improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience . please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information and removing excessive detail that may be against wikipedia s inclusion policy . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message brammo inc. industry vehicle manufacturing founded ashland oregon 2002 2002 founder craig bramscher headquarters talent oregon united states area served north america key people craig bramscher founder products electric vehicle drivetrains website brammo.com brammo inc. is an american producer of electric traction motors and traction batteries 1 based in ashland oregon united states . brammo marketed its motorcycles via the company s website . they were also available for sale and service at some motorcycle dealers throughout the united states europe and asia . 2 on january 15 2015 polaris industries announced that it had purchased the entire electric motorcycle business from brammo . production of an electric motorcycle the rebadged victory empulse commenced at polaris factory in spirit lake ia during the second half of 2015 . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 2004 2008 1.1.1 enertia gt 1.1.2 pro gt and rogue gt 1.1.3 ariel atom 1.1.4 enertia powercycle and brammo inc. 1.2 2009 1.2.1 best buy sales agreement 1.2.2 ttxgp 1.3 2010 1.3.1 empulse electric motorcycle 1.3.2 flextronics outsourcing 1.3.3 enertia plus electric motorcycle 1.4 2011 1.4.1 engage and encite models 1.4.2 ttxgp 1.4.3 acquisitions and investments 1.4.4 hong kong police and municipal use 1.5 2012 1.5.1 empulse r ride reviews 1.5.2 ttxgp world championship 2 product awards 3 references 4 external links history edit brammo motorsports began in craig bramscher s garage after he visited several ferrari and lamborghini dealerships in hollywood and los angeles california looking for a supercar that he could comfortably sit in . bramscher who was a football player at his high school shawnee mission south is 6 ft 3 in 1.91 m tall but has described himself as long waisted so i sit like i m 6 ft 6 in 1.98 m tall . bramscher set out to design and build a car comparable to the mclaren formula 1 car but which would comfortably accommodate a 6 ft 8 in 2.03 m tall person weighing 300 lb 140 kg . on september 4 2002 he registered the name brammo motorsports with the state of oregon . 4 a brammo manufactured ultima brammo began importing the ultima can am in an attempt to understand at a basic level the components tools and processes needed to manufacture a complete vehicle . the company continued to import the cars from ultima in component form assemble them and sell them to customers . customers were offered build journals which enabled them to watch their vehicle being built in near real time online . 5 2004 2008 edit enertia gt edit the enertia gt was a car planned for production intended to be powered by a naturally aspirated falconer v12 engine . however it has since been announced that the project has shifted to making the gt a battery electric vehicle to compete with the tesla roadster . 6 pro gt and rogue gt edit brammo applied for a trademark of pro gt in april 2004 . 7 brammo finalized the design for the brammo motorsports pro gt and hired brian wismann as the lead designer prior to building the prototype . the pro gt prototype had a 600 cu in 9 800 cc v12 engine producing 800 hp 600 kw . brammo commissioned a six speed transverse synchro mesh gearbox with xtrac inc. of berkshire england . they also built a custom falconer v12 engine . 8 brammo changed the name of the pro gt to the rogue gt . they also imported some gardner douglas t70s but demand for the vehicle was not sufficient . in 2006 brammo executed an assignment of its interest in the trademark rogue to nissan motors 9 which introduced the nissan rogue a compact crossover suv in october 2007 . ariel atom edit brammo ariel atom in early 2005 brammo purchased a license to produce the ariel atom an exo skeletal vehicle designed by nik smart while he was a transport design student at coventry university . brammo s license allowed the company to produce the vehicle for the north american market only . after it secured the license from ariel ceo simon saunders brammo reverse engineered the vehicle making several improvements along the way and began production . the company could not secure the honda engines which were installed in the uk versions of the car so it approached gm and was able to obtain the supercharged gm ecotec engine although a limited run of ten of the atoms came equipped with honda k20a engines . the company sold just over 130 of the cars during a 20 month period . jay leno bought one of them and wrote an extensive review of it for popular mechanics . 10 enertia powercycle and brammo inc. edit main article brammo enertia brammo enertia powercycles brammo s experience with building supercars coupled with its research of electric drivetrains and then current battery technology led to the belief that with the power to weight ratio and energy density of lithium batteries an ev was possible but that the vehicle s weight was a crucial concern . the decision was made to produce a lighter motorcycle . brammo focused on designing and building the enertia powercycle prototype . after completing the prototype the company met with investors and determined that brammo motorsports needed to become brammo inc. and that it would thereafter focus fully on electric vehicles . the name brammo inc. was registered in august 2008 . 