The 2009 Zero X is so green that you can eat its battery. Luckily its performance is more appetizing; it’s the fastest electric dirt bike ever.
We teamed up with Fast Company, where you can read about the business and technology behind the bike, and Hell For Leather, for this review.Like the Quantya Strada Wes and I rode around his loft, the Zero X is powered by a Lithium Ion Battery. While they share a few common specs, the X is actually a very different bike. For starters, at 151 lb., the X is 44 lb. lighter, makes 23 HP with 50 lb-ft of torque (twice that of the Quantya) and does 0-to-30 in less than 2 seconds. That’s performance more akin to a 250cc two-stroke, but without the clouds of burnt Castrol R.Â
It’s pure power to weight. The 18 lb chassis uses thin-walled aluminum construction standard in auto-manufacturing, making it so light I can pick it up with my fingertips…Â More info
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Manvel resident John Hendrickson remembers racing Volkswagen Beetles in his younger days.
Those days are long gone, but he still drives a VW, and this one is different that all those others. That’s because he never has to fill it with gas.
It was while filling his Cadillac at a gas station in 2007 that Hendrickson first thought about building an electric car.
“I thought gas stations were ripping us off, so I decided to just go build my own electric car,†Hendrickson said.
He asked a neighbor if he knew of any VWs for sale. That’s how he learned of another neighbor’s rusted 1972 Beetle that hadn’t been used in over five years. Hendrickson bought it and parked it in his garage.
“It wasn’t much to look at,†he said. “It was full of snakes and fire ants. We had to cut small trees that were growing up through it, and drag it out of the woods.  More info
Urban commuters are increasingly turning to electric scooters for city travel, and the burgeoning trend for the environmentally friendly vehicles has caused dealerships to sprout across the country.
Sales have increased “with a very good acceleration,” says Steve Miloshev, president of Greenwit Technologies, a British Columbia-based company specialized in the design, engineering and manufacturing of light electric vehicles.
“It’s quite a bit different compared to a couple of years ago.”
Miloshev, who has sold the Motorino electric scooters through E-Ride subsidiary dealerships since 2003, said his franchise network increased by 50 per cent last year. He estimates his company sold almost 1,000 units…Â More info
After waiting what seemed like endless months, Michael Bontoft has been named the world-record holder for electric boat racing.
Bontoft set the record, 98.806 mph, in October at Devil’s Lake in Lincoln City, Ore. He and the electric boat that he crafted were featured in a Daily News article in October 2008.
The Castle Rock man knew he had set a record during his run, but because of rules of the record’s governing board, he couldn’t announce the achievement.
“They don’t want somebody out there saying they broke the world record if they haven’t,†Bontoft said…. More info