- 2ndclasscitizen
- Jan 2, 2009
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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HondaMugen dip their toe into EV bike racing:
quote:
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/racing/mugen-compete-2012-isle-man-tt/
As of today, famed Honda tuning house Mugen will be tackling a new kind of project: the 2012 TT Zero. Announcing and confirming their entry into the Isle of Man TT’s electric motorcycle race, Mugen will be showcasing not only the company’s lesser-known motorcycle tuning chops, but also its hand at prepping electric vehicles for racing duty. Found in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda (son to Honda founder Soichiro Honda), Mugen has previously made its name mostly on the automotive side of things, though the company offers a bevy of prepared Honda motorcycles as well.
Said to be campaigning an all-new original electric motorcycle, if we had to take a stab at what Mugen could be bringing to the Isle of Man TT, we doubt we’d have to dive too deep into our imagination. While it may not be quite as big of news as Honda itself racing in the TT Zero, we can expect Mugen to bring a very competent and polished machine to the Isle of Man, and we can also officially begin the speculation between Mugen’s entry and its connection to a certain Japanese motorcycle manufacturer.
For those that don’t follow the nuances of electric motorcycle racing, there exists a double-edged sword for OEMs who may wish to enter events like the TT Zero. While they may have decades of experience building motorcycles and an almost inexhaustible supply of very smart engineers, there is no guarantee that the resources of an established motorcycle manufacturer would solidify a race win at any of the electric motorcycle racing events, and as such a multibillion dollar motorcycle OEM could very well face the possibility of being embarrassed by a team operating on a shoestring’s budget and racing on a home made chassis.
Wanting to be sure that an OEM-backed entry would be more than competitive against entries like those from Lightning Motorcycles, Mission Motors, and MotoCzysz, it would be clever for a company like Honda to test the waters of electric motorcycle racing through say…less-official channels.
For example, Honda could consider using an entirely separate, but cordially related, racing-focused company to campaign Honda’s technology under a different own banner than its own. If that company should fail, well then it would not necessarily be a Honda failure and loss of face, while conversely the company’s success would lay the groundwork for a more official entry down the line.
Or, maybe this is just Mugen being Mugen. As always, only time will tell, but we think the bar just got raised for the competition for this year’s TT Zero.
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Feb 16, 2012 23:07
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May 2, 2024 09:08
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- 2ndclasscitizen
- Jan 2, 2009
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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Colonel Sanders posted:
So somebody left an EV unplugged, somebody used a shoddy 100ft extension cord, someone shipped a car to a foreign country without making any preparations and proceeded to leave the EV unplugged, somebody else hosed up a BMW EV and then hosed up their Tesla EV and nobody knows anything about the 5th bricked Tesla.
Considering Tesla warns owners about this, and the car notifies the owner and has an alarm, I find this hard to consider newsworthy.
Yeah, I'm finding it hard to give a poo poo since it's a pretty clear case of RTFM.
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Feb 26, 2012 02:28
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- 2ndclasscitizen
- Jan 2, 2009
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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ppp posted:The car simply didn't do what they said it should do.
Actually, it does exactly what Tesla says it does: The battery will discharge if left unplugged, and over-discharge will damage the battery.
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Feb 26, 2012 06:19
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- 2ndclasscitizen
- Jan 2, 2009
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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ppp posted:
"Tesla batteries can remain unplugged for weeks (even months), without reaching zero state of charge."
"Lacking a built-in Tesla charger or a convenient power outlet, he left the car unplugged. Six weeks later his car was dead."
Did you read the articles? Six weeks is barely more than a month.
Yes I did. He left it unplugged with a battery that wasn't fully charged, of course it wasn't going to last the full length of time.
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Feb 26, 2012 08:33
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Feb 16, 2012 23:07
and Star Trek displays.