The electric superbike is still an unattainable holy grail as the weight-range-power triumvirate restricts performance, nimbleness, and top speed. We believe startups and manufacturers would be better off preserving their R&D dollars till solid-state batteries become commercial and mainstream.
However, a practical and sporty street bike—anything up to the 250 cc class—is a very real possibility, and multiple players have been working on it for the last few years. The fruits of labor are now hitting the road.
Over the last few weeks, we have been interacting with multiple motorcycle startups that are working on street sports motorcycles. Each of them has been developing products that appear very compelling in their own way. Yet they are different from each other and quite distinctive. Diversity is the name of the game, and innovation can take on different faces.
In being distinct, motorcycle developers are answering fundamental questions in their signature ways: What should the motor, battery, and frame configuration be? Do you sacrifice weight for battery, or vice versa? Should you compromise speed for range? What works in our target market? What works today, and what does the future look like? Are paper specs worth chasing? And so on…
They have taken different approaches to electric motorcycles, and that brings us to the question: If you, as a start-up or an established manufacturer, are planning to do a street-sports electric bike, what would be the best motor-battery-frame-components configurations to start with? In the Jell-O of motorcycle design, what part would you sacrifice to make the other parts shine?
The Big Comparo
Today, we look at some motorcycles – old and new – to identify trends that are shaping the way forward. In our list today are motorcycles that have been developed recently, while others have been around for a few years.
The motorcycles under consideration are the Auper 600CE, Nuen N1-S, Ryvid Anthem, Matter Aera, Ultraviolette F77 Recon, Land Moto District, CanAm Pulse, Black Tea Wildfire, Raptee.HV T30, Yadea Kemper, and Vmoto Stash.
To start with, these are the motorcycles we are investigating to see if there are any common traits that we can identify in their design, technology, and specifications.
First, we have the Auper 600CE.
Auper is a Brazil-based startup that has been in stealth mode for some time, focusing on developing the 600CE motorcycle. The motorcycle is one of the better-looking street-naked bikes on the market.
A few weeks back, we managed to get Silvio Rotili, the CEO, to sit down with us for an interview.
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The 600 CE (or they may have a new name at launch) is still a few weeks away from being completed.
Then we have Nuen Moto N1-S from Vietnam.
The Vietnam-based startup has developed the N1-S, an earthy-looking street naked with top-of-the-line specs. A few weeks back, we sat down with Gia and Huang, the co-founders.
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The N1-S is ready, Nuen is taking bookings and offering test rides.
Away in North America, we have Ryvid, with its Anthem motorcycle.
We won’t call it a sports motorcycle, but the Anthem is not a slouch. It’s quicker than most motorcycles under 250cc. It is also compact and pretty nifty around corners.
While on Ryvid, we’d like you to take a look at the long-format interview we did with Dong Tran, Ryvid’s CEO.
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Also in North America is Land Moto with its District Street and Scrambler models. The motorcycles may look bare-bones, but they are potent.
The Land Moto District looks elegant with its exposed tubular frame. Like Ryvid, Land Moto is also available to buy.
Also, from North America, though not from the US, we have the Can-Am Pulse. The Canadian motorcycle is heavy on innovation and technology, featuring a structural battery, liquid cooling for the battery, motor, controller, and charging port. It is the only one here with a structural battery pack.
In Europe, we have Black Tea Motorcycles with their Wildfire motorcycle. This is the company’s first performance motorcycle.
From India, we have three potent motorcycles. The first is the Ultraviolette F77, which has been on sale in India for a few years and was recently launched in Europe and the UK.
The second motorcycle from India is the Matter Aera.
The startup from India has taken its own sweet time, but the Matter Aera is now in production.
The other motorcycle from India is the Raptee HV. The Chennai-based startup has now completed homologation and is starting to take bookings for its HV T30 motorcycle.
From China, we have the Vmoto Stash in the segment. The Adrian Morton-designed Stash carries a bold look, the Vmoto signature headlamp, and a busy interplay of surfaces.
Then we have the Niu RQi Sport, the Chinese brand’s take on a naked street motorcycle. The RQi Sport is still not available in all markets, but it is a critical product nonetheless.
Then there is the Yadea Keeness, a naked-street motorcycle from the biggest brand globally. The 11 kW peak Yadea Keeness was unveiled two years ago and is not yet available in all markets.
Finally, we have the Yadea Kemper, arguably the most tech-advanced motorcycle in this discussion.
How do they compare?
Before we start looking at the fundamental tech that differentiates these motorcycles from each other, here is how they differ from each other on paper.
An objective comparison throws up interesting facts and also indicates how motorcycle designers are approaching vehicle design differently, catering to the needs of their target markets. The geographically isolated nature of the business means that many of the above motorcycles are unlikely to compete against each other.
Also, the above is not an apples-to-apples comparison. Some of these motorcycles are outliers – the Auper and the Yadea Kemper, particularly. However, all of them target the emotional aspects of buying a motorcycle more than the utilitarian aspects.
