Once in a blue moon, a shift in technology aligns with an event that attracts enough attention to mark the beginning of a new market demand for a product that, only a few years previously, no one would have imagined was even worth the research cost to explore. The combination of emerging battery technology and the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is a perfect example of this very sort of instantaneous exposure and product demand.
On July 5, 2013, for the first time ever, an electric motorcycle beat all the best gasoline-powered bike manufacturers that have been refining their machines for close to 100 years, in one blazingly fast trip up the mountain. [Learn More] Suddenly the competetive value of battery-powered race machines is inevitable, and a new market is already heating up for anyone capable of producing the batteries, electric motors and circuitry of tomorrow's electric race machines.
Even more exciting is that the cutting-edge battery that fueled this incredibly important victory was made in Indiana. Enerdel has been developing new battery technologies in the Hoosier state for years now, and battery-powered vehicles are only just scratching the surface of what they can achieve. A Lightning electric motorcycle, the same brand that won the Pikes Peak event, and the same Enerdel batteries, also recently broke the land speed record for an electric motorcycle at speeds over 200 miles per hour.
You'll also want to keep a lookout for these same electric superbikes that will be competing in their own class at this year's Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP, August 16-18. [Learn More] You can bet that the enitre industry will be comparing lap times between the internal combustion standard bearers of the sport and these new electric race machines.
This is an incredible example of a Hoosier company bringing innovation to a marketplace that is changing at record speeds, and yet another reason Indiana is a state that works for business.
Victor Smith Indiana Secretary of Commerce
Eric Doden IEDC President