The KillaCycle is dubbed the world’s quickest electric motorcycle and for good reason. Featuring a power output of more than 350 horsepower thanks to its 990 (yes, count them!) A123 Systems M1 cells, the KillaCycle can now draw up to 1,575 amps from its 375 volt. 7.5 kW/hour battery pack to zoom by your in a flash. The total battery weight tops out at a mere 161lbs, adding to the already devilish speed that can be attained by this beast of a machine. All existing electronic vehicle drag racing records were literally vaporized by the KillaCycle, clocking 8.168 seconds at 115.78 MPH. That, my friends, is freaking fast and I wouldn’t want to crash while riding the KillaCycle.

According to the folks behind the KillaCycle, they have made some changes to the bike by introducing Series/Parallel Shifting. In their own words, “Another change we made was to install a series/parallel contactor. The Zilla Controller has the ability to operate a series/parallel motor contactor automatically. The motors are initially configured in series. Thus, the full controller output current travels through both motors. This gives maximum starting torque. As the motors spin up, the voltage across each of them increases. When that voltage matches the battery voltage, the current will decrease as motor rpm continues to increase. The Zilla will then switch the motors into parallel connection. This will double to voltage available to each motor, but will divide the current. The motors can turn much faster, but with half the torque. It result is just like shifting a transmission from low to high.”

The team is now working to get the contactor to shift automatically as at time of publishing, but have not yet achieved the top-end performance targeted. The Zilla firmware will most probably receive and upgrade that is believed to solve the auto-shift problem. I don’t think you’ll be seeing the KillaCycle be released on a commercial scale anytime soon, but the technology behind it is astounding enough to trickle into everyday motorcycles for everybody’s benefit.

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