IEEE Spectrum November, 2008 - 15

gifts
the electric Zero X has zero emissions

D

irt bikes aren't
the cleanest vehicles.
There's the noise, oil,
and grease, and the noxious
fumes from the combustion
engine. And then there's all
that, um, dirt. The Zero X
electric motorcycle, from
Zero Motorcycles, in Scotts
Valley, Calif., can't do much
about that last item, but it's
got to be the quietest and
least polluting off-road bike
around-and the lightest.
With an aircraft-quality
aluminum chassis, the
64-kilogram Zero X is less
than half the weight of a gaspowered motorcycle. That
helps its 20-horsepower
electric motor go from
0 to 48 kilometers per hour
(30 miles per hour) in less
than 2 seconds. Its lithium-ion
battery pack runs for about
60 km on a 2-hour charge.
The Zero X is the
brainchild of Neal Saiki, a
former aerospace engineer
who holds a master's in
aeronautical engineering
www.spectrum.ieee.org

from California Polytechnic
State University. While
working at NASA's Dryden
Flight Research Center,
in Edwards, Calif., he
participated in a statefunded panel looking at
transportation alternatives.
In terms of environmental
impact and cost, the
panel concluded, electric
vehicles overwhelmingly
made the most sense.
Saiki left NASA in 1991
and started designing
mountain bikes. He never
forgot the lesson about
electric vehicles, though,
and he kept tabs on
developments in battery
technologies. Finally, in
2005 he saw that lithiumion packs had achieved
sufficient power density
to make a good electric
motorcycle. He figured
motorcycles offered a much
easier entry into the electricvehicle market than cars.
Then, too, he'd always
had a passion for riding.

Since coming on the
market in April, the Zero X
has won over quite a few
veteran bikers. "Off-roaders
value a lighter-weight bike
because it's maneuverable
and can handle higher
jumps," Saiki says. When
former motocross champion
Jeff Emig first rode a
Zero X, the bike's speed
and acceleration surprised
him, and he wiped out
almost immediately, Saiki
recalls. "He jumped up, all
bloodied, and he said, 'I can't
believe I just got thrown
by an electric motorcycle!
I love this thing!' "
But the Zero X is also
good for complete novices.
Just flip a switch and you
can reduce its top speed
by half; a second switch
decreases the acceleration.
At US $7450, the Zero X
runs about $1000 more than
a conventional 250-cubiccentimeter bike-but you'll
never spend a dime on gas
or on filters for the oil and
air. The battery pack should
last five to six years with
normal use, and it takes
about 30 seconds to swap it

Zero X
US $7450 plus shipping ($300 in
the U.S.; $1000 to Europe).
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com

out. "The battery industry
is advancing all the time,
with new chemistries and
new technologies," Saiki
says. "We wanted to make
it really easy to upgrade
the battery pack."
Currently, the Zero X
can be ordered only from
the company's Web site,
and there's a three-month
waiting list, which the
company hopes to eliminate
by tripling production. For
those who must ride before
they buy, Zero has models
available for test drives at
the company's headquarters
and 15 other U.S. locations.
Bikes for test drives will be
available in Europe in 2009.
Kits are also available
to convert the Zero X into a
"streetable" bike, Saiki says.
A more powerful street-legal
model, the Zero Supermoto,
will be introduced this
January, and the company
is already taking orders.
-Jean Kumagai

NovEmBEr 2008 * iEEE SPEctrum * NA

25

Forrest ArAkAwA/Zero Motorcycles

World's Cleanest dirt Bike
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum November, 2008
