2011 Brammo Empulse

With the Vectrix electric scooter company now bankrupt and not widely available in Australia, the only electric motorcycle offered in this country is the Zero range of dirt and street bikes.

Slim pickings compared to what's offered across the pond in the United States.

American motorcyclists have a range of electric cars and motorcycles on offer, including electric sports bikes -- something Australian riders have been missing out on.

The latest zero emission motorcycle to be launched in the States is the Brammo Empulse, and despite the dorky name it actually looks good and sounds like a lot of fun. It's Brammo's follow-up to the Enertia electric bike and has a top speed of 160km/h. We like that.

Compared to one of its electric rivals, the Mission One, it's also a lot more affordable and stands to further cement Brammo's foothold in the emerging electric sports bike market. While the Mission One electric motorcycle is more powerful, it costs $US68,995 ($78,000). The new Brammo Empulse starts at $US9995 ($11,000) for the basic model.

One of the drawcard features on the new Empulse is the water-cooled electric powertrain, which is claimed to be the first of its kind in a motorcycle. The new motorcycle also features a "plug-and-tune" electronics, where users can access USB inputs under the seat and on the instrument cluster to fine tune certain settings.

Power generation is courtesy of a permanent magnet AC motor, and Brammo claims efficiency levels of around 90 per cent. This compares to common four-stroke combustion engines which generates a lot of excess heat, and have efficiency ratings of around 30 per cent as a result.

Three models are offered and instead of offering 600cc, 750c and 1000cc models, Brammo has the Empulse 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 variants, which correspond to battery size. As such, the entry-level Empulse 6.0 is good for a 60 mile (100km) range while the Empulse 10.0 can travel 100 miles (160km) between charges.

All bikes feature the same 40hp electric motor, which can propel the 177kg bikes to a top speeds of around 160km/h.

Charging the battery systems takes between eight and 10 hours on an American 110V wall plug, but Brammo expects that time will fall when it releases a fast-charge 240V plug.

The first Empulse bikes are expected to be delivered to US customers in mid-2011, and can be pre-ordered at www.Brammo.com. At this stage, however, there are no Australian distributors for the electric sports bike.

Australia's Aaron Gobert wil be racing a Brammo Empulse in the FIM e-Power International Championship round at Laguna Seca (USA) on July 25.