Q&A with Abe Askenazi, Zero Motorcycles' VP of Engineering


Abe Askenazi has the rare distinction of transitioning from Buell, a traditional (if trailblazing) bike builder, to the all-electric Zero Motorcycles company. Recruited for his expertise in the realm of conventionally-powered two-wheelers, Abe was put to task on making Zero's bikes more robust and motorcycle-like.

I caught up with Abe at Zero's 2011 press launch, picking his brain about the differences between internal combustion culture and the vanguard of electric bikes.

Here are excerpts from our conversation.

What was it like to go from a traditional motorcycle company to an upstart that builds electric bikes?

Basically, it's not much different from how it was during the beginning of Buell. Most of the guys on the [Zero] team are motorcyclists, they're very passionate individuals, all trying to make their mark on the world, on the motorcycle industry. So the culture is not very different from Buell in the early days; small and dynamic.

Tell me about some of the engineering challenges you've faced, in terms of bringing in your expertise from an area that's been around 100 years to something that's a little more out of the box.

It hasn't been that different, and the only reason I can say that is because at Buell we mostly worked on chassis development; we got our powertrains from Rotax and Harley. We collaborated, of course, and had a powertrain integrations group, so what we're doing here is collaborating with motor companies and developing a high-performance chassis around them. It's not that significant a difference—of course, the battery technology was fairly new to me. We do have a pretty robust electrical engineering department that I direct that has lots of really good experience with this. I've been educated this past year, it's been a lot of fun to learn about new things. But it's still motorcycles.
The thing that did it for me relative to coming out here and taking this on is that Zero was positioned as a motorcycle company, not so much as an electric motorcycle, but as a motorcycle company that happens to be electric.

Continued...

Do you think mainstream manufacturers like Honda, Suzuki, etc. are going down the electric route?

Absolutely. I believe you're going to be seeing the same thing you're seeing in automotive. Right now, every single automotive company has an electric vehicle program. That's going to happen in the motorcycle world as well. It's very appealing, there's a lot of unique traits that these bikes bring to the sport, and what they do between the lack of noise, the social consciousness, and the ease of usability—no transmission, no clutch—torque from down below, such a broad powerband—those things are very appealing and appeal to other consumers who wouldn't have gotten into motorcycles any other way.
Sixty-five percent of our current customers are new to the sport; they don't have another motorcycle, this is their only motorcycle.

I think what the motorcycle industry, after seeing the contraction that it's seen in the last few years, needs to look for new people that otherwise wouldn't have considered motorcycles. The thing that electric motorcycles bring into the equation are the things that appeal to those kinds of people. I think it's great for the sport.

What would you tell somebody considering an electric bike right now?

To go for it. Anyone that embraces Zero at this point will be the pioneers, the people that make the sport take off. I think that the electrics have lots to offer, between the silence—the lack of noise, I should say, the environmental consciousness, the usability, the friendliness. You ride up on one of these motorcycles when you get home, and—do you have little kids? I have little kids, there's a reason I think about this all the time. Whenever I get home on my gas bike and the kids come out to greet me, I'm always "Oh, don't touch anything, the pipes are hot." Everything is shiny and they want to touch everything. And it's just something you're concerned about. Here, you don't have to worry about a thing here; you're not worried about that.
I know that most of the internal combustion motorcycle companies spend a lot of time trying to get as much power from the motor while controlling noise, so there's soft system analysis, intake system analysis, those things require vast amounts of research and technology. Here, we don’t have to worry about those things. We can dedicate it on things that matter more to the consumers; usability, rideability. I think that the electric motorcycle is something that is very unique and compelling.

Continued...

How will you address issues like range anxiety?

Battery capacity is increasing every year. The energy density of cells is increasing every year, so we will continue to work with battery manufacturers on taking that on and providing additional range, and looking not only at the capacity of the battery, but other ways to enhance the range equation; quick charging, public charging, the ability to swap batteries easily.

It's more than just capacity, it's all these different things that allow you to really get a handle on this range anxiety thing.

What about throttle lag?

We need to work on the controller and all the algorithms to drive the motor and manage the power that's transferred from the battery to the controller to the motor. It's just a matter of managing the technology. The technology's still fairly new for motorcycles. Electric motors have been around a long time, but it's really been in industrial applications more than anything.

Do you plan on making removable batteries for all models?

At this point, we believe that on the "X" platform, it's a huge benefit. With the larger pack on the "S" platform, we don’t think it's as necessary, so each platform is doing its own thing, which we believe is appropriate for the platform and the usage.

In terms of Zero's lineup, do you see it continuing to grow, or do you think you'll finesse the bikes you've got right now?

I think that we're pretty broadly in the market with the product we have, we will continue to watch that, we'll continue to listen to the customer's desires and seeing whether we need to expand into any other markets. But at this point, with this product line I think we've addressed a lot of the segments pretty well. Now that we've built a foundation this past year, I think you'll be seeing a lot of growth in those segments.

Is there a plan for adding regenerative braking [which recharges the battery when brakes are applied]?

We're working on all sorts of new and exciting things.

So you can't tell me anything about when?

I can't tell you anything about the future. I could tell you that many of the technologies that are on new electric vehicles… we're all growing at the same time.