The all-electric CHP Chopper, a collaboration by Hybrid Technologies and Big Bear Choppers, is being shown now at the New York International Auto Show. The CHP Chopper was also built in with input from the California Highway Patrol, and thus the CHP part of the name.
The California Highway Patrol helped design the bike in commemoration of fellow officer Thomas Joel Steiner, and other male and female police offers who have been killed in the line of duty. The CHP Chopper can go from 0 – 30 mph in 5.2 seconds and has a 40 mile range with its 42 lithium-ion batteries.
The prototype was unveiled in 2005, but lives on today not only to commemorate the fallen, but to show the possibilities of the future as well. Green motorcycles are an underdeveloped market segment right now.
There are a few electric motorcycles hitting the consumer market right now such as the Enertia, Lectra and Zero, but the high price and lack of range still tend to be a barrier for many looking for a gasoline-burning alternative. A lower cost alternative would be electric bikes for those who want to go this route.
The CHP Chopper though gives a glimpse of what the future will hold a few years down the road. Green and mean, the motorcycle gang of the future may just be one that is spewing zero emissions.