unexpectedtech:

(Photo by Juan Romero, courtesy of Mission Motors)

When the checkered flag fell on MissionMotors’ 90-mile-per-hour lap this summer at the 2011eGrandPrix, it wasn’t just that one of the world’s fastest electric motorcycles had completed the 2.2-mile track in record time. It also brought the day closer when you will drive home, far more slowly, the world’s most efficient and durable electric vehicle. At least that’s the dream of Jit Bhattacharya, the CEO of Mission Motors.

“Every advancement we make here, every time we shave a second off a lap, we’re making an EV more competitive out on the street,” said Bhattacharya, standing on the edge of the Laguna Seca Raceway, perched on California’s Pacific coast. The company is riding high after its motorcycle, the Mission R, took first place at TTXGP/FIM e-Power championship, packing 14 kilowatt hours into its compact frame. That’s just two less than the much larger, and four-wheeled Chevy Volt. Spectators at the race crowded around the track never heard the roar of an internal combustion engine, just the high-octave scream of electric engines at full throttle. This year’s lithium-ion batteries powered the field to speeds narrowing the gap in race times between EVs and their counterpart gasoline “superbikes” to about 10 seconds—half of last year’s difference. If Mission’s bike had been competing in the gas-powered category that weekend, it would have finished fifth.