Terry Hershner | |
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Hershner on June 5, 2013, moments after completing the first coast to coast run on electric motorcycle | |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Long-distance motorcycling and electric motorcycle modification |
Terry Hershner, nicknamed Electric Terry, is an electric vehicle and renewable energy advocate from Florida. He is known for his long-distance trips and record breaking on his electric motorcycle. He rides a modified production 2012 Zero Motorcycles S ZF9 electric motorcycle, outfitted with a Craig Vetter streamlined fairing. In 2013, he was the first person to cross the United States on an electric motorcycle. In 2014, he became the first ever electric motorcycle rider to go 1000 miles in 24 hours and earn an award from the Iron Butt Association, and was also the first electric motorcycle to win the Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge. Hershner is a board member of the Electric Auto Association, frequent public speaker and radio show guest, and transportation advisor to the international environmental student organization IDEAS for Us.
Education
Hershner studied Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at North Carolina State University.
Electric motorcycle modifications
2012
Hershner purchased a new Zero S ZF9 electric motorcycle from Hollywood Electrics on April 26, 2012. It had a range of up to 114 miles in the city and 63 miles with half city/half highway riding. To increase this, Hershner modified his electric motorcycle to increase charging capacity and extend the driving range. He initially added an SAE J1772 charging socket, and three onboard 1 kW battery chargers to raise the total onboard charging to 4 kW. Using the public charging electric vehicle network, he tested the modifications first on a 500-mile trip to Miami, FL, and then a 1200-mile trip to the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN, which he said was the longest distance ridden on an electric motorcycle at that time.
After these two long-distance trips, Hershner made additional modifications by adding two 2500 watt Elcon chargers to the Zero to max out the available power from a public charging station to charge at 7.2 kW from level 2 and 1.8 kW from level 1 for 9 kW combined charging, reducing the charge time to one hour to recharge his 9 kWh ZF9 pack.
In December 2012, Hershner made his first attempt to cross the country on his 2012 Zero S ZF9 electric motorcycle but ran into difficulties in west Texas, as he repeatedly found public charging stations locked behind fences and not accessible to the public. As a result of the inaccessible charging stations and wide gaps between charging locations in the south west desert areas of Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas, he found the need for even farther driving range.
2013
In early spring 2013 he added two 3 kWh accessory batteries mounted as saddle bags, which increased the total capacity to 15 kWh. Realizing there are two Level 2 charging ports within reach at most charging stations, Hershner added a second J1772 socket and chargers to the motorcycle which now allowed him to charge at 14 kW instead of 7 kW.
In an attempt to lower the aerodynamic drag coefficient, in May 2013, American motorcycle and fairing designer, Craig Vetter helped Hershner build a modern version of a Vetter Streamliner. The added fairings allowed Hershner's electric motorcycle go nearly twice as far on a charge, and help span the wide gaps between charging locations in the south west desert along Interstate 10, that left him stranded before.
On June 5, 2013, six months after his first attempt, Hershner successfully completed the first trip across the United States on an electric motorcycle (Kanichi Fujiwara did it a decade earlier as part of a global circumnavigation, but on an electric moped). The solo trip from San Diego, CA to Jacksonville, FL took five days, or 135 hours, with no support vehicle and using only the existing charging infrastructure. Despite having to replace a motor due to a loose sprocket, Hershner completed the trip roughly 36 hours before another electric motorcycle team, also attempting to become the first to ever cross the country. As a result, Hershner became the first person in history to "unofficially" go coast to coast on an electric motorcycle.
On July 7, 2013, shortly after his arrival back to the west coast from Florida, he placed 2nd to a Tesla Model S in the BC2BC All Electric Vehicle Rally riding from Canada to Mexico. Subsequently, on November 24, 2013, Hershner and his passenger, Chelsea Liggatt, became the first to travel "two up" across the United States by electric motorcycle.
2014
In 2014, Craig Vetter and students from Virginia Tech helped Hershner rebuild the tail section out of aluminum to hold 21 kWh of batteries, and up to 24 kW of chargers that would run off 4 J1772 level 2 plugs, at 6 kW each. Later, on August 29, 2014, Hershner became the first electric motorcycle to win the historic Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge travelling 172 miles on a single charge, at speeds up to 80 mph, for 1.3 cents per mile cost in electricity.
On September 15, 2014, the first day of National Drive Electric Week, Hershner became the first electric motorcycle rider to earn an Iron Butt Award (Saddlesore 1000) from the Iron Butt Association. He rode over 1047 miles from Northern California to the Mexico border and back, in 22 hours and 57 minutes using only ChargePoint charging stations.
2015
On May 7, 2015, Electric Terry became the first electric motorcyclist to ride 300 miles on a single charge. He carried 27 kWh of battery on board, more than a Nissan LEAF electric car.
