2012 Production Empulse specs are...

[FreepZ]

http://www.brammo.com/empulse_specifications/
Brammo updated Epulse page now.

They've also replaced their purchase page that used to have the three Empulse models and associated prices with a single picture of the bike (one that appeared in the video). When you press the "Pre-Order" button, you get:

Price: TBA.

http://www.brammo.com/store/brammo-empulse/

I'm hoping that the price will be much less than $18k, but expect it to be more than $14k. Throwing the $18k number around may be a way of making the bike seem cheaper when the actual price is announced. "$17k? Heck, that's cheaper than I thought!"

Some good news: Craig Bramscher should be posting his video interview today (4/19/2012).
http://www.brammo.com/video-ceo/

[Richard230]

Just to comment about IC/Empulse R performance comparisons, I agree that comparing specifications is not too much help at this time.  This is because no one has any experience with a gearbox assisted EV, not even the major automobile manufacturers.  However, I believe that once the Empulse R is out and in the hands of motorcycle magazine testers, a direct comparison will be made and the gearbox will allow that to happen.

I have ridden and owned quite a few motorcycles and scooters and I am really having trouble comparing them with my Zero's performance using only seat-of-the-pants feel. Obviously, you can compare top speeds, but its single-speed acceleration is really hard to compare with a geared IC motorcycle. It just feels a lot different because its acceleration is kind of slow off the line and speed increases so smoothly that it just doesn't feel that fast. The closest comparison that I can come up with is that it feels and performs very much like the new Vespa 300i scooter that I tested for fun last year.  Since it has an automatic transmission that does not shift like a manual box, it feels very similar and I got it up to a top speed of 82 mph - but due to its small wheels I sure didn't want to stay at that speed very long.   

I will say this though, my Zero will pull ahead of most other vehicles when leaving a stop light and no doubt the Empulse will do much better.   

[Phantom]

My Enertia acceleration could be faster, but is still faster than your average car. I have a few places on my commute where I go from a dead stop to roads with cars going roughly 50mph. A quicker acceleration would help in those cases. Now, I end up waiting a long time for plenty of room to blend into traffic at 50 mph.

Throwing the $18k number around may be a way of making the bike seem cheaper when the actual price is announced. "$17k? Heck, that's cheaper than I thought!"

Just to be clear, the $18K price is only speculation on our forum and is not at all from Brammo. My budget director (a.k.a wife), will not approve my purchase at that price.

[protomech]

@griping over $18k price tag:
That's just a number some of us are pulling out of our collective butts based upon the Enertia Plus price bump and the added equipment for the Empulse since the concept introduction. I'm sure Brammo knows they will lose most of the 6.0 and 8.0 preorders if they increase the cost of entry from $10-12k to $18k.

I hope they have one model at $13-14k with a smaller pack. This could be the non-R Empulse, or the non-R Empulse could be offered in two different configurations.

I bought the Zero @ $14k and that was more than I had my heart set on. I preordered the Empulse 6.0 @ $10k, and it was a bitter pill walking away from that. But the $10k Empulse existed only in Brammo's projections and my heart .. if Brammo and Zero are around in two years, expect to see a $10k Empulse-class bike at that time.

@machone:
I believe the Zero's torque curve is blunted for two reasons:

1. Electric motors are inefficient at high torque / low RPM. Fine for Eco mode, turn it off for Sport mode.
2. Without a clutch, having the full range of torque available with a twist of the wrist might make parking lot navigation .. interesting. The Zero is really easy to ride at slow speeds because of this.

I've done some seat-of-pants measurements for the Zero that put it at 10s 0-60. A bit slower than a 250, which typically test in the 7-8s 0-60 range. As soon as the 250 hits 2nd gear (~30 mph) and the Zero's throttle response picks up, the Zero is just as fast or faster.. so all the difference is in 1st gear.

The Zero would probably 9s 0-60 with full throttle at 0 rpm.

Neither of the above two reasons should apply to the Empulse, especially as it will have a dual-mode switch as well. I think 3-4s 0-60 is probably a bit optimistic .. but I'd LOVE to be proven wrong. 650cc gas bikes are typically 3-4s 0-60, weigh a bit less and have a bit more peak power. But the Empulse may have a bit more useable power.. we'll see once an instrumented test is performed.

1500 "goes" on the Empulse is 1500 full charges. If you charge twice from 50% to 100% it counts as one full charge. If you only ever ride the bike on the highway, you should hit 80% capacity at around 76k miles (56 miles/charge * average 90% capacity * 1500 cycles). In my riding (45-55 mph typically), I see about 110 Wh/mile energy usage.. so I would expect to get about 80-85 miles per charge from the Empulse. That's 110-115k miles ..

[860]

When heading down the rabbit hole of bench-racing different bikes, you always have to calculate in gearing.  Motor horsepower and torque is only half the story.  Final drive ratios and transmission ratios make a huge difference.

We've got the official final drive info now (Direct Chain Drive (14/48) 520 O-ring chain).  Has there been an official announcement of the transmission ratios yet?

I'm hoping for a real world 0-60 that is somewhere around what I currently have with my old SV650 (Suzuki quit making them a few years ago).  Since I'm at 5,280 altitude, and the Empluse won't lose a single bit of power from altitude, I'm pretty optimistic.  If there is any raw power or gearing gap between my old SV650 and the Empluse, I'm hoping that altitude losses in my SV650 will cover that gap.  Stuff like altitude can also have a major impact on bench racing different vehicles.     

