Daily motorbike news, views & reviews
This “Ethec electric cruiser“, designed and built by Swiss university students, is the first electric motorcycle with two hub motors in the wheels. While the Ethec has hub motors in each wheel, it isn’t two-wheel-drive. Drive mainly comes from the rear wheel motor while the front wheel motor provides regenerative braking power. Several car companies …
This week an electric motorcycle tore around the 60.72km (37.73 mile) Isle of Man TT circuit in 18:34.956mins for an average speed of 196.056km/h (121.824mph) which is pretty fast. However, Team Mugen’s (pictured above) Zero TT electric class record is still a long way from the fastest motorcycles on the circuit. The current outright record …
An Indian startup claims it can make an affordable electric motorcycle capable of 250km/h and 480km range, beating the current (pun intended) longest range record of 360km by Zero Motorcycles. Mankame Motors is launching an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign on July 1 to take their project into prototype stage with production in 2022. They say their …
American motorcycle company Curtiss Motorcycles is moving quickly from their old-school Confederate Motorcycles past into an electric future with this Zeus prototype. Last year, Alabama motorcycle company Confederate decided to ditch its now-controversial name after race riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, where one person was killed and 26 injured when a car has slammed into a crowd …
A Swedish partnership is being forged to build small portable solar power chargers for electric adventure motorcycles that can be used in remote areas where there are no mains charging points. A portable solar charger would be a great advantage in Australia with our vast distances and plenty of sunshine. It’s a great step forward, …
Sweden has developed an eroad that will charge electric vehicles like a Scalextric slot car set, including two-wheelers. The project, called eRoad Arlanda, so far consists of a 2km stretch of electrified road. It includes embedded electric rails in the surface to power electric vehicles through a contact arm hanging down under the vehicle. The eroad …
Yamaha is developing hybrid engines for cars with the technology helping the Japanese company produce electric motorcycles. Company boss Yoshihiro Hidaka (pictured above) says Yamaha has been supplying engines for Toyota since 1967, but now must develop hybrid engines to keep pace with Toyota’s hybrid powertrain development. “I have a sense of crisis that if …
Range is the big barrier for electric motorcycles, but a German rider has been able to shatter that barrier by riding 1134.3km in 24 hours and setting a new electric motorcycle record. Remo Klawitter of Berlin rode a Zero DSR electric motorcycle from his bicycle shop to the Land Centre for Renewable Energies in Neustrelitz …
Battery swap vending machines could be the key to the introduction of electric vehicles with long charging times, according to Taiwanese scooter manufacturer Kymco. The idea is not new. British company Battery Traction Ltd came up with the idea in 1938, but it was sidelined by World War II. Better Place also suggested the idea …
Harley-Davidson is launching an electric bike in 2019 and has now acquired a stake in Alta Motors which makes electric off-road motorcycles (pictured above). In 2014, Harley revealed its Livewire Project electric sports bike which we rode later that year in LA. However, when the company recently announced it would launch an electric bike on …