References
- Domenick Yoney, "Electric Terry dominates Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge," (Sept. 3, 2014) http://green.autoblog.com/2014/09/03/electric-terry-dominates-vetter-fuel-economy-challenge/
- David Herron, "How did Terry Hershner travel 3500+ miles on an electric motorcycle in 6 days?" Torque News, 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2013-05-27
- 2012 Zero S Logs 3500 Miles in Six Days, MotorcycleUSA.com, December 13, 2012
- Christopher DeMorro (June 6, 2013), Terry Hershner Completes First Cross-Country Trip On Electric Motorcycle, Gas2.org
- Jack Collins (June 8, 2013), Terry Hershner Sets Record, First Across America on Electric Motorcycle, EV News Report
- Troy Siahaan (September 18, 2014), Terry Hershner First To Win Iron Butt Award Aboard Electric Motorcycle, Motorcycle.com
- Domenick Yoney (September 23, 2014), Terry Hershner first to earn electric Iron Butt, AutoBlogGreen
- Ben Rich (September 5, 2014), "Pushing Limits Of Electric Motorcycles: Terry Hershner Wins Vetter Challenge", Green Car Reports, High Gear Media
- Ted Dillard (September 2, 2014), The Vetter Challenge: Terry Hershner Makes History with Electric Zero, InsideEV's
- "Electric Vehicle Association".
- Ted Dillard (October 9, 2014), Terry Hershner, Craig Vetter Talk on "The Neal and Larry Show", InsideEV's
- Podcast 61 - Getting Electrified with Terry Hershner, Motorcycles and Misfits, October 26, 2014
- Hog Radio Episode 289 Terry Hershner Interview, Hog Radio Show, July 13, 2013
- Episode 14 Interview with Terry Hershner, Long Riders Radio, October 1, 2014
- "Professionals | IDEAS". ideasforus.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 2011-11-06.
- Sentinel, Stephen Hudak, Orlando. "Electric-motorcycle pioneer 'pushes limits' on cross-country rides". articles.orlandosentinel.com/.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Terry's record setting XC trip on a Zero Electric Motorcycle (Youtube), Electric Terry, January 31, 2013
- "ZERO S Electric Motorcycle - Specs || ZERO MOTORCYCLES". www.zeromotorcycles.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-09.
- Terry Hershner from Off The Grid, Everyone's Awesome, June 19, 2012
- Daniel Silverman (April 9, 2013), Real Rides: Terry's Zero S, RideApart
- Domenick Yoney (December 13, 2012), Terry Hershner rides Zero S electric motorcycle in Guinness World Record bid, AutoBlogGreen
- Susanna Schick (December 10, 2012), Video: Terry Hershner Crosses The US On A Zero Electric Motorcycle, Gas2.org
- Vetter, Craig (March 5, 2013), Streamlining Terry Hershner's Electric Zero, archived from the original on September 6, 2014
- Domenick Yoney (May 31, 2013), Terry Hershner's Zero S gets the Vetter treatment, shoots for better record, AutoBlogGreen
- Antony Ingram (August 1, 2013), "Across The Country In 5 Days--On An Electric Motorcycle", Green Car Reports, High Gear Media
- Dan Scanlan (June 6, 2013), Orlando man goes electric coast to coast to Jacksonville on 2 wheels, The Florida Times-Union
- Vetter, Craig (June 11, 2013), May 31-June 5: "Lone Rider" Terry Hershner crossed America on his Zero electric motorcycle in 5 3/4 days!
- Domenick Yoney (June 17, 2013), Crossing the continent: electric motorcycles race across America, AutoBlogGreen
- Eric Loveday (June 7, 2013), Consider it Done: Modified Zero S Completes First-Ever Cross-Country Trip on Electric Motorcycle, InsideEV's
- Troy Siahaan (July 16, 2013), Terry Hershner Places Second In Canada To Mexico Electric Rally Aboard Zero S, Motorcycle.com
- Florin Tibu (July 17, 2013), Terry Hershner Second in Canada to Mexico Electric Rally, AutoEvolution
- Troy Siahaan (November 19, 2013), Terry Hershner Attempting E-Bike Cross-Country Record Aboard Zero S, Motorcycle.com
- Ted Dillard (November 24, 2013), "Where's Terry?", The Electric Chronicles
- Vetter, Craig (June 14, 2014), Rebuilding Terry's Streamliner Pt.1
- Domenick Yoney (September 3, 2014), Electric Terry dominates Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge, AutoBlogGreen
- Troy Siahaan (September 3, 2014), Zero/Hershner Win Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge, Motorcycle.com
- David Herron (September 1, 2014), An electric motorcycle rider, Terry Hershner, has first electric win in Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge, Electric Race News
- Vetter, Craig (September 8, 2014), 2014 Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge results (Bonneville)
- Eric Loveday (September 17, 2014), Iron Butt Terry Makes History By Riding Electric Zero Motorcycle 1,000 Miles In 24 Hours, InsideEV's
- Ben Rich (September 18, 2014), "First 'Iron Butt' Award For Electric Motorcycle: Terry Hershner", Green Car Reports, High Gear Media
- David Herron (September 16, 2014), "Electric Terry becomes IronButtTerry, riding 1000 miles in 24 hours on an electric motorcycle", The Long Tail Pipe
- Vetter, Craig (September 24, 2014), Terry Hershner just completed the Iron Butt ride: 1000 miles in 24 hours on his Vetter Streamlined Zero
- JP (September 18, 2014), "Over 1,000 miles (1 609 km) in less than 24 hours with an electric motorcycle", Clean Rider
- Ted Dillard (May 8, 2015), Electric Terry" Hershner Rides 300 Miles On Zero Motorcycle On One Charge, InsideEV's
External links
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