Designer: Motonium Design Inc - Timothy Prentice Location: Redondo Beach, California, USA Category: Transportation Award: Professional Winner
Mission R Electric Superbike
The Mission R is a high performance electric motorcycle for international racing competition. It was designed as the prototype for a high-end ultra high performance street motorcycle that embodies unique electrical and mechanical technologies to achieve new levels of performance and efficiency for electric vehicles.
Core77: What's the latest news or development with your project?
Mission R: Latest news! Recently (just a few days after receiving the CORE77 Transportation Design Award) the Mission R electric superbike won the joint FIM/TTXPG race at Laguna Seca, smashing the previous lap record for electric vehicles and having competitive lap times with supersport-class internal combustion engine racers, and lapping within 10 seconds per lap of the fastest MotoGP bikes. Big congratulations to the team at Mission Motors!
What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?
The big moment for me happened before I had even started on the project. It was the first day I met with my client Mission Motors when they let me ride their earlier prototype. Being a long-time motorcycle rider, designer and enthusiast, I have to admit my expectations were low. I thought it would be slow with poor throttle response, and that I would miss having no shifting or sound of a great engine. I didn't miss any of it—the power and torque were amazingly strong and the throttle control felt completely natural. By the end of that first ride I was convinced that that if I could apply some compelling and exciting industrial design to their bike, that we could end up with something very special, something very desirable regardless of power system...That one ride completely changed my mind about electric powered vehicles along with the design opportunities that they present.
Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
Comments