Mission Motors supplying improved motor/controller components to 2014 Mugen SHINDEN SAN

It pays to carefully study the sponsor graphics when a team releases specs on their new bike, eh?  When you don't you tend to miss big pieces of news - such as Mission Motors supplying drive train parts to Team Mugen.  And it turns out that the 2013 Mugen Shinden also had Mission Motors parts.

Mugen just released specs of the 2014 SHINDEN SAN, and while I reposted the pictures I didn't study them closely.  However my colleagues at Moto Elettricheblog did, and posted this picture showing Mission Motors as one of the sponsors.

In the facebook conversation that ensued, Kyle Givanen (of the OSU Buckeye Electric Motorcycle Race team) says that at the 2013 TT ZERO he had been invited into the Mugen paddock and saw a Mission Motors MC600 controller sporting Mission Motors logos on the 2013 SHINDEN.

If we zoom in on the sponsors:

Nothing else is a surprise.  Maxell is Mugen's cell supplier.

Mission Motors and Mission Motorcycles are two separate companies.  The latter is working to commercialize the Mission R design that Mission Motors has used as their testing mule.  Mission Motors began almost a decade ago with the goal of becoming the Tesla of Electric Motorcycles, but later refocused on developing and selling high performance electric vehicle drive train components.

In fitting with the theory that Mugen is acting on Honda's behalf, we do see that Mission Motors and Honda have a history of working together.   At the 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race in 2010, the Honda CR-Z ran with MissionEVT components, according to a report on Asphalt & Rubber.  

Mission Motors has long been extremely tight-lipped about their customer list for drive train components.  That the company is still in business indicates they do have some customers, but the company is extremely quiet and rarely issues press releases at all.

They did, today, issue a press release, Mission Motors' first press release since June 2012, titled - Mission Motors Supplies Team Mugen for 2014 Isle of Man TT Zero Race which reads as follows.

MISSION MOTORS SUPPLIES TEAM MUGEN FOR 2014 ISLE OF MAN TT ZERO

San Francisco, California, USA – April 2, 2014

Mission Motors, a developer of cutting-edge electric vehicle technology, has been named a supplier and sponsor of Team MUGEN SHINDEN SAN superbike for the 2014 Isle of Man TT Zero Challenge.

“Mission has an active motorsports program, with projects in both hybrid and electric racing,” said Mission Motors CEO, Derek Kaufman. “We are honored to be a marquis supplier and sponsor to Team MUGEN Shinden as they look to eclipse last year’s records.”

Team MUGEN Shinden director added, “Mission Motors and MUGEN have had a good relationship creating and developing exclusive electric power units for the Isle of Man TT project.”

Mission is a leading specialist in electric powertrain innovation, working with many major vehicle manufacturers on all aspects of HEV/EV powertrain technology. Mission’s project team employed this expertise to support Team MUGEN Shinden during engineering design and development activities. “We are introducing some exciting new technology for the MUGEN SHINDEN SAN race bikes,” said Mission’s Director of Powertrain Systems Engineering, Mark Sherwood. “Our engineers have worked alongside Team MUGEN Shinden to learn from their race data. For the 2014 Isle of Man TT, we have engaged in rapid new product development that truly raises the bar for electric motorcycles on and off the racetrack.”

With initial integration work now completed, track testing will continue through the spring. Mission is confident that Team MUGEN Shinden has what it takes to capture their first TT Zero victory and a new lap record.

About Mugen Motorsports

MUGEN designs, develops, assembles, and markets automotive engines for racing. Mugen also designs, develops, manufactures, and markets motorsports engines, chassis, parts, and components for Honda cars, including technical services at racing circuits. Learn more at http://www.mugen-power.com/english/.

About Mission Motors

Mission Motors designs, develops and produces optimized electric powertrain components that incorporate the company’s proprietary technology. The company offers energy storage systems, drive systems, control systems, and software intelligence for automotive, powersports, marine and heavy equipment applications. Mission Motors is a full partner to vehicle manufacturers, meeting their development, production supply and aftermarket needs. Mission helps its customers bring higher performance electric and hybrid vehicles to market faster and at lower development cost. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Mission’s team combines expertise from the automotive, powersports, robotics, battery and software industries. Learn more at http://www.ridemission.com.

Post by Moto Elettricheblog.