For every category, a Green highlight indicates that we rate that as a positive factor. A red highlight means that it may be a not-so-positive factor.
Key Questions
A. Wheelbase: Long or Short
There are no positives or negatives in having a short or long wheelbase, unless it’s too short or too long. For a street sports motorcycle, the wheelbase can easily fluctuate within a range of 1300 mm to 1450 mm. Of all the motorcycles under consideration here, the Land Moto District Street has the shortest wheelbase at 1219 mm. That may be too short and makes the District a relatively compact machine. The compactness and the barebones approach to styling result in a rather enviable weight of 100 kg, the lightest here by far. At the same time, it reduces the District to a solo rider machine for all practical purposes.
Learning from the District Street: There are enough riders out there who want a compact, individualistic machine without needing to tow a second person.
B. Weight: Light or Not so?
The lighter you are, the nimbler you will be. Easy on the scales has multiple advantages – better acceleration, greater top speed, and more range are the immediate ones. A competent weight also keeps BoM costs in check, and that is never a bad thing.
The Land Moto Street wins this one easily due to its relatively compact size. However, considering it’s a solo rider machine at best, it would be better to leave it out of consideration. The second in the pecking order is the Auper 600CE, weighing 140 kg. However, the Brazilian is still in development, and the pre-homologation weight is likely to fluctuate a bit.
Learning from the District Street: A compact motorcycle with a ‘simple’ frame can be ultralight.
The next best in the class is the Ryvid Anthem, weighing 142 kg. That’s not bad for a motorcycle with 20 kW+ on peak. The Anthem achieves this with a clever frame built from 3 mm-thick ‘316-stainless-steel’ sheets riveted together, in what we would loosely term a monocoque. There are no annoying welds. The entire mainframe weighs 5 kg. The bare-bones approach helps, and so does the 4.3 kWh battery, the smallest in this comparison.
And that’s not a bad way to do a motorcycle – light, with a modest battery, and a practical range. Not everyone plans to cross the Alps on a 20 kW motorcycle.
The Anthem claims 120 km on a charge, and that should be agreeable for anyone who plans to use the motorcycle for a daily commute. Frankly, extraordinary range claims in motorcycles are an unwinnable pissing contest leaning heavily on gaming the drive cycle and the generosity of local homologation agencies.
The stainless steel sheet construction does seem to have legs, as even the Black Tea Wildfire is using that. At first glance, the Wildfire appears overweight at 169 kg, but that’s the dual battery version. Each ‘removable’ battery is 6 kWh and weighs 27 kg. If we take the single battery variant, the weight is only 142 kg, exactly the same as the Ryvid, even though the Wildfire carries a larger pack and a longer wheelbase.
Learning from the Anthem and Wildfire: Being unconventional can work very well.
On the wrong side of the scale are the Ultraviolette F77, the Matter Aera, and the Niu RQi Sport. The F77, however sporty it may look, weighs 207 kg. This may be partly due to the massive 10.3 kWh battery pack, partly due to over-engineering for Indian roads, and partly due to the quality of steel used in the construction. The 207 kg weight is also indicative of the F77’s age, as it has been 6 to 7 years since development started.
It doesn’t help that the Ultraviolette is covered in a sea of plastic, including non-functional front fork covers in plastic. There is a lot of drama, but we can also see the reasons behind the weight gain.
The Matter Aera is even more befuddling. It weighs 190 kg, even when packing a battery and motor half the size of the Ultraviolette’s. The only reason we can think of is that they are overcompensating with metal for an underoptimized frame design. In addition, the liquid cooling system and the manual gearbox may be good marketing talking points, but they add to the bulk.
The Ultraviolette F77 weighs 207 kg, and comes across as quite heavy in this comparison, considering the median in this comparison is 168 kg.
A plausible explanation is that the Indians have to over-engineer the machines to compensate for bad road conditions. This is important as bad roads and potholes can have a serious negative impact on the frame.
Another explanation is that the Ultraviolette is packing too much battery. The market demand range is a core assumption that participants approach the drawing boards with, and UV packs a 10.3 kWh battery pack. The median in this comparison is 6.4 kWh.
Then there is the top-speed consideration. AT 155 kph, the Ultraviolette is amongst the top three fastest motorcycles here. More speed demands more capability, and it is often compensated for by bulk. Though not necessary, it is the easy way out.
Finally, the Indians likely use lower-grade steel to control BoM costs.
C. Frame – What Works?
The frame is a crucial factor in determining the motorcycle’s overall weight. The Ryvid and Wildfire are variants of monocoque construction, a kind that the Nuen N1-S also favors. However, the Nuen approaches the monocoque in an exoskeleton format, using the frame as an essential styling element- the reason why the Nuen is so good-looking comes down to its frame.
Learnings from Nuen: Do not underestimate the importance of the frame as a visual element.
