DocM Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 http://www.wired.com/2014/06/lapd-zero-electric-motorcycles/ The LAPD Just Got a Military-Grade Electric Bike for Stealth Missions For an officer of the law, motorcycles have distinct advantages over the patrol car. They accelerate faster than anything with four wheels and can slip through traffic. They?re fuel efficient. But they?re also loud, and that can be problematic when sneaking up on perps. If you?re a motorcycle cop with the L.A.P.D., time to celebrate. As a pilot project, the force has bought a Zero MMX electric motorcycle, that offers those advantages with the addition of stealth. ?Most importantly, our officers have an added tactical advantage while on patrol,? says Officer Steve Carbajal of the L.A.P.D. Off-Road Unit. For now, Zero says that the LAPD ?purchased one MMX as a pilot program,? for use on and off-road. If it goes well, they will order more. Los Angeles taxpayers can be glad that the bikes can be charged for less than $.50 and maintenance is largely limited to the occasional tire inflation. Oh, and with no emissions, they can go indoors to chase a suspect through a hallway. Zero has been supplying police departments around the country with motorcycles since 2011, starting in Northern California. These bikes are like their civilian counterparts, but outfitted with lights, sirens, medical gear, and hard storage containers. The MMX is Zero?s special forces-specific bike. It can ford through water up to 3.2 feet deep, put out 68 pound-feet of torque, go from zero to 60 in 4.4 seconds, and hit a top speed of 85 mph. Equipped with the largest available battery pack, it bike will run for two hours. We?re sorry to report the police-spec MMX is not for sale to civilians, but play your cards right and you could end up racing one down the 405. dead.cell 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torolol Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 like a HumVee would they sell the downgraded version to civilians? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead.cell Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Looks sick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phouchg Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Everything but those two hours of battery life... hope it doesn't run out at some important moment :/ hamslammer 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovell Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I like how they take a simple story about the police buying electric motorbikes throw in a few buzzwords and bam "LAPD Just Got a Military-Grade Electric Bike for Stealth Missions" :laugh: Alera 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seketh Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Two hours? That's useless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 2 hours is plenty useful if you're doing a stealth approach within a city. Think in terms of it being used by SWAT teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Needs more weapons attached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAZMINATOR Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 2 hours is plenty useful if you're doing a stealth approach within a city. Think in terms of it being used by SWAT teams. Good luck with that. I prefer gas engine. Which lasts more than 2 hours. You can not catch the speeder on that electronic bike more than 2 hours on the dirt areas or forest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Good luck with that. I prefer gas engine. Which lasts more than 2 hours. You can not catch the speeder on that electronic bike more than 2 hours on the dirt areas or forest. With a top speed of 85 mph, I don't think the point of this bike is to catch speeders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 SWAT etc. don't do traffic control. They sometimes do hard & fast where they don't want to be heard until it's too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCracker Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 The militarization of the police force..ugh.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyarecomingforyou Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 It's great to see electric technology starting to be deployed in a meaningful way. As with most technology this will improve over time but two hours is a decent length of time and the running cost is extremely low. Looking at the size of it there's no reason it couldn't have a bigger battery pack, as it's not exactly bulky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAZMINATOR Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 With a top speed of 85 mph, I don't think the point of this bike is to catch speeders. Think about it... If you see cops or swat coming to your house... you take off and grab your bike or car/truck and try to beat them. The cops/swat will go like "dammit, the suspect took off in back of the house" Good luck going after the suspect. I have seen that some suspects get lucky taking off and getting away from them... and some aren't lucky. All is about how smart either side... I mean suspect is smarter than them or the team is smarter than suspect... and the timing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Think about it... If you see cops or swat coming to your house... you take off and grab your bike or car/truck and try to beat them. The cops/swat will go like "dammit, the suspect took off in back of the house" Good luck going after the suspect. I have seen that some suspects get lucky taking off and getting away from them... and some aren't lucky. All is about how smart either side... I mean suspect is smarter than them or the team is smarter than suspect... and the timing. The whole point of this bike is that you don't see them coming in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timster Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 so, it's pretty much a glorified dirt bike. I want one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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