Mission Motorcycles unveils 150+ miles/hr 230 mile range electric superbike

The high end electric motorcycle market now has some competition thanks to a pair of bikes unveiled by Mission Motorcycles on Monday. While there are several companies selling electric motorcycles, until now only one company has been selling bikes that come anywhere close to proper superbike performance levels. The Mission R and Mission RS, derived from the Mission R prototype built by Mission Motors, offer performance firmly in that ballpark.

At the 2011 TTXGP/e-Power race during the MotoGP weekend at Laguna Seca, the 2011 Mission R prototype (with Steve Rapp riding) set a lap speed record that not only matched the 600cc superbikes racing that weekend, but still stands today 2 years later. Rapp not only won that race, but smashed the closest competition by finishing a full 40 seconds ahead of the MotoCzysz entry. Mission Motorcycles based the Mission R and Mission RS design on that prototype bike built by Mission Motors.

Mission Motorcycles is a new company formed out of "a close partnership between Mission Motors and Mark Seeger, President of Mission Motorcycles." It has the mission to redefine the "state of the art" for motorcycles, and to "bring to market electric motorcycles that outperform traditional motorcycles on performance, riding experience, user experience, range, and price."

The first step is the Mission R and Mission RS electric superbikes. Most of the technology is the same on each, with the RS adding a MotoGP class suspension system to make a race-ready package.

The Mission R has a 160 horsepower (120 kilowatt) liquid cooled AC motor, that delivers 120 ft-lb of torque. The James Parker designed frame uses a tubular frame made of Aluminum and Chrome-moly, and incorporates both the battery pack and motor casing as stressed members of the frame. It uses Ohlins shocks and suspension all around, Marchesini wheels, Dunlop tires, Brembo brakes. The RS uses race-ready versions of these components.

The Mission R comes with three sizes of battery packs, for different speed and riding range combinations. With a 12 kilowatt-hour pack providing 173 miles of city range, 105 miles combined range, and a top speed of 140 miles/hr. With a 15 kilowatt-hour pack, the range jumps to 200 miles city, 120 miles combined, and a 150+ miles/hr top speed. With a 17 kilowatt-hour pack, the range jumps to 230 miles city and 140 miles combined. The time for a 50% recharge is 1 hour, or 2 hours for complete recharge. The Mission RS, as the money-is-no-object bike, comes with the 17 kilowatt-hour battery pack.

Pricing for the Mission R starts at $32,499, and it qualifies for a $2,500 federal tax credit in the U.S. Pricing for the Mission RS starts at $59,499, and it too qualifies for a $2,500 federal tax credit in the U.S. Deliveries of the Mission RS start in the summer of 2014, with the R following. There will be only 40 units of the Mission RS built.

Both bikes use the MissionOS user interface. It's a cellular-data enabled touch sensitive screen with integrated GPS, bluetooth, an image stabilized HD camera, turn-by-turn navigation, and other options for use on the track including access to a telemetry data feed.

The only competition for the Mission RS is the Lightning Motorcycles electric superbike. That bike is in limited production, and has also given performances in the same ballpark as the Mission Motorcycles bikes. The 2011 Mission R did beat the 2011 Lightning by 40ish seconds, but the 2012 Lightning nearly broke the lap speed record Mission set in 2011. These two, Mission and Lightning, are the only ones in production with bikes at this performance level. While the Brammo Empulse RR and MotoCzysz E1pc both perform at a level similar to the Mission R and RS, neither are in production.