D. Motor Power
The Kemper leads the way with a rated output of 23 kW. Understandably, it is liquid-cooled and runs on a higher voltage system (320V). However, it is the Auper that peaks much higher at 48 kW (Kemper peaks at 40 kW). Everyone else is middling in the 20 kW – 35 kW (peak) range, a sweet spot for electric motorcycles. However, the RQI Sport, Matter Aera, and Yadea Keeness are limited to an 11 kW peak, focusing more on practicality than speed, and also the beginner’s license market.
E. Liquid Cooling or Air Cooling?
Surprisingly, the Auper makes do with air cooling only. We had quizzed the CEO, Silvio, about this, and this is what he said a few weeks back
A 48 kW air-cooled motor is impressive engineering.
Liquid cooling improves efficiency and can increase power. However, a liquid cooling system adds bulk, complexity, and drains some energy, however small it may be. Understandably, apart from the Yadea Kemper, Matter Aera, and Can-Am Pulse, every other motorcycle under discussion here is air-cooled.
The Matter is an impressive overkill.
Apart from the Matter, the Can-Am also has a liquid-cooled motor and battery. Meanwhile, the Yadea Kemper uses a liquid-cooled motor but an air-cooled battery.
On the subject of cooling, here is what we wrote sometime back.
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F. Motor Placement
Apart from the motor power, the placement of the motor also impacts things, especially when we plan to make the motorcycle sporty. Mid-drive motors work best as they centralise mass. Hub motors may appear like a simple solution, but with high unsprung mass, they are not exactly sporty. In this discussion, only the Wildfire comes with a Hub motor. With an 11 kW rating and a 34 kW peak, this is a rather large motor with a weight in the 25 kg range.
But within the mid-drive motor spectrum, it’s the placement that makes things interesting. Both the Ryvid and Can-Am place the motor within the swingarm. This eliminates belt stretch and the anti-squat improves the bike’s handling.
G. Complexity and Stages of Reduction in the Transmission
With electric two-wheelers, it is possible to simplify the transmission. Just connect the motor to the rear sprocket through a chain or belt drive, and you’re good to go with acceptable performance. Single-stage reduction is elegant and straightforward, but the problem is that you can only get a 4:1 or 5:1 reduction, or a four- or five-times increase in torque between the motor and rear wheel. That’s great if the motor is monstrous,` like in the Auper or the Kemper.
In other cases, a two-stage reduction improves things. A two-stage reduction can reduce the ratio to 7:1 or even 10:1, significantly improving wheel torque. However, a two-stage reduction adds complexity, requires packaging, and incurs the cost of an additional drive system.
One can also integrate an epicyclic gearbox within the motor housing. That improves the packaging and works better than another belt or chain drive.
In our little comparison, only the Land Moto has a conventional two-stage reduction.
The Nuen has a two-stage reduction as well, but it achieves that with an integrated gearbox.
We should discuss the Aera again here. The Indian startup’s heavily over-specced machine pairs a four-speed gearbox with the motor to bring the experience of manual shifting to electric.
H. Type of Battery
We won’t delve into the cell chemistry here. That has just started evolving, and we will see frequent changes in the future. It is the pack design, connectors, and mountings that are more relevant. What is more interesting is the integration of the pack with the motorcycle. There is a wide spectrum of design choices being made here. The Anthem, Wildfire, Niu RQI, Yadea Keeness, and District Street all have removable packs. The removable term is used quite loosely here – some of the packs should probably stay inside the motorcycle.
As an example, each of the Wildfire’s two removable batteries weighs 27 kg. Not easy to remove, and customers would be better off using the charging port on the motorcycle.
Users face the same issues with the Niu RQi Sport batteries. Each 4.35 kWh pack is 23 kg heavy, and lifting them out of the tank is strenuous. The catch is that the batteries charge faster when they are taken out and charged on the home pods as compared to charging them inside the motorcycle.
I. How big a Charger?
The Ryvid Anthem’s battery may be smaller at 4.3 kWh, but it integrates the charger, connectors, and BMS with the battery, making the package bulky. Ryvid compensated by designing a nifty attach-and-release mechanism.
The ones that use fixed batteries have an emphasis on fast charging. These are reasonably large packs, and we now see 3.3 kW and 6.6 kW chargers as pretty common in the segment.
The Raptee and the Yadea Kemper are special as both use an HV architecture and CCS2 charging ports to enable DC fast charging.
Conclusion
In physics, the Brachistochrone Curve is a path that may be longer than a straight line but is the quickest. From the 13 motorcycles under consideration here, it is obvious that designers are taking different paths to deliver exciting machines. We are perennial optimists and deem each follows a distinct curve.
The study suggests that motorcycles are not in a rat race, which is not a bad idea. Very few of these motorcycles would compete against each other in any market, as they would be focused on their local markets, so it makes sense not to jump into a rat race. Instead, as the industry matures, usability and desirability would be the critical factors propelling us forward.