TT ZERO 110 miles/hr lap speed sure to fall to the 2014 Mugen SHINDEN SAN?

Mugen earlier announced they would field two bikes in the 2014 TT ZERO, that they're calling the SHINDEN SAN.  Today Mugen has released details, pictures, specs, so let's take a look.  It looks like a sure bet to beat the 110 miles/hr lap speed threshold.

As last year they've repeated the bright colors and graphics, and centering on the lightning bolt imagery.  Shinden is the god of lightning, after all. 

As we noted earlier Mugen will have two riders, John McGuinness and Bruce Antsey, both of whom have won other races in the TT multiple times. 

The 2014 Mugen Shinden San has improved motor, suspension, battery pack capacity, and aerodynamics

The development for this year sees a new oil-cooled 3-phase brushless motor that is increased in power output while at the same time is lighter and reduced in size. The team has taken the opportunity afforded by this new layout to increase the battery capacity over the 2013 machine and installed new control systems take advantage of the performance capabilities.

Also with SHINDEN SAN the engineers have used the data gained from previous years racing and testing to optimise the aerodynamics of the machine and adopted newly-developed suspension in order to maximise the speed potential.

Increased power density and energy density should mean they'll hit and sustain higher speeds.  According to the specs (below) the peak power is 100 kilowatts, and it gives 220 nM torque.  The 110 miles/hr lap speed is sure to be beaten this year.

Mugen's press release does contain an attempt to rewrite history:

The TT Zero Challenge class was first run in 2009 as a time trial format over the 60km mountain course on the public roads on the island, with the regulations requiring a zero CO2 clean emission power unit.

In 2009 the name of the race was TTXGP, and it was not conducted by the Isle of Man government, but by the TTXGP/eGrandPrix. 

Specification
 Machine Name – SHINDEN SAN

• Overall length/width/height (mm) – 2,125/680/1,130
• Wheelbase (mm) – 1,485
• Ground Clearance (mm) – 130
• Seat Height (mm) – 840
• Total Weight(kg) – 240
• Tyre
  • Front – 120/70ZR17M/C (58W)
  • Rear  200/55ZR17M/C (78W)
• Motor Type – Oil-cooled, 3-phase, brushless motor
• Maximum Output (KW[PS]) – 100 [134]
• Maximum Torque (N-M (kgf-M]) – 220 [22.4]
• Battery Specification – Laminate-type Lithium-ion
• Battery Output Voltage (V) – 370 or more

MotoCzysz makes dramatic win over Mugen in 2013 TT ZERO, both hit 109 miles/hr lap speed

John McGuiness during practice on Friday

The 110 miles/hr lap speed goal did not quite fall at the 2013 TT ZERO, and in its place we had a tense close race between MotoCzysz and Mugen Shinden.  In a surprise finish, MotoCzysz' Mike Rutter came in 1st with an unofficial 109.675 miles/hr lap speed, beating Mugen's John McGuiness by 1.67 seconds, and a 109.527 miles/hr lap speed.  MotoCzysz' other entry, Mark Miller, retired halfway through the race allowing Rob Barber, riding for the Ohio State University Buckeye team, to come in 3rd with a 90.403 miles/hr lap speed.

Before the race Rutter sounded resigned to coming in 2nd to John McGuiness, and he even said so during a Manx Radio interview right after crossing the finish line.  He was surprised and ecstatic at having won against the odds that McGuiness and Mugen's money would win the race.  Apparently a rumor was running around the TT ZERO pits that Mugen had spend $4.3 million on developing the 2013 bike, and aiming to win.  For his part, John McGuiness, in the post race interview with Manx Radio, was "grumpy" and didn't know what to say, that he was "sore" and felt like he deserved to win.  What he did say is that after the Bungalow timing point, Mike Rutter just disappeared into the distance.

The 1.67 second difference could boil down to having missed a corner or two, and the finish was one of the closest ever in the TT.  

Early in the race (the Glen Helen timing point) McGuiness was ahead of Rutter by 9 seconds, and arrived at that timing point neck-and-neck with Miller.  The way this works, it is a time trial race with riders leaving individually.  McGuiness left 3rd meaning that to be neck-and-neck with Miller he had gained about 10 seconds.  Rutter had a 109 miles/hr speed at that point, McGuiness had 112 miles/hr speed, Miller a 108 miles/hr speed, and George Spence a 90.766 miles/hr speed.

