FEMA Presents First Man To Ride Around The World On Electric Motorcycle

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

At the Intermot in Cologne FEMA and TTXGP presented Electric Epic, the first solo ride around the world on an electric motorcycle. This pioneering endeavour is scheduled to start in late spring 2011 and will prove to the world the enormous potential of two wheelers to contribute to sustainable mobility.

During a press conference at the Cologne Bike Show Intermot, Azhar Hussain, the founder of the electric racing series TTXGP and Director of Mavizen motorcycles, presented Electric Epic to international press representatives. Electric Epic is the name to remember, the first ever around the world trip on an electric motorcycle without any escort vehicles. Mr. Hussain unveiled the body of the vehicle, which is currently being built and designed especially for this historic undertaking.

“As there is per today no suitable bike for this journey, Mavizen immediately picked up the challenge to engineer and build a bike for the purpose” said Mr. Hussain. “The bike is built on technology and learning from Mavizens TTX02. Other components, like the water cooled AC motor, have never been used before.” The bike is now under construction and progressing well and target is to start testing after Christmas 2011.

The man who accepts the challenge

The rider of the bike will be Tormod Amlien. The young Norwegian engineer is a skilled mechanic and motorcycle enthusiast. He hopes to be able to start in April/May next year. The trip will take him from Norway towards the east: Across Europe and the whole of Russia. From Vladivostok Electric Epic will cross the Pacific and then ride through the United States from Seattle to New York and return to Europe. Overall, Electric Epic will cover a distance of 25.000 km in an estimated time of 4 months.

“When I was confronted with this challenge, I immediately knew I had to accept. This is a unique opportunity to prove to the world that a zero-emission bike, looking like a real motorcycle, can do the job”, says the experienced Norwegian rider, currently about to finish his ongoing around the world trip on a 1937 Nimbus sidecar.

During the press conference Aline Delhaye, General Secretary of FEMA, underlined the potential of Electric Epic to change peoples’ minds about motorcycling. “FEMA will support this project. It will go a long way to show everyone, riders and non-riders, that electric motorcycles are ready to address our mobility needs in real conditions, everywhere and not just on short distances within cities. This is a huge step forward in technical innovation, and more people need to be aware of it.” Tormod had presented Electric Epic to the member organizations of FEMA at a Committee meeting in Brussels in early October and received unanimous support.

Visit the Electric Epic website: http://electricepic.com/home.html

Join Tormod on his Nimbus goining around the World: http://www.kccd.no/home_en.html

Source: FEMA