I recently had the opportunity to catch some Discovery Channel, which is quite a rarity since we don’t have cable or dish at our house. One of the shows that I saw, Mean Green Machines, was actually a sneak peak episode of the series that will run on Discovery Networks new channel, Planet Green, set to launch June 4th. This is one sweet show, and it completely throws out the notion that green has to be serene.

The episode that I watched featured an electric motorcycle called Killacycle, which is aptly named. This is no ordinary bike- it is a lightning quick bullet that proves it belongs at the drag strip with it’s sub 8 second quarter mile. At over 500 horsepower and a 0-60 time of under 1 second, it thoroughly gives hope to those who want to be go green without giving up performance.

The bike’s lead designer, Bill Dube, from the University of Colorado, and his team took on the ultimate challenge: competing against the fuel-sucking counterpart ridden by motorcycle drag racing’s ‘first lady’, Connie Cohen. It wasn’t outwardly obvious, but there seemed to be tension between the two teams. Killacycle had a point to prove, and Cohen’s team probably wasn’t too keen on getting showed up by the eerily silent newcomer. I won’t spoil the outcome for you, since this episode will surely air again in the future, but its definitely a good watch!

Like I mentioned before in my post about the Tesla Roadster, one of the biggest concerns that a lot of people have, (myself included) with green is the supposed loss of performance. Sure we want to be green, but we don’t want our future to include putting around in slow, electric cars why we reminisce about the thrill of internal combustion engines. This show gives me more hope that this won’t be the case!