At the Sulby Speed Trap, Manx Radio reported Rutter hitting 142 miles/hr, and McGuiness hitting 131 miles/hr.

By the Ramsey Hairpin, McGuiness had a 5 seconds lead over Rutter, and by the Bungalow McGuiness increased the lead to 8.9 seconds.

Mark Miller retired from the race at Ballaugh Bridge.

Finishing data - unofficial, and reported by Manx Radio over the air .. will update this when official results are posted.  Mistakes in transcribing could have been made.

#1 Mike Rutter - MotoCzysz - 20:38.461 .. 109.675 miles/hr.  Fantastic feeling, especially glad to win it for Michael Czysz who is back at home.  He never thought he'd win the race, and the bike went perfectly.

#2 John McGuiness - Mugen Shinden - 20:40.133 .. 109.527 miles/hr - 1.67 seconds behind Rutter.  Supposedly his bike faded a bit at the end.

#3 Rob Barber - Buckeye, The Ohio State University - 25:02.467 seconds .. 90.403 miles/hr - 4:22 behind #2

#4 George Spence - Kingston - 25:41.822 .. 88.096 miles/hr - 39.355 seconds behind #3

#5 Chris Mcgahan -  - 26:59.755 .. 83.857 miles/hr

#6 Ian Lougher - - 27:46.300 .. 81.515 miles/hr

#7 Dave Madsden-Mygdal - -31:26.933 .. 71.983 miles/hr .. this is his 98th finish of a TT race.

#8 Paul Owen - - 31:33.387 ..  71.738 miles/hr

McGuiness set to break 110 miles/hr in 2013 TT ZERO, and beat MotoCzysz

The results in the TT ZERO are just getting better with every practice round.  In Monday's practice round, John McGuiness's bike was being registered by the transponders so we can report that he achieved a 109.038 miles/hr lap speed, beating Michael Rutter's 107.602 miles/hr lap speed, and Mark Miller's 105.806 miles/hr lap speed.

To make this clear - John McGuiness turned in a 109.038 miles/hr result in practice, making it very likely the 110 miles/hr lap speed goal appears very likely to smashed in the 2013 TT ZERO.  The 2012 lap record was in the 104 miles/hr range, set by Mike Rutter in 2012 with McGuiness coming in second that year.  As we see in the next paragraph, Rutter is turning in 107 miles/hr lap speeds, and Miller is a bit slower than Rutter.  Hence, it looks like McGuiness will beat Rutter and Miller both, and it looks like the MotoCzysz winning streak is over.  But of course this is racing and we cannot be certain of anything until it actually happens.  For example Rutter and Miller could be holding back...?  Maybe?

The IOMTT officials still haven't have posted official results from Saturday's practice round, making it difficult to letting us assess improvements over the week.  Both Rutter and Miller gave similar results today to what they achieved on Saturday (Rutter 107.82 miles/hr Saturday, 107.602 miles/hr today, Miller 104.xx miles/hr on Saturday, 105.82 miles/hr today).  McGuiness is showing a big gain, from 107.20 miles/hr on Saturday, to 109.04 miles/hr on Monday.  We didn't have any results for McGuiness on Saturday, so we're unable to compare that against his performance today.  This performance is much stronger than Friday's practice round, and all three are soundly beating the 104ish miles/hr record set by Rutter in 2012.

Because one of the guys in the infernal combustion engine racing had a spectacular day, the Manx Radio crew spent quite awhile on reliving his win in a race just before the TT ZERO, and not covering for example the Sulby Speed trap times.  They did give some lap time numbers at several points along the lap.

These are unofficial lap speed numbers as written down while listening to Manx Radio.  I'll update this if/when the IOMTT officials post official results.

