Peraves

Peraves AG
Industry Motorcycles
Founded 1972
Headquarters Uster, Switzerland
Products
Ecomobile with BMW-K-Motor

Peraves AG is a Swiss manufacturer of high-end aerodynamically-enhanced cabin motorcycles. It won the Automotive X Prize for its entirely electric X-Tracer in 2010.

History

Peraves AG was founded in 1972 by Swissair Jumbo Pilot Arnold Wagner. Wagner finished his original prototype of a enclosed motorcycle in 1982, and was able to convince the Swiss government to make it street legal in 1985. The vehicle, christened the Ecomobile, was approved by a TÜV (Technischer Uberwachungsverein), which allowed it to be sold in the EU in 1991. Peraves produced 90 Ecomobiles from 1991 to 2005 until the main factory in the Czech Republic was burned down. In response, Peraves decided to commit to redesigning the Ecomobile. The new, more affordable design was named the MonoTracer.[1][2] It was named number 41 in Time's list of the 50 best inventions of 2008.[3]

In 2010, Peraves won the $2.5 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize with an electric powered version of the MonoTracer, renamed the X-Tracer, capable of driving up to 150 miles per hour and accelerating from 0 to 60 in under four seconds.[4] The design was originally suggested by Stefano Parris, an aero-mechanical engineer who saw the gas version on display.

In 2013, the X-Tracer was blocked from entering the United States while at the Port of Los Angeles by the Environmental Protection Agency, United States Customs, and the Transportation Department because the vehicle didn't comply with government regulations. E.P.A. officials could not be reached for comment. Electric vehicle advocate Paul Scott commented, “For the E.P.A. to be in the way of this is as bizarre at it gets.”[4]

Official Website

References

  1. ↑ "PERAVES AG, Uster, Switzerland Business Proposal -Recapitalization and Expansion" (PDF). Reciprocus.
  2. ↑ "Peraves MonoTracer". Evo. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  3. ↑ "Best Inventions of 2008 - TIME". Time. 2008-10-29. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
  4. 1 2 Berman, Bradley. "One of World's Most Efficient Vehicles Unable to Enter U.S." Wheels Blog. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
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