The 2012 Brammo Empulse has a six-speed transmission as standard equipment. The Integrated Electric Transmission (IET) is a mechatronic propulsion unit that emulates the feeling and performance of a traditional internal-combustion engine, with a specially developed electric motor, clutch and gear shift, that enables the Empulse to accelerate hard from the line up to a high top speed, something that is just not possible to achieve with a single ratio electric motorcycle. The 2012 Empulse is also the world's first production electric motorcycle to feature water-cooling.
The 2012 line also features the Empulse R which has a carbon fiber headlight shroud, front and rear fenders, top panel (this is the panel immediately ahead of the colored panel), and rear light housing. Empulse R also has a name badge and also features fully adjustable (gold) front suspension and fully adjustable rear-suspension. For both models, the battery is expected to charge in 8 hours using the Level I, while the Level II can fully charge the battery in 3.5 hours. The battery also gets charged through regenerative braking, which means that under deceleration, energy is returned to the battery system to both extend driving range and provide familiar rider feedback.