	Glen Helen	Ramsey Hairpin	Final
John McGuiness - Mugen Shinden	?	?	109.038 miles/hr
Mike Rutter - MotoCzysz	111 miles/hr	126 miles/hr	107.602 miles/hr
Mark Miller - MotoCzysz	105 miles/hr	124 miles/hr	105.806 miles/hr
Rob Barber - Buckeye	94 miles/hr	108 miles/hr	91.768 miles/hr
George Spence - Ion Horse	89 miles/hr	89 miles/hr	85.484 miles/hr
Chris McGahan - Vercamoto	?	?	81.150 miles/hr
Ian Lougher - KOMATTI	?	?	80.259 miles/hr

Mugen, MotoCzysz, smashing 2012's TT ZERO lap time record, 110 miles/hr lap speed in sight

John McGuiness (Mugen) during Friday's practice
Courtesy IOMTT.COM

Both MotoCzysz and Mugen are smashing the TT ZERO record lap speed they'd set during the 2012 session.  During practice/qualifying on Friday and Saturday, both teams gave lap speeds significantly faster than the 2012 record.  And what's even more interesting is that Mugen's John McGuiness seems to be beating MotoCzysz's Mark Rutter.  MotoCzysz is in for some serious competition this year.

I listened live to Saturday's practice - and it's clear all the teams, not just MotoCzysz and Mugen, have improved considerably since last year.

Because the TT race is such a long lap (38ish miles, winding around the Isle of Man and over the top of the mountain), Manx Radio has announcers scattered along the course, and the broadcast cycles through the announcers in order along the track.  The announcer at Ramsey Hairpin, at the base of the mountain, described all the bikes as handling this turn much better than last year.  This is a hairpin turn that begins the ascent up the mountain, the bikers have to slow almost to a stop and then accelerate up the slope.  Previously the electric bikes had problems with this corner, but not this year.

Sulby Speed Trap times were 135.5 miles/hr for Mark Miller (MotoCzysz), 125.9 miles/hr for Michael Rutter (MotoCzysz), 99.9 miles/hr for Chris Mcgahan (Vercamoto), 98.7 miles/hr for Paul Owen (Brunel Univ).

I haven't seen final results published by the IOMTT staff yet.  However, the announcer reported that Rutter had the fastest lap time, 107.82 miles/hr.  Also that George Spence, riding the Ion Horse, finished on Saturday with a 83.32 miles/hr lap time.

But this is unclear because John McGuiness's bike (Mugen) wasn't being registered by the timing computers.  He may well have had a faster speed trap time, and faster lap time, and we won't know until the final results are published.  Now that the results have been published (see below) we see he came in 2nd that day, with a 102.20 miles/hr lap time.  From Friday's results, Rutter had a 104.63 miles/hr lap time, and McGuiness had a 105.65 miles/hr lap time.

Mark Miller finished with a 104.40 miles/hr lap speed in 3rd place 21ish minutes lap time, I don't know the speed.  However, in the final speed point he was recorded going 29ish miles/hr indicating his bike probably (educated guess) had run real low on electricity.  At 21ish minutes, he did finish a little faster than on Friday when he put in a 22:07 minutes lap time, for a 102.33 miles/hr average lap speed.

Rob Barber, riding the Buckeye entry from The Ohio State University, came in last with a 70.07 miles/hr lap time.

I'll update this post when they unveil final results for Saturday's round.

The bottom line is that the top three bikes are significantly beating last years results, and are showing significant improvements between Friday and Saturday.

MotoCzysz's goal for 2013 is to not only continue their winning streak, but to beat a 110 miles/hr lap time.  They're in for a tough competition with Mugen for the #1 spot on the podium, but the 110 miles/hr lap time is within sight.

They have one more practice round on Monday afternoon, and the race is scheduled for Wednesday.

For friday's results see http://www.electricracenews.com/2013/06/mugen-beats-motoczysz-in-2013-tt-zero.html

Mugen beats MotoCzysz in 2013 TT ZERO qualifying practice round

Isle of Man TT Week is underway, and the TT Zero crew has had their first practice round on Friday.

Despite the MotoCzysz goal of hitting a 110 miles/hr lap, practice results fell a little short, and Mugen even came in a little ahead.  Of course the team can use this to adjust something letting them come out ahead on Wednesday.  What counts is what happens that day.

Mugen Shinden returning to IOM TT ZERO for 2013, with McGuinness riding

As expected, Team Mugen Shinden is returning to the Isle of Man TT ZERO for 2013.  The announcement is scant on details, but promises a significant performance increase over the 2012 bike.  Considering that for their initial outing the team took second place to MotoCzysz, I'd say it's clear that MotoCzysz has some real competition to worry about. 

