Orange County Choppers Builds an EV. Seriously

Known for building machines as brutish as they are loud, Orange County Choppers has produced this paradoxical bike touted as the “first custom electric American chopper.” The showpiece exhibits the trademark OCC outrageous ode to flair and themed design, but this time you wont hear it coming from a mile away.

On Wednesday, Siemens, the electronics and electrical engineering global powerhouse, unveiled the Smart Chopper it commissioned from the renowned custom motorcycle outfit. Siemens claims the bike has a 60-mile range and a 100 mph top speed. An onboard charging unit can be plugged into any 110-volt socket to charge the bike in five hours, and Siemens says it’ll charge in as little as one hour when plugged into a higher-voltage station. A single-speed, clutch-less transmission delivers the power from a 27-hp electric motor.

The Smart Chopper joins the growing ranks of electric motorcycles, including the Brammo Enertia, Zero X and the Mission One.

Steve Conner, CFO of Siemens’ Energy Service Division, sees the venture as a way to showcase the company’s innovative and environmental awareness along with the current state of technology.

“We already have what we need to make it a reality,” Connor told Wired.com. “This isn’t Star Wars.”

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/08/occ-electric-chopper/

Just has a weird sound to it. Something's fundamentally wrong there.

Never mind,

carry on...

I hope that's a Paulie design, it is awesome.

Paulie has broken away from Orange County Choppers and I think is just doing minimal work for them. Show has definitely getting tired and time to end it IMHO.

Haven't seen lately so I don't know if he came back.

If Siemen's (or any other corporate behemoth) had attempted to build this in-house, design and marketing would still be arguing about the size of the foot pegs.

IIANM, a large part of the allure of those bikes is the sound the make (me, I can't stand it).