A full-on Sport BEM – Including regenerative braking from a college student

The Li-Ion pack appears a little sparse to achieve stated specs but it works and looks great!

[fflash=left]http://www.youtube.com/v/os9Vna0XH4s&hl=en&fs=1[/fflash]Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Sept. 13, 2009

Ninja Ion - BEM-60 (Battery Electric Motorcycle)

Meet Tom Miceli and his super hot BEM Sport bike called Ion.

Miceli’s $12,000 Ion consists of a ‘96 Kawasaki ZX6 Ninja chassis, a LiPO pack using two dozen 40 Ah cels in a series/parallel arrangement w/ a 72 V output and a total cap of approximately 3 kWh. The bikes AC motor is a 6.75-inch unit with 95 lb-ft. of peak torque. The latest iteration is “supposedly” capable of more than 70 mph with an AER of 60 miles.

To save on accessory loads, the Ion includes a custom LED headlight, taillight and turn signals drawing less than 12 W in total!

The fly in the ointment? 3 kWh with a DoD of maybe 80% MAX yields 2.4 kWh. 2400 Wh/60 miles = 40 Wh/mile. That seems a bit low for a bike with rider weighing in around 550 pounds and the aerodynamics of a brick while riding in an upright position? Then again, with a very efficient transverter and controller, the bike and rider weight about 1/6 that of a Prius (typically rated at around 250 Wh/mile when under electric propulsion), 40 Wh/mile may be possible?

Miclei’s next upgrade will include larger 60Ah batteries and a custom-made, two-speed transmission

With a bike like this on his first time out, we can expect to hear much more about Tom in the future and I for one am looking forward to that next project whatever it is

For more details on Tom’s creation, check out the Wired Article entitled A DIY Electric Motorcycle Kawasaki Should Build

Building the Ion

A high quality hand built fairing fabrication but notice the GUI screen (not fired up) in the later stages of the vid? I wonder what Tom has displayed

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