Mugen Shinden 2012

Mugen Shinden is seen as being closely allied with Honda, and essentially is a factory team for Honda.  However this theory was denied by Mugen Europe's Colin Whittamore at the 2012 TT ZERO.  The announcement of their 2013 TT ZERO participation says something a little different.

Namely:

M-TEC developed the original EV bike, "(SHINDEN)" in order to showcase the company´s advanced clean emission technology and their creativity to the world, while at the same time gaining valuable experience and education for the engineers of the next generation for the future of the company.

Whoever it is that's behind Mugen's TTZERO team, they achieved a 2nd place finish and broke the 100 miles/hr lap speed barrier.

The 2013 bike was developed based on data captured from the 2012 bike.  They reduced the weight of the motorcycle body and EV system.  They worked on aerodynamics.  They are promising a significant performance boost.

John McGuinness is returning as their rider, he has won 19 times in IOM TT races.

Source: mugen-power.com

Mugen a.k.a. Honda is sending an electric motorcycle to the 2012 SES TT Zero

The Isle of Man TT website reports today that Mugen is sending an electric race motorcycle to this years TT Zero race.  Mugen is more-or-less a factory team for Honda, in that Mugen was formed by members of the Honda family, Mugen's role is to soup up Honda vehicles, but Mugen has never been formally owned by Honda Motors.

This means that Mugen's entry in the TT Zero represents the first foray by a major manufacturer into electric vehicle race competition.

There have been manufacturers participate in previous electric vehicle racing, but every example I can think of has been the small manufacturers.  Well, there is one counter example, and that was a souped up Nissan Leaf that drove in the 2011 Pikes Peak Hill Climb race.

Honda RC-E as unveiled in November 2011

Honda unveiled the RC-E Electric Superbike last fall, so it's worth reviewing that bit of news (see: Honda RC-E Electric Superbike First Look).  It's built on a 250cc class compact bike frame, and using an electric motor from Honda's hybrid cars.  The bike itself looks like the typical superbike, of which Honda is one of the leading manufacturers.  The motor is built as a key component of the frame, as has been done with the top end electric race bikes from Mission Motors, MotoCzysz and Lightning.  It's using Ohlins and Brembo and other typical race bike components.

This move is rich with history.  The TT race has been run for over 100 years, and has been the major proving ground for motorcycles.  Honda itself made its reputation by going to this race year after year, improving every year, until Honda's bikes began to win.  Perhaps Honda intends to do the same thing again?

What's likely is that Mugen is taking the RC-E, souping it up, or helping Honda develop it, and planning to take that bike to the TT Zero race.

What this really means is that MotoCzysz and Lightning will be seeing some deep-pocketed competition on the Snaefell Mountain Course this summer.  Should be exciting.


Honda’s Going Electric-Motorcycle Racing

Mugen confirms team for 2012 SES TT Zero challenge

World famous engine builder Mugen has confirmed that it will be participating in the 2012 SES TT Zero race, which takes place as part of the Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy.

The Japanese company, founded in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, son of Honda founder Soichiro, will be campaigning with an all-new original electric motorcycle.

The Mugen outfit has a long history of involvement in motorsport including Formula 1, winning four Grand Prix races between 1992 and 2000 working with teams like Jordan, Prost, Lotus and Ligier.

They also manufactured engines that won the Formula 3000 championship in 1990 and 1991.

Currently Mugen competes in the Japanese GT and Formula Nippon Championships, and were also recently announced as the engine partner to Honda in their forthcoming World Touring Car Championship campaign.

The company has history in motorcycle racing, having previously competed in the Suzuka 8 hour endurance race with Joey Dunlop and Roger Marshall, and World Championship Motocross with Johnny O’Mara.

The SES TT Zero Race takes place over one lap in a time trial format and is restricted to entrants using motorcycles with zero-emission engines that emit no CO2. The Isle of Man Government has offered a £10,000 prize for the first team to break an average speed of 100mph around the 37¾ mile Mountain Course.

Mr Satoshi Katsumata of Team Mugen commented:

“We are keen to use this excellent event to educate and prepare the engineers of the next generation for the use of future technology.”

“We are very excited about adding to the long history of Japanese manufacturers on the Isle of Man.”

The company will shortly confirm the identity of their rider ahead of a planned programme of testing in Japan and the UK.