It's Showtime!

It has been a frantic time for all of the teams entering the The Worlds First Zero Carbon, Clean Emission Grand Prix. The Isle of Mann TTXGP. With 17 entrants planning to compete on the 12th of June 2009 the motorcycle world looks on with both encourangement and disbelief. 

Will any of these machines get a decent lap time on the circuit? Will they even make the 37.5 mile distance? Hell, will they even get off the starting grid? Thankfully you will not have to wait too long to find out. This Friday, all eyes will be on Azhar Hussain's epic event that has the potential to send shock waves throughout the motoring industry. This race may serve as the ultimate proof that the future of motorcycling is truly electric. The tipping point that this industry needs for increased development.

"Nice Bike! Where do you put the batteries?" ~ Zed (Police Academy)

Finally we have begun to see electric motorcycles that are worthy of praise and respect. One look at the MotoCzysz E1pc and the Mission Motors Mission One TTXGP entrants are enough to make even the most orthodox motorcyclist raise an eyebrow. And rightly so. These machines are made to be fast. They are manufactured by visionary engineers and technologists whose love of motorcycling shows through in every detail. They are powerful and utterly beautiful.

They do not however, offer us a glimpse into a distant ultra-efficient future. These machines are here. Right now! They exist, are fast and sound fantastic! Finally we have an answer to Zed's question… "In here Mr. Zed, the batteries go in here!" All two hundred of them.

Peak Lithium… Power!

Suffice to say that it is the progress in battery technology and energy storage that has become the main driving force behind the development of these electric superbikes. Refinement in Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFeP04) processing has dramatically increased the energy density of the humble battery cell making them a viable power source for traction applications. String enough of these cells together and you will get enough power to propel a motorcycle to over 100mph, with juice to spare for overtaking!

This battery pack was built by the Kingston University Isle of Mann TTXGP entrants to power their electric motorcycle. These LiFeBATT XPS Power packs store enough energy to complete nineteen laps of a 1.8mile circuit at "race speed" which is basically riding the bike as hard as it will go. In a recent correspondence from the LiFeBATT/Kingston Uni team, Paul Brandon stated that "Testing is going well and allowing us to sort out problems before the race. We managed nineteen laps of the Jurby track today, above is a picture of the bike in action. Aim was for fifteen laps, so achieving nineteen was a real boost to the team.
The rider got off the bike after testing and said “it feels just like a motorbike”!!! What a fantastic endorsement."

Electric Traction Motors

Electric motors are old news. Spinning a commutated shaft using multiple poles of carbon brushes is not exactly cutting edge technology. Just look at your washing machine, your blender, your hair dryer! There are probably twenty electric motors to each household in the developed world. They are ubiquitous, they are extremely efficient and they are very reliable.

Put one reasonably powerful electric motor into a bike chassis and you will get roughly twenty horsepower peak. Put two in there you get forty, install three… well you get the idea. Most of the bikes running in the TTXGP will be running two 'Pancake' electric motors. The MotoCzysz E1pc has three! With two motors fitted the bike will accelerate hard. The strongest of these motors, The Agni 95 Reinforced Motor will spin to about 6000RPM without problem. Geared appropriately, two of these motors will easily propel a motorcycle to over 100mph and they are not timid when it comes to hills either. Married to a decent lithium battery pack these eager little motors just pull more current to overcome the extra load. Perfect for the Isle of Mann TTXGP mountain stage.