2021 AWARDS OPEN NOW! ENTER HERE
Mission Motors is an icon for a new era of efficient and exciting vehicles. Designed to express speed and efficiency in it’s overall sharp lines, the Mission bike is also highly detailed with special attention to a riders needs, bringing a high level of product design and ergonomics to a new generation of performance transportation.
What is absent? no gas-tank, no tail pipe. The top portion of the motorcycle is an iconic continuous line that brings together comfort and performance.
What is new? A battery pack enclosed in a lightweight aluminum structure, covered by honeycombed detailed angular skins that integrate all mechanical elements: from the flush front headlight, to the aerodynamic leg recessed cuts.
The challenge was to create a design that would be accepted by motorcycle enthusiasts while also being immediately recognizable as a vehicle fueled by alternative energy. A central goal was not to appear as an ‘eco-toy’ but instead a performance bike augmented by electric power. Ultimately, the bike needed to balance innovation with tradition, overcome the stigma of a silent ride and define what an electric Bike should look like.
Key tenants that were designed and developed for the Mission brand are:
Authenticity + Innovation
The Mission ONE reinvents the modern sport bike without alienating existing riders. The Mission brand and Mission ONE sportbike achieved an appealing balance between authenticity (connecting to existing gasoline motorcycle heritage) and innovation (a new look and feel that conveys the excitement of new technology). The resulting design feels like the next evolution in motorcycling – looking forward to the future, yet firmly rooted in authentic sportbike culture.
A New Riding Experience
The Mission ONE provides an entirely new riding experience, completely different from traditional gas powered cycles. There is no shifting, belching exhaust or rumbling engine, just the pure experience of speed. Riders come away remembering only the feeling of flight – the bike, the road, and slicing cleanly through air.
Benchmark-setting Performance
The Mission ONE’s electric motor provides smooth, abundant torque right off, capable of accelerating the rider from 0-100 mph in just 5 seconds. Existing gas sportbikes typically don’t achieve their peak torque until 8-10,000 RPM. In addition to gut-wrenching torque, the Mission One has adjustable traction control for better handling, and regenerative deceleration and braking, allowing the bike to recapture power as it slows down.
A New Level of Customization and Control
Mission ONE riders can plug their bike into a laptop and adjust performance characteristics to their riding style, such as the regenerative breaking levels and acceleration characteristics, as well as download stats and records of their rides. Riders can switch on the fly between preset modes such as race, highway, and city riding.
Iconic Design, from the Inside Out
Traditional motorcycle design is based on functional elements of gas-powered engines. The elimination of a combustion engine required us to rethink traditional design cues and establish a new paradigm. The sold state nature of the batteries no longer required gearboxes, crankshafts and cylinder heads, and a new iconic design language had to be created, based upon this new technical paradigm.
Rigorously Detailed
• The frames triangular lattice of steel and aluminum is reflected on the bike’s exterior using small triangular cutouts and debossed patterns. The pattern allows for reduction of the overall weight of the body panels; on the top surface, this same pattern cools the rider’s chest when in the tuck position.
• LED head and taillights utilize sweeping animations to highlight the Mission ONE’s advanced technology. The LED taillight combines brake light and turn signals into one, eliminating superfluous parts. In keeping with Mission’s goal of energy efficiency, LED lighting uses less energy, glows brighter, and virtually lasts forever.
Clean Power in a Dirty Category
The new Mission strategy resulted in a performance motorcycle with zero emissions, unlike traditional gasoline bikes that surprisingly typically emit more pollutants and CO2 per mile than cars.
In addition to the design and development of the physical product, we also created the company name and brand: logo, website, launch display and the entire brand collateral.