The latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage tells the story of Mission Motors, a San Francisco-based company that started out making electric motorcycles, and went on to develop a number of proprietary battery, motor and software technologies which it licenses to the automotive and heavy equipment markets.

Mission’s marketing chief David Salguero gives Jay the rundown on the company’s prototype Mission-R sport bike, which was unveiled in 2010, and won a race at Laguna Seca last year. Built from the ground up as an electric motorcycle, the Mission-R is a street-legal “superbike” with a 14-kWh li-ion battery and a 120-kW, 161-hp motor. It can do 0-60 in three seconds, and has a top speed of 160 mph and a range of up to 150 miles.

The video wraps up with some cool footage of Jay putting the Mission-R through its paces on the streets of LA, raving about the silent operation and the instant torque. When can we take a ride? Alas, Mission has no plans to produce the bike in the near future – its business lies in providing powertrain components to other manufacturers.

www.ridemission.com

Image: Mission Motors