Three June Races Electrified

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Every June, three races provide insight into how much electric power has become a regular part of motorsports: The Isle of Man TT Zero motorcycle race, the 24 Hours of LeMans, and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.  This year, there were disappointments as well as triumphs, but progress nonetheless. Isle of Man TT Zero For followers of electric two-wheeling, this year’s Tourist Trophy (TT) Zero had one high moment, a record-setting run by Michael Rutter on a Team Mugen bike, which did one lap at 121.824 mph (18:34.956 for the 37.75 mile course).  Admittedly, because of the relatively low energy density of batteries to petrol, the electric bikes do a single lap compared to the six laps on the more powerful and faster superbikes.  He was flagged off on his run by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and received his trophy in similarly royal style. Rutter topped a field of “privateers” and university teams, which all did credibly.  It …

Motoczysz Wins the Isle of Man TT – Again

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants 1 Comment

Gizmag.com reports this morning that Motoczysz (roughly, “moto-sizz”), won the Isle of Man electric Tourist Trophy race at an average speed just short of the fabled “ton,” or 100 miles per hour.  Although 28 percent shy of the best internal combustion machine’s time, Gizmag urges looking at it from the perspective that it’s been 54 years since a petrol-powered motorcycle achieved that speed. Mike Hanlon, reporting for Gizmag, notes that the bike’s 99.513 mph average demonstrates, “yet another quantum leap in electric bike performance from last year’s 96.820 mph average and the 2009 winning average of 87.434 mph.”  This had to be a bit frustrating for the winning rider, since the 100 mph average would have netted him an additional prize of 10,000 pounds sterling (about $16,000). Rider Michael Rutter and teammate Mark Miller finished 1-2 on the Portland, Oregon manufactured bikes, and one managed a 149.5 mph run through the speed traps, showing the enormous speed these bikes can …