[Gavin]

Since I'm at 5,280 altitude

5230 for me...

So you are either in Albuquerque or the Denver area...

Gavin

[EmpulseRider]

5280, thats Denver, also my stomping ground. That is a good point about the altitude hit ICE vehicles take. One more advantage to going electric here... not to mention the healthy tax break. BTW, has anyone heard anything new about the federal tax break making a comeback for 2 wheeled EVs? Brammo said they were working on this too.

[karlInSanDiego]

When heading down the rabbit hole of bench-racing different bikes, you always have to calculate in gearing.  Motor horsepower and torque is only half the story.  Final drive ratios and transmission ratios make a huge difference.

We've got the official final drive info now (Direct Chain Drive (14/48) 520 O-ring chain).  Has there been an official announcement of the transmission ratios yet?

I'm hoping for a real world 0-60 that is somewhere around what I currently have with my old SV650 (Suzuki quit making them a few years ago).  Since I'm at 5,280 altitude, and the Empluse won't lose a single bit of power from altitude, I'm pretty optimistic.  If there is any raw power or gearing gap between my old SV650 and the Empluse, I'm hoping that altitude losses in my SV650 will cover that gap.  Stuff like altitude can also have a major impact on bench racing different vehicles.     

Agree with the gearing statement.  Also the real power and efficiency of our ICE bikes has dropped because of E10 and the upcoming E15.  Hypermiling my Daytona 675 the other day I'm down from 52mpg avg mixed hwy-city on my morning commute to 46mpg.  California's "winter blend"  is no doubt not helping either.  That or my 30k mile supersport needs a rebuild.

[protomech]

Preview for the interview video is up.


Wonder if that means we'll see the actual video today.. this is a bit ridiculous : P

[FreepZ]

Perhaps editing is taking longer than expected, and since they promised something today, and it takes significantly less time to edit a 1 minute promo than the whole interview, they threw that out to keep the mob happy.

Of course, I'm speculating here, and this could just be part of their grand strategy.

I do find it strange that the promo video is still not up on their website. (It's still showing "This video will be available soon.")

Oh well. We get to see more footage of electric motorcycles, which is always nice.

[Richard230]

Ultimate Motorcycling just picked up the 2012 Empulse R specifications story.  Nothing new, although it is a little easier to read than the press release:

http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/2012/brammo-reveals-details-of-2012-empulse

[ttxgpfan]

@Promech, The curb weight for the Ninja 650R, as I said in my blog post, is 447lbs.  Claimed Empulse weight is 440lbs.  I think the Empulse will weigh as much, if not less, than the 650 twin.  Also, it seams Suzuki is no longer making the SV650, so the Ninja is the only one to compare it to. 

As far as gearing, It was late, and I tried to elude to the fact that we don't have gearing specs yet.  But as spot on as Brammo was all year on the gearing of their race bike, and as together as those Italians seem to be with their IET, I have no doubt the gearing will be spot on.  If there were any problem Steve and Shelina would have caught it.

I truly believe that the Empulse will easily put in a sub 4 second 0-60 time.  With over 40 ft-lb of torque constantly available, and a six speed gear box to work with, I don't see how it wouldn't be possible.  My old 500 Interceptor had a few less ponies and almost half the torque and was good for a 3.9 second 0-60 and 125 mph top end.  Comparing engine specs from a single speed to a 6-speed is a hard, if not impossible comparison because how that power is delivered is so different.  But I believe comparing the motor output of the Empulse to ICE bikes is quite relevant because the power delivery is so similar.  But as was mentioned, it is going to be all down to the gearing.  However, all every company does is gear the bikes for the best use of the power and power characteristics their motor produces.  Considering the bike seems to be gear for just a tick over 100mph, I can't imagine that 1st gear would be very tall.  I suspect it'll be a beast off the line.  But that's me, and I'm, ummmm . . . enthusiastic.

We won't know until the professionals get them into their hands.  Or, as soon as I decide to bug Shelina until she coughs up what she can, after May 8th. 

[2Slow4u]

I feel like I could scrounge up enough data between sevcons website and a 6-speed motorcycle gear ratio/tire size that would end a little bit over 100mph for those specs, then take that and do some acceleration calculations to get a SWAG of where the 0-60 time would be. However, I don't really have the energy for that right now.

[flar]

Before you predict 120+MPH top speeds, listen to the interview.  Craig's comments do not indicate any desire to have a really impressive top end.  He keeps saying things like "we wanted to be able to hit the magic 100MPH number and to do that with a variety of people and we are glad to say that we got there".  That doesn't sound to me like "we wanted to see how fast we could make a street EV go", more like "do all of these things well and make sure one constraint is that the final top number has to have 3 digits and then we go home".  It sounds to me like they were aiming more for 0-60 grunt, and sport bike "feel" than "really amazing top speed numbers"...

[ElectRick]

Its not just three digits guys, Its "the ton". A benchmark of great import in the 40's and 50's. Few production bikes could achieve it. One of the first was the Vincent Rapide and Black shadow. This is where Brammo means to take the electric motorcycle.