Ever since Tesla Motors announced their new electric sportscars, I have been wondering about what it would take to build an electric powered motorcycle that is competitive with today’s bikes.
I found an article written last year over at Gizmag that looks at one company in Europe that converts small 50cc streetbikes from gas to electric. The big problem is of course range, but power does not seem to be a problem at all. Since electric motors make almost 100% torque from 0 rpm, they have a huge advantage over gas powered bikes in acceleration. Here is a clip from the article. Good reading if you are at all interested in this future technology.
One person with quite a deal of experience of racing electric motorcycles against two-strokes is Cary De Witt of Eveez. Eveez has been racing a pocketbike for 18 months now and has yet to be beaten by any motorcycle, of any capacity. De Witt told Gizmag, “as a the general rule of thumb, to equate race potential between electric and petrol engines on tight to medium racetracks, multiply the horsepower rating by three. That is, if you have a 10kw electric motor, you’ll need a 30kw petrol motor to stay with it.”
All this augers well for electric motorcycles. Imagine the P2 Symetron motor in a motorcycle with its 420 foot pounds of torque. That would be a motorcycle capable of mixing it with just about anything with an internal combustion engine.
It might not snarl and roar, but it would be one hell of a motorcycle.
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