Moto-Electra all-electric motorcycle to make three-day cross-country run

By Nick Jaynes May 22, 2013

moto-electra electric motorcycle

Now that’s more like it: a three-day electric drive across the country. That should grab some attention.

Earlier this month, we reported on the ‘Ride the Future Tour’ that would take eletric cars and motorcycles across the country in 43 days, breaking some Guinness World Records along the way. We were unimpressed with the snail’s pace set by the tour.

Now we’ve learned that Moto-Electra, an all-electric motorcycle builder, is aiming to cross the continent in three days all powered by the onboard vehicle batteries.

The bike that will make the courageous venture is built on a Norton Featherbed frame, powered by a 19-20 kilowatt-hour battery pack that feeds an air-cooled AC electric motor/generator, according to AutoBlog Green.

Making some 20 pit stops between Jacksonville, Florida and the Santa Monica Pier in California, the vintage EV bike will cover around 2,500 miles in its three-day run. The bike will be recharged off a generator that will follow the bike transported by a support crew from James Madison University.

The tech doesn’t end with the EV drivetrain, though. The support car will be fitted with “an iPad-based IceWarp Messaging Server that provides native support for iPad that includes integrated Microsoft Active Sync. The combination allows real-time communication between the team, its supporters, and fans regardless of what devices they are using, as long as they are based on universal standards.”

The Moto-Electra makes an interesting comparison in its press release between its EV motorcycle and gasoline-powered cars from the early 1900s: “At the turn of the 20th century, gasoline powered vehicles were useless for long distance travel. There were no roads, no filling stations, and the vehicles were not dependable. Our goal is to challenge perceptions about the useful range of electric vehicles, and set a world record in the process.”

We hope they succeed.

If you want to follow the three-day race against the odds, you can check out the Moto-Electra team on their Facebook page.

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Nick Jaynes is the Automotive Editor for Digital Trends. He developed a passion for writing about cars working his way…

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