Article: Police Departments may order Brammo Empulses for testing?

[Phantom]

"Many police motorcycles in regular use for traffic enforcement don’t rack up 50 miles per day, which is well within the range for [electric] bikes in current production. The downside here is that police bikes often have high electrical demands for emergency lights, siren, radios, and radar/laser devices.
The two leading makers of electric motorcycles are Zero Motorcycles in Scotts Valley (Calif.) and Brammo in Ashland (Ore.). Brammo’s heaviest street model is the Empulse, with a range of 100 miles and a top speed of 100+ mph."


http://www.policeone.com/police-products/apparel/eyewear/articles/4689307-Electric-motorcycles-gain-traction/

[Brammofan]

Q. Can Police Departments order Brammo Empulses for testing?
A. Yes!
Q. When will those bikes be delivered?
A.  I'm going to let you off with a warning this time.  Next time, watch your speed when you're thinking of jumping to a conclusion.

[protomech]

What conclusion? I just see an excerpt and a link : )

Empulse has the largest pack by a fair margin, if the officers are looking for 50 miles mostly at highway speeds AND 8-10 hours of equipment operation (say 150 watts of lights, radios, computers) then Empulse is probably their only option.

Both Empulse and Zero S claim to be two-up capable, which should also handle one American officer and his gear.

Empulse should be capable of higher-speed operation, whether as a first responder or in pursuit usage. Obviously range will be quite limited in this case.

[Gavin]

Well so far Brammo has focused on the Enertia Plus for Law Enforcement...adding lights and such...maybe even more range? Higher top speed?

If Brammo makes a Empulse Law Enforcement, well there is nothing to say they can't throw in a 12 or even larger pack along with lights and such...

I could be a nice American Police bike...it will be interesting to see if the US police are willing to give up their BIG bikes...

Gavin

[Richard230]

The police department in the city that I used to work for (for 35 years) wouldn't touch any motorcycle but a Harley big twin. They wanted nothing to do with the BMW R1150RT, the Honda ST1300, or any Kawasaki.  If it wasn't a Harley, they didn't want to get out of their cars, with the donut box on the front passenger seat, next to the shotgun. 

They also refused to wear a full face helmet, not even a flip-up one, even after one of their motor officers did a face-plant, got a broken jaw and lost his front teeth.  Most cops I have seen think of themselves more as a Terminator, than a electric-riding geek.  Good luck selling an electric vehicle to any U.S. city cop, other than a meter maid - no matter how much sense it might make.

[Gavin]

True...but you make a great point about "Meter Maids"...The Plus LE would be perfect for that...or make an APE version so you have coverage in bad weather.

But electric would be perfect for that duty...quiet, quick, no emissions, instant on, twist and go, engine "stops" instead of idling constantly with a gas engine....a wonderful city vehicle for all types of meter patrol, parking enforcement etc etc...also great for things like police coverage at sporting events etc etc...anywhere you need some crowd control

Gavin

APE:



would be hella easy to put a Brammo motor and battery in one of these....

[Brammofan]

Which reminds me -- did anyone see this on the Brammo Facebook page?:


The caption read:

This design was submitted by Brian Furman, a loyal Brammo follower. The design is of an All-Electric 3-wheeler using the drivetrain from the Enertia. We love hearing from our fans especially love seeing designs they have conjured up. Anyone else brave enough to share.....

Anyone heard of this guy?  Anyone have any designs to share?

[Richard230]

That is the first I have seen of that reverse trike.

But, speaking of electric meter maid trikes: our city bought two electric utility trikes made by Cushman (if memory serves) about 20 years ago that were marketed as meter maid machines. As you might imagine, they were nothing but fancy and expensive fully enclosed golf carts, powered by 12-volt flooded car-type batteries. They worked great for about 4 hours and then the juice would run out, leaving the meter maid stranded miles from the barn. The motor pool would then have to go out and tow them back for a recharge, leaving the meter maids sort of change for the day.  Everyone got so pissed off about these vehicles that they refused to even think about using electric vehicles again. 

The same thing happened when the motor pool decided to use EON synthetic oil in city vehicles during the early 1970's. Synthetic oil wasn't ready for prime time in the days before Amsoil and Mobil 1 and that stuff lunched a bunch of engines before they figured out what was happening. The city never used a synthetic oil after that experience.

The trouble with introducing new technology to government agencies, especially outfits like police departments, is that once something doesn't work right, they never want to try it again. So before you start selling electric motorcycles or cars to cops, you had better make sure that it really works in the real world and can suffer a lot of abuse.  It will get it.   

[Gavin]

Seemed to work in Hong Kong...hopefully it could here too...

One option would be to lease a few to some cities with an early termination agreement if they don't work for the cities needs...Then there is no big commitment and if they like them they can buy out the lease or keep leasing or buy some more updated models...

Gavin

[Gavin]

Mmmm, well the Meter Maid market might not be for Brammo...Polaris owns GEM and bought Goupil Electric

http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/2011/polaris-acquires-goupil-electric-vehicles



http://www.goupil-industrie.eu/en/

That Goupil would be a perfect fit for Meter Maid/Parking enforcement. Easy in and out through those big doors



http://www.goupil-industrie.eu/en/city_range.php

[Phantom]

Next time, watch your speed when you're thinking of jumping to a conclusion.

Yes sir, officer.

My title for the article is a bit misleading and it does include a stretch as the opportunity for the them to order has always been there. I am reading into the article a bit, and I hope they do at least order a few for testing purposes.

I was hoping for better news, but at least the topic inspired good posts.