The UKP20,000 86 BHP, 2WD, 125 mph Electric road legal motorcycle
from Motorcycles (360 articles)
TTX GP founder Azhar Hussain and the bike he commissioned, the prototype TTX01.
Image Gallery ( 8 images )UPDATED November 28, 2008 It’s the first electric superbike and though its range is considerably less than the first modern four-stroke superbike, the 1969 Honda CB750, its top speed of 125 mph (200 km/h) is almost identical. Yesterday the first prototype of the TTX01 Electric Superbike was showcased at a press conference for the 2008 NEC Bike Show. Built to demonstrate the potential of electric sports motorcycles for the first emissions-free Grand Prix, the initial prototype is based on a Suzuki GSX750 frame and running gear and runs two 43 bhp Agni Lynch Electric motors arranged in line with the frame. Together, the motors produce 125 Newton Metres of torque and both have been modified to withstand high RPM using Kevlar-reinforced armatures. The vision is to create a lightweight, carbon fiber framed 2WD TTX02 with "hot swappable", 20 kilowatt hour battery packs, regenerative braking and a production run of 50 machines in 2010 with a target price of UKP20,000.
Though capable of 200 km/h with longer gearing, in the form presented yesterday, the bike is currently geared down to 110mph for greater acceleration which is quoted as 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds – not quite superbike territory, but certainly in the realms of supercar acceleration.
We’ve been raving about the potential of electric motorcycles for several years now and until today, only the Vectrix Electric Superbike prototype (see original story about the Robrady Design in 2005 and unveiled at last year’s Milan Show) of the dozens of electric two-wheelers we have covered has really promised genuine sporting performance on a par with large capacity motorcycles.
Similarly, we have enormous belief that the world’s first clean emission Grand Prix to be held at the Isle of Man during TT race week in June 2009 will flush out some really fast electric bikes for the first time.
The TTX01 was produced under commission by the organisers of the TTX GP in order to demonstrate the potential of the electric motorcycle. TTXGP founder Azhar Hussain told Gizmag that the bike was created because, "the public's perception is that electric motorcycles just aren't credible as race machines and to overcome that challenge, we built a bike."
"We've had many people contact us wanting to become involved in the race in 2009 or beyond, but there is just no electric machinery available as yet and that has been one of the major aspects of enquiry", said Hussain. "Now we've proven that there is genuine performance potential in electric motorcycles, we expect to begin turning the tide of public opinion."
"Seriously, we need to change the way people see electric motorcycles if we're going to change their buying habits and a large part of what we're doing with the TTX GP is pioneering those changes."
Hussain said there were currently around 60 teams preparing to compete in the TTX GP, with most opting for electric motorcycles, but several working on hydrogen machines and one in the process of developing an electric fuel cell hybrid. "If half of those people get to the line for the first race in June I'll be happy", he said.
"We're currently working with some of the overseas teams, 22 of the 60 are from outside the UK, to help them with getting riders who know the course well enough to be competitive, so it's fair to say that a lot of these teams are very serious about winning the first race - it's an historic event and the importance of winning the first of what we expect to become a very important event in history has not been lost on the competitors", said Hussain.
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