Almost one year ago, Triumph revealed their electric TE-1 design as a series of concept drawings. They’ve now completed their prototype and it’s ready for testing on the road and track which is expected to take around 6 months. The prototype looks very close to the drawings we’ve already seen, but they plan to wait until testing is complete before body panels and paint scheme are finalized.
Range and performance numbers are obviously not available since testing is just beginning, but from an appearance standpoint, it looks good.
Triumph says its project is aimed at building electric motorcycle capability in the UK and indications are that goal is being achieved. Ducati is going racing with theirs. So far, though, it seems only the LiveWire is clear in its descriptive text when it refers to the bike as “built for the pursuit of urban adventure,” and “focused primarily on the riding experience in urban environments and surrounding areas.” That is unsaid elsewhere, but it really holds true with all of them.
Electric motorcycles are coming from all directions, cruising on the open road, not so much. If your riding is confined to short distances, you’re good, but for those long weekend rides, you’re better off taking your other bike. If you can’t afford two, you have to choose. Of course, internal combustion works in both cases, while electric only fits one. Something to keep in mind.
Duffey Wolvin says
Yeah, I have a running conversation on another board, with people that thing electric is only good when it can go for 300 miles a charge and fill in 5 minutes. but they are still really enough in development that there are large improvements while ICE is chasing that last little bit. There are places electric will not get to easily for a while, but Terry Hershner has shown they can already do iron butt rides, and will eventually be able to do it easily (~ish). I just look forward to less wrenching and more riding.
Paul Crowe says
Sounds like you’re part of the target market for electrics and this bike and others might appeal. I think they could be a great second bike, but if there’s only money or room for one, I vote for gasoline and since electrics aren’t cheap, that second bike would be pretty expensive.
Paul says
Well i live in Australia where we like the US , Russia and China have sometimes vast distances to travel. When a design can go 400 to 500 klm and be filled up in a few minutes at multiple locations in almost all towns and settlements , then I might consider one.
For the foreseeable future I cant see this as happening, sure comuting in the city looks like a hood market but regional travel is just not as easy as I want it. Petulant am I , perhaps, but it my money and my vote. I will think about it when I feel that the situation suits me. the argument that by not adopting this technology is destroying my planet, given that once again its controlled controlled by the big multi nationals, is nonesense in the face of our dirty coal industries, power stations , military and other profit driven endeavours. still this won’t stop governments punishing motorcyclists and motorists instead of actually dealing with their stuff ups. for example look at the incredible land clearing destroying our Koala habitats here in Aus. its a disgrace, the answer, force people to buy expensive EVs. not to mention the loss of visceral delights of my Guzzi etc
Connie says
There’s always something about listening to someone cranking out ten thou plus, on one of these incredible modern mc engines, that never fails to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck, causing a little smile as he/she runs thru the gears.
The (electric) ‘ride’ will still excite, but that sound will be sorely missed if the Karens and eco freaks prevail.
It’s important to understand our patchworked and delicate electric grid has a difficult time handling A/C season, and is nowhere close to being capable of supporting electric autos, let alone bikes. So we hopefully won’t have to make it an ‘either or’ for awhile.
Paul Crowe says
Yes it will be, but you know the feds will mandate something to replace it.. Maybe like this.
David says
Of course the manufacturer could opt for the option used be a few EV sportscar manufacturers, the matching soundtrack, Yes it is available
Two things it’s a worthless idea, , anyone who opts for that needs to look in the mirror
Second, it’s just more to fail
Range ? Probably 300 miles is about right,
I based that on 125 out and 125 back and the 50 for messing about on the journey
todd says
This should be incentive to add solar – though there’s much less of an incentive in CA where you are charged a high monthly connection fee and don’t get paid much for the electricity you pump back into the grid. Still, (except for the monthly utility fees and panel lease fees) you could charge your bike for “free” from your own home. And, as long as you have functioning on-site storage battery, you can charge your bike overnight and not need to worry about brown-outs and trying to leave for work with a dead or insufficiently charged batter. Sounds exciting!
