Energica has followed on from its Ego superbike with the introduction of a second production model – the Eva electric streetfighter. Born in Modena, in the heart of Italy's Motor Valley, Eva is built around a downtuned version of the Ego's electric motor for longer range and rids itself of the full fairing for a pure streetfighter feel.
Energica Motor Company is the production outlet of the CRP Group, an Italian company with a long tradition in racing equipment and one of Europe's pioneers in electric motorcycles. The first model to roll out of the Modena production line was the Ego superbike, a thoroughbred Italian sport bike with impressive performance.
Eva, the second model from Energica, was unveiled in prototype form last year at EICMA, as a bare naked version of the superbike. Initially the Eva streetfighter was announced with the very same performance levels of the Ego, but in this year's EICMA Energica presented the final production model with a lower-spec version of the engine.
The oil-cooled permanent magnet AC motor of the Eva produces 95 hp (71 kW) of power and 170 Nm (125.4 lb-ft) of torque – compared to the 136 hp, 195 Nm (100 kW, 143.8 lb-ft) in superbike form. Power is transferred to the back wheel via a single speed transmission and a chain final drive. The top speed is electronically limited to 200 km/h (124 mph), more than enough for a motorcycle with absolutely no aerodynamic protection for the rider.
A Vehicle Control Unit monitors and regulates the battery, inverter, charger and ABS, offering four different riding modes (Urban, Eco, Rain and Sport), as well as four mappings for the regenerative braking function (Low, Medium, High and Off). The Eva's maximum range is achievable only in the Eco mode, while Sport is the engine mode of choice for those who wish to see 200 km/h on the digital dash.
The motor is powered by a 11.7 kWh battery pack with a theoretical life span of 1,200 charging cycles. It can be fully recharged in 3.5 hours at a standard power outlet, and the Eva is also equipped with an integrated fast charge system that can replenish its battery at 80 percent capacity in just 30 minutes – provided it is plugged in an outlet that can fork out 60 amps.
The bike uses most of the Ego superbike's running gear, from the steel tubular trellis frame and the cast aluminum swingarm, to the Brembo brakes and the fully adjustable Bitubo rear shock. Only one difference stands out; last year's EICMA prototype had the same Marzocchi forks as the Ego, but in the final production version Energica surprisingly switched to a 43 mm inverted Ohlins unit.
For the time being no price has been specified, but we should logically expect the Eva slightly south of the €25,000 (US$27,300) price tag of the Ego. Energica informs us that the new model will be available sometime in 2016 in two colors, green and dark blue.
Get a small taste of the electric streetfighter in the first official video.
Source: Energica
In order to get long range you have to go with a big heavy battery which is OK in something like a Tesla where you can put it on the floor but harder with a MC.
This will change as technology improves but right now the only motorcycle manufacturer even in a position to make a decent electric touring motorcycle is basically Can-Am with the Spyder.
Can-Am doesn't seem interested in bringing one into production but the next closest thing is probably a startup named Arcimoto making a 3 wheel commuter trike with a roof for $12k. That's actually a pretty good price if they succeed in launching it because if you do end up logging miles on it you save a fortune on fuel costs.
@Matt Fletcher I think EMF/EMR is higher but it's also pretty cheap and easy to mitigate. Silver/metal lined conductive fabrics function as a pretty effective faraday cage. It's sold as cheap as about $10/linear foot and fabric rolls are about 54 inches wide usually. It provides about 80 dB of mitigation and each 3 dB reduction halves the EMF.
A real world example of EMF shielding is your microwave. It heats food with a 2.4Ghz 1000 watt transmitter but the metal mesh you see is what stops it from melting your face or kicking your WiFi offline through the glass. You can experiment with this by tuning your phone to a 2.4Ghz wifi network, putting it inside your microwave and starting a speed test, and then shutting the door. It should time out.
I also read some stuff that some of the EMF reports about Tesla for instance were overblown. A sensationalist articles reported Model S at like 100 - 135 milligauss (mG) at some places inside. A cell phone is like 100 milligauss and inside a Tesla is 3-4 usually with a max of about 50. Anything below 1,000 is considered safe but EV's are usually less or at least no worse than a cell phone.
All that electricity between you legs could be down right shocking!!
As ever, same limitations - just why is something as simple as an electric motor with no gearbox and a battery system that has been under development for nearly 200 years costing 25,000 Euros..?
Are we replacing the laws of Supply and Demand with Reliance on Customer Gullibility..?
As it is, a modern ICE streetfighter can be had for half as much money with twice as much performance, and they take 5 minutes to refuel. 13,000 Euros buys a LOT of petrol, even at todays prices. And if you want a streetfighter with equivalent performance, they are about one third as expensive, meaning they'll wear out long before you've paid for all the fuel you've put in it to match the cost and mileage expectation of the Eva.
And as for independent verification of the recharge performance and the battery cycle life - just who has corroborated the claims for the efficacy and performance of these motors and their attendant systems? Until there is independent, vertifiable, standardised checking procedures that can rubber-stamp the PR BS, electric motorcycles performance, lifespan, recharge and system claims have all the veracity of a VW emissions promise.
They utilise vastly expensive (to mine, manufacture and process) rare earth metals and components that no-one seems to want to include in their reviews, instead relying on the simplistic notion of repeating the manufacturers claims as if they were true...
Cost up your own electric bike and you'll see. A frame can be made for a couple of hundred dollars, wheels and brakes and shocks are likewise pretty cheap. The motor will only set you back a grand (or less) so without the battery you are looking at maybe $3,000. But then the battery comes in. Size it to fit in a bike frame, give it enough capacity to get your bike 200km and add controllers to it to provide fast acceleration and so on.... Now you are looking at $8k-$10k worth of battery on top of the $3k bike. That's cost price. Now add in development time where all the parts are made to look good and work together and distribution, accreditation with licencing bodies etc... So that is where the cost is.
So why do people pay? Well I've heard electric bikes are quite different and quite fun. Some people have the money to spend on things that are different and fun. I don't and it seems neither do you but there are others.