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MotoE on the road?

AnnoyingTwit

AnnoyingTwit

Joined Nov 2012
990 Posts | 997+
Not sure if anyone will notice a post here.

Just curious about one thing. For the ICE racing bikes, it's not practical to put lights on them and go on the road. The engines are too finely tuned, the riding required to not damage the engine (even for Moto3) too specific, emissions, noise, etc.

But, for the MotoE bikes, how plausible is it that a road-going version with just lights and other attachments added and no other change would be practical? What is the power delivery like? Do the batteries have limited lifespans and do they require specialist equipment to charge, etc?

I'm not thinking of buying one. I'm just curious.
 
I don't know the ins and outs of the MotoE bikes to the degree that you are asking. I have ridden a few electric bikes, and what I can say about the power delivery is that it is phenomenal. Up to the cut off point. Just as with electric cars. An ordinary electric car, a small SUV built for mom and dad, will have power from 0km/h that is comparable to a sports car.

The Energica-s and H-D I've ridden have all had the same characteristics powerwise. Handling was another matter.

Batteries do have lifespans, and how/how much you charge them influences that as well. There have been several smaller breakthroughs in recent years, giving some cars up to 700-800km on a full charge, in summer. Cold still has a negative effect on the range.

Considering the amount of R&D into batteries, and the sheer amount of new knowledge the AI revolution is churning out, I would not be surprised if we have road bikes with non-ICE that can compete with any ICE bike in ten years time. With cars, the battery driven ones are already on-par with any ICE, if you are comfortable to have a range of 300km per day. The more the infrastructure will expand, the less the range will become an issue.
 
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The E Bikes run for about 25klm before needing recharging.
So any road version would be vastly detuned in power to get the mileage.
 
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Havey said:
The E Bikes run for about 25klm before needing recharging.
So any road version would be vastly detuned in power to get the mileage.
Click to expand...
I believe that standard road-going electric bikes will have tiny ranges when using full power. But, that the range will be dramatically improved if they are ridden slower. The 18kw/h batteries that the Ducati MotoE bike will have should be enough to provide a useful range, if power consumption is similar to road going electric bikes. Couldn't the extra range be obtained just by using less throttle on the MotoE?

I believe, from watching YouTube videos, that a Moto3 bike needs to be ridden in a particular range to manage engine temperature. Which wouldn't work for stop/go city riding, for example. I don't know if the electric engine on a MotoE bike is the same, or whether it can be ridden at a variety of speeds with no issue. But, I'm curious to know.

Because MotoE is a spec series, there isn't the need to obtain the last 5% or 2% of power (and/or power to weight) by tuning the engine within an inch of its life, using exotic and perhaps not long-lasting materials, etc., as is needed for Moto3 and MotoGP. Hence, I was wondering if the electric engine is more 'normal', and has a longer lifespan etc.
 
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Sennas_Caress said:
I'd put my money on the MotoE bikes being as normal as racing bikes could get, if that is your criteria. More WSBK-like in that regards.
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I'd definitely agree they are likely as normal as racing bikes could get. I'm just wondering ... how normal.

I'm wondering if they would be easier to use on the road, and require less adaptation, than even Superbikes. As while Superbikes were road bikes before being tuned and modified, they have been tuned and modified a lot.
 
The motor and the battery are both custom designed by Ducati - no off the shelf components there. Unlike the brakes and suspension.

This review by Bennetts Bikesocial mentions that it is expected that there will be a road version.



They big up the performance, but I note that the MotoE bike has a little bit more power than a Moto2 bike, but it weighs a lot more. In fact the MotoE bike weighs more than the minimum for combined bike + rider weight for Moto2.

My guess is that there won't be that much opportunity for energy recovery while racing. As brakes be off and then braking as fast as possible. Not much or no gentle braking during a race. But, regenerative braking is in there.

This interview with Roberto Cane discusses the technology making its way to road bikes, though Cane doesn't exactly sound like he thinks the technology is ready. It's specifically the extensive use of carbon fibre that Cane mentions as being race specific. And that a road bike woudln't have that much CF.

 
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Thanks for posting. As we know batteries are heavy however there's work on improving energy density which will result in greater range or less weight or something in-between but don't hold your breath, who knows how long between the lab and production is.

It strikes me that there doesn't need to be a lot done to bring out a street version except it would be dam expensive, so I wouldn't expect to see a road version for a few years.

It's only 11 years until ICE motorbikes are no longer manufactured so expect to see the manufacturers bring out electric lifestyle bikes well before that, in the meantime we are already there with tiny bikes to ride down to the shops or to work as they don't need big batteries
 
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mikesbytes said:
Thanks for posting. As we know batteries are heavy however there's work on improving energy density which will result in greater range or less weight or something in-between but don't hold your breath, who knows how long between the lab and production is.

It strikes me that there doesn't need to be a lot done to bring out a street version except it would be dam expensive, so I wouldn't expect to see a road version for a few years.

It's only 11 years until ICE motorbikes are no longer manufactured so expect to see the manufacturers bring out electric lifestyle bikes well before that, in the meantime we are already there with tiny bikes to ride down to the shops or to work as they don't need big batteries
Click to expand...
Yes, the interview with Robert Cane mentions the carbon fibre on the MotoE bike which would change for the street version. I guess that's a price thing. But, my question in this thread was whether putting a MotoE bike, substantially as it is, on the road would be feasible. Deliberately ignoring the cost of the bike. Economically viable electric street bikes are a different question.

[off-topic-ish]

Car/bike batteries typically improve their energy density about 6--8% per year. To get a doubling of density, assuming 7% per year, will take a touch over 10 years at that rate. However, that would still only result in a similar-ish weight and power MotoE bike doing 14 lap races at current levels.

Certain battery types such as lithium air batteries could have similar energy density to petrol, which would solve problems of racing and a lot of other problems as well. However, I will not be holding my breath that we'll see commercial lithium air batteries within my lifetime.
 
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Putting a bit more thought into the original question, it could be broken down into 2 main areas;
1. Street legal
1.1 Lights and Indicators could be easily attached though the position of the controls could end up being not as convenient as found on production road bikes. However those devices will require a 12 volt source so from what I've seen that will be a small battery rather than directly from the driving battery which is almost certainly not 12 volt. Then that 12 volt battery needs charging which could either be charged separately at home or a custom piece of electronics sourced to charge from the driving battery
1.2 Tyres shouldn't be a problem, the size is probably readily available
1.3 Brakes?
1.4 Requirements specific to your country, for example limiting RF interference

2. Rideability
2.1 Is there any restrictions in the electric motor design that make it unsuitable for slow speeds? Probably not but who knows
2.2 Brakes? but as a different question to 1.3
 

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