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Triumph Motorcycles Reveals TE-1 Electric Prototype Design

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Project Triumph TE-1 electric motorcycle prototype design

Project Triumph TE-1, which began in 2019, is the company’s move into developing their own electric motorcycle along with all of the related technology necessary for an electric lineup in the future. They’ve now revealed the powertrain and battery plus sketches of the prototype’s design which draws from current models like their Street Triple. It looks good, very good.

Project Triumph TE-1

The project’s design and development are the result of a collaboration of four partners: Triumph Motorcycles, Williams Advanced Engineering, Integral Powertrain Ltd.’s e-Drive Division, and WMG, at the University of Warwick. It is important to note, Project TE-1 is funded by the UK Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), and delivered through Innovate UK with the intention of building British industry.

Motor, controller and battery are compact, light and powerful.

A major emphasis in the design was to develop a motorcycle with all of the performance and handling a rider would expect from any motorcycle and the motor, controller and battery designs are lightweight and very compact. The motor puts out 180 horsepower at a weight of 10 kilograms (22 pounds). That’s impressive!

The TE-1 makes great use of Triumph’s experience producing a proven chassis and suspension to provide a structure to house the electric powertrain

This is a major effort for the UK to develop electric vehicle technology and if the actual performance of the prototype matches computer simulations, it should be exciting to see. A running prototype of the TE-1 is expected later this year.

Project Triumph TE-1

Comments

  1. Looks pretty sweet! I know there are still some issues going coast to coast like your life depended on it, but I’ve grown to love leaving the house with a ‘full tank’ and a huge amount of torque. I really feel like we are on the cusp of ICE twilight (the batteries just need more energy density or faster charging).

    • This motorcycle, to my eyes, has a more mature industry feel to it, stemming from the overall appearance. Motorcycle buyers, as we’ve discussed on The Kneeslider many times, seem to be slow to buy the wild new designs, they’re a pretty conservative bunch. Triumph has this new technology wrapped in something similar to a current sport bike package and that’s a big plus. A buyer doesn’t have to be convinced to adopt a new design while already taking a risk on new tech.

      I’ll be looking forward to seeing how this develops.

      • Yeah, I’m a lover of weird bikes if they ride well (crashed my beloved K1200r), but I get how weirdly conservative most riders are.

  2. OK ! we’ve got the sportbike, where’s the electric Street Twin/Bonneville ? Triumph is proving itself to be really forward thinking, too bad I’m gonna expire in a few years, rats!
    Cheers!
    ps: belt drive?

    • Why not? Most of the efficiency of chain (and without the weight of a shaft), but silent and lasts for 50K miles (at least mine is rated that).

  3. “Draws from current model” intended pun? How much for a new battery pack i wonder?