I’m going to offer you an electric motorcycle, with a realistic 90-mile range for around 150% of the cost of a comparable ICE. What do you say? You don’t need to answer, sales figures and the general vibe of the motorcycle community have answered for you. Electric motorcycles are going until manufacturers address the cost and/or range issues, and Zero is, but not in the traditional way.
Zero Motorcycles collaborated with White Motorcycle Concepts (WMC), which is the company behind the British electric motorcycle land-speed world-record program, to incorporate WMC’s patented intelligent aerodynamic duct on a re-engineered Zero SR/S concept bike.
Although we don’t have any figures that’d indicate exactly how the duct would improve the SR/S’s performance figures, we know it’d result in a 10% reduction in aerodynamic drag.
WMC’s in-house engineering teams used processes and procedures learned whilst working on Formula 1 to help develop this proof of concept. But, just like in F1, the benefits of the aero duct don’t really come into play until the bike reaches higher speeds.
Aerodynamics is a hot topic, especially in MotoGP, where winglets and other devices improve lap times, though this efficiency benefit does not always translate to retail bikes. Our intelligent aero duct enhances aerodynamic efficiency, positively impacting upon power consumption, especially at high speeds.” said Robert White, Founder & CEO, of White Motorcycle Concepts.
So we get a 10% reduction in drag, but that’s only fully coming into play at higher speeds. Improved efficiency at highway speeds is a key area to focus on in the electric motorcycle world, as an electric bike’s range takes such a heavy blow at higher speeds that it makes using one untenable for plenty of people. But how much of a tangible improvement this technology will make to the SR/S’s range remains to be seen.
A step in the right direction, for sure, but not something to let you rest on your laurels. And that’s why one line from Zero’s press release made me somewhat concerned,
“The aerodynamic efficiency gain can be used to extend range or lower costs, reducing the need for a larger battery, which in turn cuts down on weight, charge time, and battery expenses.”
Unless Zero is about to pull a solid-state battery out of its behind, this technology won’t “reduce the need for a larger battery”. By all accounts, it seems like this intelligent aero system would make the bike marginally more efficient, meaning Zero would use a marginally smaller battery, so the savings to the customer would be, you guessed it, marginal.
Even if you can make electric motorcycles a bit cheaper, but for the majority of ICE riders who log serious miles, range will still keep electric bikes off the table. With that said, I have to imagine, regardless of what that line from the press release says, that Zero knows the biggest hurdle to electric motorcycle adoption lies in advancing battery technology so that price and range become a non-issue.
How much range would you need to consider replacing your ICE bike with an electric motorcycle? Let us know in the comments.