All of my motorcycles have gas engines so I’m not worried about the future.
Doug says
This looks good for an electric.
LondonCalling
Rotor says
Not for me thanks, most people ride bikes because they enjoy the engeering as much as the performance, we all buy different engine configurations because we have a favourite , be it Vtwin , inline 4, twin, triple, boxer etc etc, does anyone actually prefer an electric motor? I’ll be running on gas as long as possible.
JP Kalishek says
How long will it take to ride it from Brownsville, TX, to Pembina, ND?
When it gets to be less than 29 hours without any special needs (ultra fast chargers, battery swaps etc), maybe.
Gabe says
I gamed it out on Plugshare dot com and the answer, at least on an Energica with the big battery and some kind of streamlining (or riding it slowly through one stretch in Texas) is 37 hours. But dude–do you regularly do that 1800-mile ride ride nonstop?
On an e-moto, you’d have to plan the trip carefully and it would be stressful, but it would take less than 3 full days. So yeah, an ICE bike is faster and more convenient, but I’ll bet there are motorcycles that could do that trip faster and more conveniently than whatever motorcycle you have, right?
todd says
part of the problem that is not added into this equation is duty cycle. Most battery packs and drive units (especially air cooled ones) can not handle 100% duty cycle. This means that, if your battery is hot from discharging a lot of highway power, it must cool first before it charges. Often times this means either waiting to charge or it will just trickle charge.
Doug says
For a website of “do-ers” there are a lot of unimaginative, “that’ll never work” naysayer comments. Do you liken yourselves to the people looking at the original motorized bicycle from your horse? If so, good thing they didn’t listen to your types!
Doug says
…keep in mind, asphalt wasn’t a common thing and neither was the gas station back then. History is a pain to some.
Paul Crowe says
It depends a lot on what you mean by “work.” As noted many times on this website, electrics have great performance and they are perfectly suited to racetracks where batteries are never more than one lap away. The motorcycles themselves can be designed to look very good, this Triumph is a perfect example. They are also very well suited to the urban environment, shorter range is less of an issue, but the same problems that have plagued electric vehicles since they first appeared over a hundred years ago, remain, range and recharge time. With all of our current engineering and technology, no one has yet figured out how to conquer those little stumbling blocks. Yes, that history is a pain, for electrics.
The energy density of gasoline is hard to beat. The gasoline to go long distances weighs a lot less and takes up far less space than batteries of equivalent energy. On a trip, you can refill the energy in less than 5 minutes. Gasoline doesn’t lose energy in cold weather, it doesn’t lose energy if it sits around for a few weeks.
The cost of electric vehicles is also much higher than internal combustion vehicles.
In some places and for some applications, electric makes sense. If you want one “no excuse” vehicle, affordable for most everyone, gasoline works better.
todd says
Electrics also don’t have the same feel or “Experience” as a gas bike. There’s no clutch, no multi-ratio transmission, no thumbing the starter or kicking the lever, no quick-blip rev during warmup or to scare the gathering crowd of little kids. I see no performance advantage to electrics other than not needing to practice the skill of coordinating engine RPM and shift points or optimizing the appropriate RPM / gear for each individual corner. Both electric motors and gas engines can be built with the same amount of power but electric still has lower power density when you consider the amount of battery capacity and mass that is required for that amount of power. You need a very large and heavy battery at or near full charge to get a lot of power from an electric whereas you can get max power from a gas engine regardless of the size of the tank or how much fuel is inside it. Even with the ability to get 80% charge (~50 miles) within 15 minutes, all your riding buddies didn’t need to stop for fuel or they already filled up and were ready to ride away twelve minutes ago. They will not want to stop in another 50 miles for another 15 minute break.
How many fast charge stations are within 50 miles of your favorite mountain roads? There isn’t even any cell reception there! By the time you are halfway to where you want to ride, you need to turn back to refill!
