Electric ‘superbike’ to take on gasoline racing motorcycles
The 'world's most powerful and sophisticated electric superbike' is expected to make history at the Auto Club Speedway in California this January. It is the first electric bike to go head to head against conventional gasoline powered race bikes in a professionally organised road race.
The machine, developed by SWIGZ Pro Racing in the USA, has a power to weight ratio that is said to be better than 600cc gasoline bikes. It will begin the 2011 season by competing in the WERA Pirelli Sportsman Heavyweight Twins Superbike class, where its power to weight ratio puts it in the middle of the field.
Chip Yates, the bike's rider and owner of SWIGZ Racing, said: "Our electric motorcycle will compete head on with real racing superbikes such as the Ducati 1198 and KTM RC8 as well as other established manufacturers. We expect to work hard to show the world that electric technology can achieve lap time parity with gasoline superbikes."
To be competitive against heavyweight twin cylinder superbikes, the bike will benefit from a 20% increase to its current 194 horsepower after the first race weekend in January.
"Our scheduled power increase will make our electric superbike more powerful than a MotoGP bike and will bring us extremely close to power to weight parity with the best 1000cc Japanese superbikes," commented Yates. "Those two facts are a simply outstanding reflection of the potential in electric power."
