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SWIGZ electric racing bike bests internal combustion competition, mostly (video)
Make room, Brammo, MotoCzysz, and Mission Motors, there's a new motorcycle from Chip Yates and SWIGZ Pro Racing looking to join the electric bi-wheeled racing elite. The bike is doing its best to hasten the demise of the ICE with a 194hp DC motor (50+hp more than its EV brethren), putting down 295 ft-lbs of torque, which carried it to second- and third-place finishes against gas-powered competition in the WERA Heavyweight Twins Superstock and Superbike races at Auto Club Speedway in California on January 9th. Also on board is a first-of-its-kind front wheel KERS system that recharges the batteries en route to give the motor the juice it needs to hit racing speeds of up to 158mph. For those who'd like to own such an engineering marvel, keep dreaming, as Mr. Yates states the bike is a technical showcase that's not meant for production. However, patents are pending on the KERS technology and the plan is to license it out -- so gearheads can have a similar bike eventually -- for a not-so-insignificant sum, we'd imagine. See the bike in action after the break.
MotoCzysz E1pc claims to be the world's most advanced electric motorcycle, we don't argue
We've seen quite a few electric motorcycles, and even driven some ourselves, but none quite like the MotoCzysz E1pc, which is touted to be the "world's most advanced." As Popular Science discovered in an exclusive look at the bike, there seems to be little doubt about that fact -- for starters, the bike packs ten times the battery capacity of a Toyota Prius and two and half times the torque of a Ducati 119 motorcycle and, well, look at it. Other standout features include ten 19.5 pound lithium polymer batteries that don't have wires so they can be swapped out easily, an oil-cooled electric motor that's been "developed from the ground up to win races," and a top speed (so far) of 140 MPH -- nearly 40 MPH better than its nearest competitor. Most impressively, however, is the simple fact that the E1pc is indeed built for racing -- it'll take on the Isle of Man TT tomorrow, which is described as the "toughest motorcycle race in the world." Dare we say it might now also be the most electric?
