There is no thrum of a Ducati or familiar rumble that made Harley Davidson famous. Only a whine from the electric motor that increases linearly as you rush for the horizon.<\/p>\n
This is the Johammer J1 , a cruiser like no other. Designed and built in a small Austrian factory near the Czech border, the distinctive shape has been likened to a giant peanut, a prewar Junkers airplane or even a medieval jousting steed. The outrageous design seems more at home in the living room than the garage.<\/p>\n
“This is a natural return to the concept of the horse, before there was noise and pollution from engines,” says Johann Hammerschmid, founder of Johammer e-mobility GmbH.<\/p>\n
First released in late 2014, some 60 Johammers are storming across Europe. While it’s the first electric motorcycle to cover more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) on a single charge, what comes next might make it even more revolutionary. The next generation, now under development, while parked might also double as battery storage behind home solar-power panels. A prototype-think of a Tesla Powerwall on wheels-is already in use in Switzerland.<\/p>\n
A crowdfunding campaign has just started to help fund expansion.<\/p>\n
“The change of pace will be quicker than we currently imagine,” says Hammerschmid.<\/p>\n
Fifty-six-year-old Hammerschmid first thought of an electric vehicle in 2007, and it took shape over the years as essentially a weekend project. His other company, Nordfels, solves complex engineering problems. With a team of fewer than 40 it makes factory lines for the food, drug and farm industries. Their latest machine, for example, toasts 5,000 sandwiches per hour.<\/p>\n
Local design consultant Yellow.at gave the Johammer a conceptual vision with the name “Biiista”-a play on the German word for beast. It’s hard to decide what’s more striking: the polypropylene body cladding or the unconventional center-hub steering, a system created a century ago but never widely embraced.<\/p>\n
The bike’s top speed is limited to around 75 miles an hour to avoid energy-sapping wind resistance. Acceleration is fun, not fast, but you forgive its limits to sheer performance. It’s like ditching a motorboat for sailboat-both are pleasurable in their own ways.<\/p>\n
There’s some clever engineering. The J1 has no dashboard, instead data are displayed on the rear-view mirrors. A reverse twist of the throttle turns the drive motor into a generator that acts as a brake and quickly scrubs speed. It’s so efficient the disk brakes are relegated to helping with slow-speed stopping. And it’s got a reverse gear for parking. Safety-certified items-wheels, tires and brake disks-were sought commercially, and most of the rest was built in house.<\/p>\n
Two versions of the J1 are available. The top spec J1.200 costs 25,000 euros ($26,750), capable of traveling 125 miles on tough terrain, and 186 miles urban-more ground than a standard Harley-Davidson Sportster can cover. A full recharge takes 3.5 hours, but it can be blast-charged in 80 minutes.<\/p>\n
“We’re at the stage cars were at 100 years ago. The infrastructure was limited but it grew quickly,” says Hammerschmid. “The same will happen with e-vehicles, and it won’t just be gas stations used for recharging.” Homes, workplaces, shopping malls, parking garages-all will become places to recharge.<\/p>\n
The battery is assembled at the Johammer factory from more than 1,200 individual cells capable of holding 12 kilowatt hours, close to the Powerwall’s 14 kWh. There are plans for a sidecar model, which would allow a bigger battery and increased range.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the Johammer’s selling point is about pushing technology and design. Its uniqueness is what draws people willing to pay a premium for their passions, despite its price topping models offered by more mainstream rivals such as Victory and Zero.<\/p>\n
With crowdfunding under way, Johammer says it’s riding the early wave of multi-function green transport. “This trend is irreversible, we are seeing it in all sectors and especially those connected with mobility,” says Hammerschmid. “A motorcycle like this is weather-dependent so no vehicle is better suited for a secondary role as storage.”<\/p>\n
Featured Image:\u00a0 Bloomberg photo by Lisi Niesner.<\/p>\n
(c) 2016, Bloomberg \u00b7 Pete Norman<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is no thrum of a Ducati or familiar rumble that made Harley Davidson famous. Only a whine from the electric motor that increases linearly as you rush for the horizon. This is the Johammer J1 , a cruiser like no other. Designed and built in a small Austrian factory near the Czech border, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3507,"featured_media":92708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n