11 in september 2008 brammo raised a 10 million round from best buy venture capital chrysalix energy venture capital and others . 12 2009 edit best buy sales agreement edit in february 2009 brammo announced that the enertia would be sold at best buy stores on the west coast with a gradual roll out to the electronic retailer s stores nationwide . bramscher said what we re selling is a lot closer to consumer electronics than to transportation . he indicated that basic repairs and maintenance would be carried out by the geek squad crew while more intensive work would be performed at various service centers around the country . 13 the enertia began selling at select best buy locations in august 2009 . 14 ttxgp edit brammo ttr at the ttxgp in june 2009 brammo entered two modified enertia motorcycles in the time trial xtreme grand prix ttxgp a motorcycle race billed as the world s first zero emissions superbike event . the race took place on june 12 2009 on the isle of man s 37.7 mile 60.7 km snaefell mountain course . brammo s 26 bike a model it called the ttr finished in third place during the final race . scottish rider mark buckley finished with a time of 30 minutes 2.64 seconds an average speed of 75.35 miles per hour 121.26 km h and reached a top speed of 102 mph 164 km h . 15 2010 edit empulse electric motorcycle edit brammo empulse unveiled at laguna seca in 2010 brammo announced the empulse trio line of water cooled electric motorcycles with models 6.0 8.0 and 10.0 offering an average range of 60 80 or 100 miles respectively . top speed is in excess of 100 miles per hour . 16 summer 2011 delivery 17 was projected for orders placed in july 2010 . needs update the 2011 delivery date was later extended into 2012 due to the decision to incorporate a gearbox into the production model . 18 flextronics outsourcing edit in september 2010 brammo announced an agreement to outsource motorcycle production to flextronics . brammo said the deal was made because of flextronics ability to supply brammo with all its electronics needs and to move manufacturing closer to overseas consumers rather than building on us assembly lines . 19 enertia plus electric motorcycle edit brammo enertia plus revealed at eicma in october 2010 brammo announced a new model of its enertia motorcycle called the enertia plus . set for delivery in 2011 the enertia plus will have a 6.0 kwh brammo power lithium ion battery pack . according to ceo bramscher the enertia plus is a zero emissions motorcycle that will travel 80 miles on one charge over 60 miles per hour and should take about 6 hours to fully power up at any electric vehicle ev charging station with level 1 capabilities . 20 2011 edit engage and encite models edit brammo engage at the minimoto in may 2011 brammo announced two new models of electric motorcycle the engage and the encite . the engage is a full sized dirtbike available in both motorcross offroad and supermoto onroad mostly variants . the encite mmx pro the smaller of the two bikes was described as a more hardcore racing version . along with the announcement of the two bikes came the announcement that the company had partnered with smre an engineering and design firm based in umbertide italy . smre had designed the mechatronic six speed gearbox that the new bikes in prototype form were using . 21 ttxgp edit on may 14 and 15 2011 at infineon raceway brammo s empulse rr racing motorcycle won the first two races of the ttxgp north american series also known as the a123 infineon round . the motorcycle was ridden by steve atlas an ama credentialed racer and a contributing editor for motorcycle usa.com . during the race on sunday the empulse rr broke the track record for electric motorcycles set the previous year by the zero agni machine ridden by shawn higbee . 22 in july 2011 brammo announced it had entered a partnership with ttxgp to provide race ready rides for the ttxgp electric racing series for the 2013 season . brammo indicated that it would provide box stock empulse motorcycles to the ttxgp through mavizen the electric motorcycle startup launched by ttxgp founder azhar hussain . mavizen and brammo would develop a race kit including racing bodywork unspecified race performance upgrades and track side tech support . 23 although brammo s empulse rr racing motorcycle took third place at the ttxgp race at miller motorsports park in utah on the weekend of september 2 2011 its position and prior points earned in the racing series guaranteed it the title of ttxgp north american champion . the electric racing motorcycle was piloted by steve atlas who had given the team consistent speed and performance throughout the 2011 season . 24 acquisitions and investments edit in september 2011 brammo acquired european bike rental company quantyaparx . brammo said they would be expanding the business to the united states . 25 in october 2011 polaris industries announced an investment in brammo . polaris had previously produced an electric version of its ranger side by side and acquired global electric motorcars gem from chrysler . an analyst concluded that polaris intends to add electric drivetrains to its atv and motorcycle product lineup but were likely to wait for further technology advancements before bringing them to snowmobiles . 26 27 hong kong police and municipal use edit in october 2011 hong kong s government logistics department announced that it would be replacing hong kong police force and water supplies department gasoline powered motorcycles with brammo enertia plus le law enforcement