A team of students from The Netherlands called Electric Superbike Twente has revealed its entry into the MotoE championship with a fire-breathing 150-kW (200-hp) electric superbike. Called the Liion-GP, the bike has been assembled partially using off-the-shelf pieces, and partially with custom gear.
Fire-breathing is probably the wrong term to describe an electric motorcycle. Electron-huffing? Lithium-blasting? We hacks will need to come up with a whole new lexicon for this sort of thing once electrics take over. But the performance and acceleration of these things can likely do the talking for them.
Named after the University of Twente where most of the team study, Electric Superbike Twente has its sights set on taking out the MotoE competition, the fourth season of which kicks off in July.
To construct the bike, the team has sourced a number of components off the shelf, including a Bamocar D3 150-kW motor controller and a 16-kWh stack of laptop-grade 18650 Lithium-ion battery cells. Additionally, Ten Kate racing has supplied Brembo M4 brakes, Ohlins suspension and PVM magnesium wheels.
The rest is custom, from the steel tube Chromoly frame (by VG Motorcycles), to the battery pack, custom Prodrive battery management system, and custom electric motor from AE Group.
The bike is estimated to go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under three seconds, so performance will be superbike levels of crazy. It's not going to trouble combustion lap records, though, because all that battery adds up to a nasty surprise on the scales worse than many get on Boxing Day. This bike weighs 220 kg (485 lb), so it might feel more like a sports tourer than a race bike.
The team says lap times are targeted to challenge the 600cc supersport class. It will have vastly superior acceleration, one would guess, but will struggle in the corners and on change of direction thanks to its bulging midriff full of cells.
MotoE racing starts on July 7 at Pembrey in Wales, with four races in the season alternating between English and Dutch racetracks.
Check out a video below. It's only a launch teaser, so it doesn't show much, but there is a man in race leathers making sparks with a grinder, so you can tell these guys have got a sense of humor.
Source: Electric Superbike Twente
