Alta Motors

Alta Motors was an American manufacturer of off-road and dual-sport electric motorcycles based in Brisbane, California.[1]

Alta Motors
TypePrivate
Industry
  • Motorcycle manufacturing
Founded28 October 2010 (2010-10-28)[1]
Defunct18 October 2018 (2018-10-18)[2]
Headquarters185 Valley Drive,
Brisbane, California
,
USA[1]
Key people
  • Marc Fenigstein (CEO)
  • Derek Dorresteyn (CTO)
  • Jeff Sand (CDO)

History

Derek Dorresteyn, whose family has a long presence on the San Francisco motorcycle scene, started working on a bespoke electric bike in 2007.[3] He partnered with industrial designer Jeff Sand and entrepreneur Marc Fenigstein to found BRD Motorcycles in 2010. The acronym's meaning was only known to the founders and never disclosed.[4]

In 2011, Alta hired Viktor Pritzker, a former Director of Sales at Vectrix.[5] In 2013, Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard joined the company's advisory board.[6] After securing additional investors, BRD changed its name to the more evocative Alta Motors, a reference to its home region of Alta California—or North California.[4]

In March 2018, Alta Motors announced a partnership with Harley-Davidson for the development of future models of electric motorbikes. However, H-D walked out of the deal six months later, opting instead to set up its own research and development unit in the Silicon Valley.[2]

Following Harley-Davidson's divestment, the company was reported to be in negotiations with Canada's Bombardier Recreational Products for an injection of cash, but this did not happen and Alta Motors went out of business in late 2018.[7] BRP later did acquire some of Alta's technological assets from its creditors.[7]

Products

A projected Redshift SMR model was registered with the NHTSA, but there is no evidence that it reached the market.[9]

The Redshift platform is the basis for the SilentHawk stealth dirtbike developed by military contractor Logos Technologies of Fairfax, Virginia.[10]

In 2017, the company also unveiled a prototype called the Redshift ST (for Street Tracker), which was pitched as a hybrid urban and flat track speedway machine.[11]

Racing

Due to debates regarding the equivalency between electric and combustion engines, Alta faced an uphill battle obtaining sanction to race in a major series, but the brand's products still showed up at a few established events.[3]

The Redshift MX made its professional debut in the Lites class of the 2016 Red Bull Straight Rhythm off-season tournament, advancing to the second round.[12] It returned in 2017, but was eliminated in the first round. On both occasions, the bike was ridden by Josh Hill.[13]

Also in 2017, Alta announced that it would feature in the SX2 class at a pair of SX Tour events, the Geneva Supercross and the Paris-Nanterre Supercross, thanks to an exemption granted by the tour's sanctioning body, the Fédération française de motocyclisme.[14] However, equipment shipping issues[15] limited its participation to the Geneva Supercross' Duel Cup, a side attraction consisting of four riders competing in best-of-three, one-on-one playoffs.[16] Hill won the second night, beating event spokesman Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki RM-Z450) in the final.[17]

Alta made its AMA EnduroCross Championship debut in Round 4 of the 2016 season with Veteran class rider Kurt Nicoll. Nicoll won the event in his class.[18] In 2018, the company upped its efforts, signing Ty Tremaine as a regular entrant in the Pro class. His third-place finish in Round 3 was credited as the first podium placing by an all-electric bike in an AMA-sanctioned professional series.[19] However Alta Motors folded partway into the season, and Tremaine finished his campaign with Beta.[20]
Tremaine, alongside Lyndon Poskitt, also took part in the 2018 Erzberg Rodeo hard enduro for Alta.[21]

References
  1. "Alta Motors". opengovus.com. 18 June 2018. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  2. Giacomini, Sabrina (18 December 2018). "What Ever Happened To Alta Motors?". rideapart.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  3. d'Orleans, Paul (27 February 2017). "All in the Family". cycleworld.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  4. Beeler, Jensen (16 October 2014). "BRD Motorcycles Is Now Alta Motors". asphaltandrubber.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  5. "Victor Pritzker". linkedin.com. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  6. Lavric, Damon (11 October 2013). "Tesla Co-Founder Joins Board of Electric Motorcycle Maker". wired.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  7. "BRP picks over the bones of Alta Motors". canadamotoguide.com. 21 February 2019. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  8. Scott, Kyle (6 March 2018). "2018 Alta Motors Redshift MX and MXR Intro". racerxonline.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  9. Chung, Dennis (30 January 2018). "Alta Motors to Produce R Versions of Redshift MX, EX and SM". motorcycle.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  10. Hines, Nickolaus (31 May 2016). "The Civilian Version of the SilentHawk Is the Electric Motorcycle You Want". inverse.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  11. Hunter, Chris (2017). "Alta Motors Redshift ST Street Tracker Concept". bikeexif.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  12. "Electric MX Bike Makes Professional Debut at Red Bull Straight Rhythm". tmxnews.co.uk. 29 October 2016. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  13. Lindsay, Michael (25 October 2017). "Vital MX Pit Bits: 2017 Red Bull Straight Rhythm". vitalmx.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  14. Ducret, Jérôme (16 October 2017). "Il y aura une Alta électrique en démo à Paris et Genève cette année". actumoto.ch. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  15. "Supercross de Paris 2017 : Tous à l'U-Arena ce week-end !". moto-station.com. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  16. Ducret, Jérôme (2 December 2017). "Sherwood, le meilleur freestyler du moment, sort le grand jeu à Genève, tout comme Ricky Carmichael". actumoto.ch. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  17. "Watch Carmichael get beat by electric bike at Geneva Supercross". dirtbikerider.com. December 2017. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  18. "Kurt Nicoll Joins Forces with Alta Motors for the 2016 EnduroCross Series". dirtrider.com. 19 September 2016. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  19. "Alta makes history with podium finish at Reno Endurocross". dirtbikemagazine.com. 24 September 2018. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  20. "Beta USA Signs Ty Tremaine to the Factory Race Team" (Press release). Paso Robles: Beta. 21 November 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  21. Kesterloo, Haye (8 May 2018). "Alta Motors' Redshift MXR will be the first electric motorcycle ever to enter the Erzberg Rodeo". electrek.co. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
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