BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Stefano

2010.10.23 - MonoTracer E at BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County

Good or even great customer service at an automobile or motorcycle dealership isn’t always easy to come by these days from some recent experiences.  In October when the MonoTracer E had first arrived in California I needed to dynamically balance the front wheel and I stopped by BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County in Newbury Park, CA with just the front wheel.  Service Advisor Corwin Nicks kindly greeted me and without hesitation showed me their Hoffmann 2300M Motorcycle Wheel Balancer while answering my questions.  He then expertly balanced the MonoTracer E front wheel for free!

Later in early December when I was reworking/improving the one-off prototype transmission of the X PRIZE winning MonoTracer E, I required a couple of specialized BMW transmission seals, swingarm dust boot, and transmission oil.  I swung by BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County again and was enthusiastically helped by a couple of their friendly Parts Associates and the General Manager Michael Spencer.  They were able to locate the specialized seals and order the ones not in stock (arrived next business day).  What really impressed me was how friendly and helpful everyone was at this particular dealership especially since my requirements weren’t for a normal model BMW motorcycle.

On the evening of December 23rd, while on an all electric 250mi spin around SoCal, I stopped by with the MonoTracer E to briefly show them the amazing vehicle they had helped me maintain and to thank them again for all their excellent help and exceptional customer service.  Here are some fun photos of the TRONtastic MonoTracer E parked in front of their spectacular dealership.  Thank you BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County – truly “Service Beyond Expectation”!

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BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County: Website • Facebook
Tourmaline Drive
Newbury Park, CA, 91320
phone:  805.499.3771

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MonoTracer Factory

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Stefano

Here are a couple of photos from within the Peraves MonoTracer Skunkworks in Winterthur, Switzerland of various MonoTracers undergoing assembly.  What is really exciting to see are two new pre-production MonoTracer-E vehicles, the two yellow ones with full carbon fiber package, in the build process.  These two all electric MonoTracers are the pre-production validation vehicles and will sport 150kW AC Propulsion drive systems.  Without the flush headlight covers the MonoTracers remind me a little bit of Terminators with the mechanical “eyeball” of the high intensity discharge (HID) lighting systems.

MonoTracer assembly line at the MonoTracer Skunkworks in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Two pre-production all electric "Speed Yellow" MonoTracer-Es with full Carbon Fiber Package undergoing assembly.

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MonoTracer Factory

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Stefano

Here are a couple of photos from within the Peraves MonoTracer Skunkworks in Winterthur, Switzerland of various MonoTracers undergoing assembly.  What is really exciting to see are two new pre-production MonoTracer-E vehicles, the two yellow ones with full carbon fiber package, in the build process.  These two all electric MonoTracers are the pre-production validation vehicles and will sport 150kW AC Propulsion drive systems.  Without the flush headlight covers the MonoTracers remind me a little bit of Terminators with the mechanical “eyeball” of the high intensity discharge (HID) lighting systems.

MonoTracer assembly line at the MonoTracer Skunkworks in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Two pre-production all electric "Speed Yellow" MonoTracer-Es with full Carbon Fiber Package undergoing assembly.

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Green MonoTracer Glamour

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Stefano

Green MonoTracer with X-Tracer 72 just outside.

A few photos of the glamourous green MonoTracer with the new MonoTracer moniker.

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X-Tracer: A ride through the Sierra Nevada

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Stefano

MonoTracer E cruising towards Las Vegas

The X PRIZE winners were invited to display their vehicles at the 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas in early November.  Instead of trailering the X-Tracer to the show like most other display vehicles, it was clear this was an opportunity to make a world record efficiency drive in the X-Tracer (625mi roundtrip).  Roger Weichert of Mediafusion GmbH, Neuheim Switzerland was along for the week and made this fabulous HD movie of Peraves CEO Roger Riedener driving the X PRIZE winning all electric X-Tracer to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas through the Sierra Nevada.  North American sales representative Jim Lorimer accompanied in the White MonoTracer.

The running gag is they paid the Venice beach musician $5 to record his song, and the X-Tracer used the equivalent of $5 of electricity for the 625 mile roundtrip through the desert.  The 70kWhr energy consumed noted in the opening title works out to 8.9 mi per kWhr or ~300MPGe (using 35kWhrs for the energy equivalency of 1 gallon of gasoline).  It is doubtful there is another enclosed, two passenger, street legal vehicle that can achieve the level of efficiency (and rocketship performance) the spectacular E-Tracer possesses.  Seeing the gorgeous E-Tracer on the open road is always such treat.  Enjoy Roger Weichert’s X-Tracer:  A ride through the Sierra Nevada.

Links:
2010.12.20 – Autoblog Green – MonoTracer E cruises the American Southwest at 300 MPGe

2010.12.21 – Treehugger – MonoTracer E, Does it Make a Cameo in TRON: Legacy?

2010.12.22 – Gas 2.0 – MonoTracer E Crosses Sierra Nevada Desert

MonoTracer E - A real world TRON Light Cycle

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ZeroTracer arrives in Southern California

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Stefano

Frank, Stefano, and Tobi with the ZeroTracer stopping by for PV Solar charge.

Tobi and Frank made spectacular time covering 1000mi in 36 hours in their ZeroTracer including charging in order to catchup with the Zero Race after leaving Vancouver.  Their ZeroTracer stopped by on the morning of Friday, November 19th, 2010 for a 48A 240VAC charge off my roof mounted photovoltaic solar system and some minor maintenance.  We then had some tremendous fun caravaning to Santa Monica for the Zero Race press EVent with the E-Tracer, ZeroTracer, and a friend’s Tesla Roadster.   You can catch a glimpse of the E-Tracer on the freeway in Tobi’s latest ZeroTracer video edit of their USA tour.

ZeroTracer USA Tour

Stefano maneuvering the E-Tracer into position for the Zero Race press EVent on the Santa Monica Pier.

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ThinkSwiss Flyer: Element Series

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Stefano

To promote the dynamic that Swiss projects have proven in the fields of energy efficiency and sustainable transportation, the ThinkSwiss organziation has developed a new series of ThinkSwiss flyers, the Element Series. They’ve combined the X-Tracer, PlanetSolar, and Solar Impulse, as they represent the elements of Earth, Water, and Air respectively.  We’re honored that our all electric X PRIZE winning X-Tracer has been included in their flyer representing the most energy-efficient automobile.  Click here for a PDF of the full ThinkSwiss – Element Series 4 page flyer.

ThinkSwiss Flyer: Element Series (page 1)

ThinkSwiss Flyer: Element Series (page 4)

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Colorful MonoTracers

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Stefano

MonoTracers in every Skittles color.

Roger just emailed these cellphone photos of the latest Peraves factory demo MonoTracers in gorgeous green, orange, and red colors.

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X-Tracer in TRANSLOGIC’s 8.1 SEMA Show Coverage

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Stefano

The video crew from AOL’S TRANSLOGIC briefly covered in episode 8.1 (30) the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE Winners who were in attendance at the 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.  Click on the image below to view the video.  The X-Tracer 7009 with North America’s MonoTracer sales representative Jim Lorimer appears at minute 3.

X-Tracer 7009 at 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas via TRANSLOGIC episode 8.1

TRANSLOGIC 30:  SEMA + X PRIZE Winners

[Source: TRANSLOGIC]

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LA Times: E-Tracer a Thrilling Combo

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Stefano

The written article on the E-Tracer by Susan Carpenter appeared in the print version of the Los Angeles Times on Saturday, November 13th, 2010.  Click here for a PDF of the printed article or below for the jpeg photo versions.

LA Times E-Tracer page 1.

LA Times E-Tracer page 2.

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