beards where the Hammer Hangs.  The World’s one and only Motorcycle with a Kevlar® Monocoque.  No Helmet, no Boots, no Leather Gear, no Kidney Belts.  52 Degrees of Lean Angle in Shorts and Flip-Flops…

Starting at 79350 Swiss Francs.- Swiss made and available with BMW or all Electric Power, but always a 155mph 2-seater with 160 liters of luggage space, air conditioning, leather interior, stereo, cruise control, Bi-Xenon headlights, and cup holders.

Peraves AG Winterthur +41 52 202 54 24
www.monotracer.com

The MonoTracer® - The World's one and only Motorcycle with Kevlar® Monocoque.

[Source: Swiss Engineering, Article PDF]