The Mission One 240 km/hr Superbike
The three men behind the Mission One superbike are Forrest North, Edward West and Mason Cabot
Forrest North first dreamed of building an electric motorcycle when leading the Stanford University Solar Car Team in 1998. Seven years later, he joined Tesla Motors working with many of his old Solar Car teammates to build the world's first performance electric sports car.
Edward West first met Forrest while working on the Yale University Solar Car. Later, the pair worked together building laboratory robotics for a small bay area startup, before Edward left to earn his MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco.
Mason Cabot was an electronics guru with 10 years of experience at Intel. Forrest introduced Mason to motorcycling, and within a few months, Mason was hooked. It wasn’t long before he gave up owning a car completely.
The three founders set up offices in Mason's garage, blocks from the historic Mission Street in San Francisco. In July 2007, they bought the company’s first motorcycle, a 1994 Ducati 900 and began stripping out the engine and converting it to electric drive.
Two months later, the three founders had turned that classic Ducati into one of the highest performing street legal electric motorcycles in the world.
The prototype proved the team's claims. Every rider who got on the bike was enthusiastic, saying it was unlike anything they had ever ridden before. Armed with their first business plan and the prototype, the team placed 2nd in the Cleantech Open.
The Mission One creates a whole new level of rider control. With a fully equipped data acquisition system and wireless communication capability, riders can capture and analyze real time ride data. Riders have the power to adjust throttle maps, tune regenerative braking, and create multiple ride settings, all from their laptop computer.
World renown Swiss designer Yves Behar and his team were responsible for the iconic design in which they tried to convey in esthetics the feeling of 'riding the wind'. Designed to express speed and efficiency in its overall sharp lines, the Mission One also is highly detailed with special attention to a rider's needs, bringing a high level of product design and ergonomics to a new generation of performance transportation.
The Mission One represents a revolution in motorcycle and electric vehicle performance. Mission Motors’ advanced electric powertrain makes the Mission One the first electric sportbike to power wheelie at 110 km/hr and powers the Mission One to a top speed of 240 kms/hr.
The Mission One integrates a custom-built chassis with suspension elements selected for race level handling and performance. The 2010 model Mission One comes equipped with: Ohlins inverted front forks, Ohlins fully adjustable shock, Brembo 4 piston monobloc calipers, Marchesini wheels, and race compound tires.
On September 1, 2009, the Mission One claimed the national AMA top speed record for an electric motorcycle, with an unprecedented 240 km/hr (150.059 mph) two-pass average run sustained for one mile at the Bonneville Speedway. Lead up runs saw one-way speeds across the mile stretch at 260 kms/hr (161mph).
For more information, please visit www.ridemission.com
