It is in the genes
About mePosted by Eva Håkansson 11 Oct, 2008 16:44:06
I was born in Sweden not too many years ago (1981). I grew up in a family of engineers with a father that is not only a champion rider, but also an engine designer and an electric vehicle enthusiast. I went to my first race track in the baby carrier. I have been interested in technology as long as I can remember. When I was just 4 years old I built a “nuclear power plant” of cans and cardboard in my father's workshop. 15 years later I got my first car - a well-used Saab 900 turbo that had belonged to my brother. The first thing I had to do was to replace the broken gearbox under supervision of my father. It was a large and messy operation - the car had been leaking oil for several years - but it gave me a real taste of technology. Since then my interest for technology has continued to grow.
Picture: My dad Sven - champion racer, motorcycle designer and genius engineer. Here with our electric motorcycle "ElectroCat".
A growing passion
After technical high school, college, and several first-place trophies in science competitions with “clean technology” projects, I decided to broaden my mind. Because economy rules the world, I decided to become an economist. I earned two degrees at Mälardalen University: a bachelor in business administration with emphasis in ecological economics, and then a bachelor degree in environmental sciences. I also took classes in energy technology, wind power, fuel cells, and nuclear power. I wrote my bachelor’s thesis about political policy for introduction of low emission cars. At the intersection between technology, economics, and environment, my interest for low emission cars grew into a passion for electric drive.
My passion for electric drive comes from its characteristics. Electric racing is like chocolate without calories: it gives me everything I want - power, speed, and torque, without the things I don't want – pollutions. I know that engine sound isn't considered a “noise,” but the feeling of power and speed is actually much more intense in complete silence.
In 2008 I published Sweden's first popular scientific book about hybrid and electric cars "Hybridbilen - framtiden är redan här!" (The Hybrid car - the Future is already here!) and countless of articles, news letters and reports.
ElectroCat - Sweden's first streetlegal electric motorcycle
Together with my dad, we built Sweden's first street legal motorcycle - ElectroCat. Based on a Cagiva Freccia C12R-90, an Italian two-stroke, the electric version has equivalent performance to the original combustion engine motorcycle. (More about ElectroCat in the menu to the right).
The world's fastest electric couple
Love brought eme to Colorado, where I teamed up both professional and domestically with Bill Dube', owner and designer of the world's quickest electric motorcycle - the KillaCycle that makes 0-60 mph in less than 1 second and the 1/4 mile in the 7's.
We got married in August 2009, with the Boulder Electric Vehicle all-electric delivery truck prototype as the "chapel" and with non-conductive ceramic wedding rings. I came down the isle on her ElectroCat, dressed in a traditional Swedish costume. We live outside Denver, Colorado.
Electric racing is still only a very expensive hobby for us. Bill's dayjob is to build state of the art instruments for measuring air pollutions at National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration, and I have a scholarship as graduate student in Mechanical Engineering at University of Denver thanks to the racing program. University of Denver is very excited that I bring a world class electric racing program into the university.
Our secret to success is optimization and good engineering. If you do the math and spend the resources wisely, you can set world records on a shoestring budget with the headquarter in the living room, just as my dad did in the 60'ies.
Present projects - the world's fastest electric motorcycle
Bill and I have several projects together. The latest project is a streamliner land speed record motorcycle "KillaJoule" (electric of course, gasoline is so last century), with the goal to take the overall motorcycle speed record of 368 mph (590 km/h). I will build parts of the motorcycle as my graduate research at University of Denver.
Picture: With "KillaCycle" - the world's quickest electric motorcycle. It has 500 HP and makes 0-60 mph (0-100 km/h) in less than a second!
www.killacycle.com
Present board positions:
Electric Vehicle Society of Sweden
(Föreningen Elbil Sverige, tidigare ELFIR)
Board member since 2008.
Swedish Energy Agency
Member of advisory board for future transport strategies and transport research
Previous board positions:
Swedish Association of Green Motorists (Gröna Bilister)
Board member 2006-2010. www.gronabilister.se
Present work:
When I am not studying or building electric motorcycles, I also do consulting about electric and hybrid vehicles to example power companies and vehicle manufacturers. I am also an author, freelance writer, photographer, speaker, lecturer and so on.
Published about me (older articles, for newer see the blog posts):
A selection of articles about me and ElectroCat.
AutoBlogGreen: The Swedish electric motorcycle conversion you've ever seen
ZoomiLife: Swedish Biker Babe Does Electric Motorcycles
Treehugger: 7 Electric Motorcycles You Must See (including 1 that does 0-60 MPH in 0.97 seconds)
Gillout.com: Eva die Elektrokatze: Eva Håkansson setzt ein Zeichen – ElectroCat als erstes Elektromotorrad auf Schwedens Straßen (in German)
Ecoprofile: Sveriges elbilsdrottning Eva Håkansson vinner miljörace! (in Swedish) http://www.ecoprofile.se/1010_780_Sveriges_elbilsdrottning_Eva_Hakansson_vinner_miljorace!.htm
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