MotoCzysz looks to sell equity stake for $10m

Electric drive system innovator MotoCzysz will look to raise $10m through the sale of a 25 per cent equity stake in a capital raise that will see it expand its production capabilities.

Company founder Michael Czysz said it had already secured an order for its D1g1tal Dr1ve technology, which it bills as the simplest and most complete electric drive solution for any company manufacturing electric vehicles, and is now looking to increase its production levels.

The California-based company is also a pioneer in the electric bike space, recently winning the Isle of Man TT Zero race with its MotoCzysz E1pc 011 model.

Czysz told NewNet that to date capital has been solely raised from high net worth individuals but it was open to various options going forward.

‘We are looking to raise $10m for a 25 per cent equity share in the business. We have not gone down the venture capital route yet and I think that has so far been of benefit to the company. We are open to venture capital investment, we would just choose our partners very carefully,’ he said.

He said the company was very focused on getting the D1g1tal Dr1ve units into production and is in the process of securing more orders.

Earlier this year the company announced a strategic alliance with battery systems provider Dow Kokam, for MotoCzysz to build battery systems based on its lithium polymer batter technology for the motorsports market.

Czysz also hinted that a further industry collaboration was due to be finalised.

He said the technology the company has developed for the electric bike market could be easily transferred to other forms of green transport, with a revolution in how hybrid vehicles are being developed needed.

‘I do believe the technology we are developing is almost 100 per cent applicable to a car. Ultimately the cars have to be competitive in price. Range anxiety is easy to overcome and we need a hybrid vehicle where the combustion engine supports the electric vehicle. Integrated drive is a major step forward in that.’

Ahead of this year’s TT Zero race expectations were running high that the 100mph average lap time could be achieved for the electric bikes but even the fastest model missed just shy of that barrier.

Czysz said progress has been made since he first competed at the race three years ago, but evolution of the technology is not happening as quickly as some had hoped.

‘We can not go round the track about 7/8ths of the speed of the other bikes. There has been progression of the technology but the economy has harmed that rate of progression. In addition, the big companies have not come into the sector yet.’

Michael Rutter just misses out on historic ton in SES TT Zero race

Isle of Man TT star Michael Rutter narrowly missed out on cracking the prestigious 100mph mark for an electric bike for the first time in today’s SES TT Zero Race.

He took his Segway MotoCzysz machine to an electric bike record 99.64mph lap, breaking the record that his team-mate Mark Miller set last year, but narrowly missing out on the £10,000 prize fund allocated by the Isle of Man Government for the first electric bike team to achieve a 100mph average speed for the 37¾ mile circuit.

2010 TT Zero Race winner Mark Miller went off in the Number 1 position from Glencrutchery Road with riders starting at 10 second intervals in the time trial race. He was followed by his team-mate Michael Rutter who had passed him on the road by the first checkpoint at Glen Helen with John Burrrows, riding for Lightning Motorcycles running in third.

Russ Mountford (Brunel X Team) and George Spence for the ION Horse Ecotricity Kingston University outfit were next on the road, the first two of four University outfits competing for the £5000 University Prize. Japanese debut outfit Team Prozza and leading American University Massachusetts Institute of Technology were next on the roads with Dan Kneen (ManTTx) and Roy Richardson (Imperial) completing the field.

The nine machines that started all made it to Ballaugh Bridge, with Rutter extending his lead to 102.853mph, maintaining a gap of 10 seconds on corrected time with both Segway Racing MotoCzysz outfits running together on the road. John Burrows, George Spence and Russ Mountford made up the top five with all nine machines reaching the second checkpoint although Dan Kneen and Russ Mountford were reported to have dropped out by Sulby Bridge and Glenduff respectively.

Rutter topped the speed trap times at Sulby, posting an impressive 149.5mph, and he later revealed in the post race press conference that he thought that the bike could have gone even quicker but held back to conserve power.

The MotoCzysz pair still topped the leaderboard by Ramsey hairpin but were joined in the top three by George Spence, the Kingston outfit posting an impressive average of 95mph to Ramsey, and the same trio held the top three positions at Cronk-ny-Mona with Brew, Matsushita and Burrows the only other outfits still on the course.

Rutter was the first to finish and agonizingly clocked 99.604mph for the lap (22.43.68) to narrowly miss out on being the first electric bike rider to achieve a ton, 54 years after Bob McIntyre achieved it on a conventional bike. He was followed home by Mark Miller (98.288mph) and George Spence (88.435mph), who took the University Prize for Kingston. Allan Brew (MIT) and Yoshinari Matsushita completed the top five with John Burrows also achieving a finish by pushing his machine over the line.

Rutter said:

"99.6mph - that’s the story of my life. I tried to conserve battery life and stay smooth. It’s a totally different way of riding, but I really enjoyed it. We only saw the bike on Wednesday, so I think if we had more time there would be more to come set-up wise."

Segway Racing MotoCzysz continues to set pace in TT Zero practice

Segway Racing Motoczysz remain the team to beat in the 2011 Isle of Man TT Zero race with both of their riders – Mark Miller and Michael Rutter – sitting on top of the qualifying session. Conditions were perfect for the second practice as all nine of the bikes for Wednesday’s Race lined up on the grid on Glencrutchery Road.

2010 TT Zero Race winner Mark Miller was first away followed by all Manx effort of Dan Kneen riding for the ManTTx. John Burrows was next away for American Outfit Lighting Motorcycles followed by the ION Horse outfit of perennial electric bike competitors Ecotricity Kingston University, the first of the four University outfits.

Another University outfit, prestigious American based Massachusetts Institute of Technology were next off the startline with Allan Brew and all Japanese outfit Team Prozza and Yoshinari Matsushita followed them away. Roy Richardson and Russ Mountford, both competing on behalf of university outfits Imperial and Brunel respectively were the final University outfits and all eyes will be on the competition within the competition for the fastest University team in Wednesday’s SES TT Zero race that comes with a £5k prize fund.

Last away was Michael Rutter, riding the second Sedgeway Racing Motoczysz outfit and he was quickly into his stride, leading on corrected time at Glen Helen with 5.45.46 (101.081mph). John Burrows split the Motoczysz pair with a 10 second lead over Mark Miller who was third at the first checkpoint in 6.52.85.

George Spence (7.11.56), Allan Brew (7.21.69), Russ Mountford (7.38.52) and Joshinari Matsushita (8.32.11) were the only other outfits to remain on the course as Dan Kneen and Roy Richardson retired on Bray Hill and at Crosby respectively.

Rutter continued to set the pace and after extending his lead to over a minute from Burrows by Ballaugh with an average speed of 106.647mph he posted an impressive 138.4 through the Sulby speed trap. With Burrows dropping out at Whitegates and Mountford retiring at Alpine, Rutter was left with only his team-mate Miller (81.133mph), Kingston’s Spence (80.442) and fellow University competitor Brew (78.536) in close proximity and finished with a lap of 24.15 at an average speed of 93.353mph for the 37 ¾ mile course. Yoshinari Matsushita also brought the Team Prozza bike home in 35:59.22 (62.906mph).

The teams will now prepare for Wednesday’s SES TT Zero Race and the prospect of the first 100mph lap, which comes with a £10k prize fund from the Isle of Man Government remains a possibility.