Doug says
Paul & todd – I’m not oblivious to the current events of ev development. That’s not the point.
How many gas stations & paved roads were available between the Milwaukee shed and Mason City, IA in 1903?
Your 50 mile range scenario is so 2021, todd. You are continuing to describe my analogy above.
I still enjoy the character of my guzzi to the fullest and the literal orchestration of its powertrain.
My point above highlights the identical sentiment expressed over 100 years ago towards the ice idea. It is so great those doers (& everyone that came along to improve upon the original idea) didn’t listen to “yeah, but…”
Just today I read that Williams Advanced Engineering was tasked with developing this bike’s battery. They claim 0-80% charge in 20 minutes with a range of 120 miles. Bike weight is probably lighter than a fueled up V11 Sport.
That’s tipping point territory. Assuming that re-charge time is from a high output station, which, admittedly, they will need deployed in similar ways gas stations needed to be built years ago. “yeah, but…”
Paul Crowe says
You began above by asking if I would have preferred a motorized bicycle (or maybe a car) to a horse in the late 19th century, or would I have been a part of the “that’ll never work†naysayer crowd and my answer is, I have no idea, nor do you, neither of us were alive then and our perspective from today doesn’t apply, however, at that time, in a city like New York there were approximately 100,000 horses, each of which excreted something like 30 pounds of manure and a gallon of urine onto the streets daily. Most everyone agreed it was a huge mess, it created an awful smell, attracting flies and disease and when given the option of a self propelled vehicle, many people gave them a try, I like to think I would have, too, because those vehicles offered a clear and obvious advantage over the status quo.
Today’s electric vehicles don’t offer any clear advantage over our current transportation options, they’re a step backward with shorter range, long recharge time and greater expense. “Improvements are on the way,” I keep hearing, so I guess we’ll see when those improvements arrive. Until then, fill ‘er up!
Doug says
“… I have no idea, nor do you,”
Not exactly.
I (we most likely) would have been someone interested in that alternative even with the questions surrounding it back then based on how interested I am in innovation, product development, and general ideation.
Yeah, I’ll definitely fill up my Guzzi and S&S (forthcoming), but I’m also encouraging the work being done even with the use case limitations, just as I would have back then. None of us have anything to worry about wrt our beloved ICE vehicles. Do you ride into urban environments today, the ones enacting legislation banning ice within a perimeter? Will this become widespread into areas where you *like* to ride by the time you hang up your helmet?
todd says
I was being generous! From what I’ve seen, highway range is around 50% of stated range. This is from full to a dead battery. You are very much encouraged to only ride within the 80% – 30% discharge zone. A 2022 Livewire is advertised with 146 miles of city range max. That’s about a 73 mile highway range using 100% of your battery. Indeed, this is about what Ewan and Charlie were seeing. They didn’t care about the life of their batteries so they didn’t hold to the 80-30 rule. If you charge to 80% and recharge with 30% remaining, that is 36.5 highway miles.
Now, imagine that you pulled into a charging station after the last 35 minutes riding on the highway. Your battery is hot when you plug in the charger. The BMS detects this heat and limits the charging rate so it doesn’t damage the batteries. Do you really think you will be able to charge back to 80% in 40 minutes like Livewire claims? Nope. That assertion is assuming your battery is somewhere between 40 and 100 degrees F. So your battery is already on the hot side and fast charging typically pushes the envelope on battery temperatures at the detriment of battery life. The BMS might allow the cells to get to 130F or so but it will get there quickly so it begins to throttle the charge rate to reduce heat. It’s likely you will be there for 50-60 minutes trying to get to that 80% SOC. That’s fine if you have a TeslaTap adapter and you’ve waited for the Tesla owner trying to fill the full 350-400 miles in their pack at the single working charger…
I’ve worked in drivetrain development for a few EV companies and a Formula E program but I haven’t done motorcycles yet so consider that for what it’s worth.
Buck Pilkenton says
Another reason to be grateful that paint comes in many colors.