Mission Motors, a startup created in 2007 by mechanical engineers in a garage in San Francisco's Mission district, has officially come out with its prototype electric motorcycle. The first-edition order of 50 bikes will be delivered this year, and cost $68,995 each. The single-speed motorcycle tops out at a fairly stable 6,500 rpm, and has been clocked going 167 mph at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats.
In case you're wondering, that set a record for electric bikes.
The business model of Mission Motors is very similar to that of Tesla Motors, the carmaker based in the Silcon Valley who is also looking to sell high-end electric vehicles to wealthy (and green!) auto enthusiasts. Both companies are offering uberfast machines to the crazy rich people of America.
CEO Jit Bhattacharya, whose number one Google search result is his Ultimate Frisbee team profile at from when he was a student at Stanford University, has managed to raise more than $2.5 million from angel investors and venture capitalists willing to fund his dream.
"We have been approached by car companies that are very interested in our power-train technology," said Bhattacharya, who wouldn't say which companies he was referring to. However, he did say that his engineers are focused on a software development "that drives motors, that drives batteries."
So, what do you guys think? If you had the spare cash to spend, would you drop it on one of these bikes?
