A team of 23 students from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands has set off on a 23,000 km journey around the world on two revolutionary electric motorcycles.
The motorcycles are the first electric touring bikes capable of not just holding the great amounts of energy required for the bikes to travel long distances, but also to enable the rider to easily replenish this energy.
- Students taking on 23,000 km round the world trip on electric bikes
- Bikes are the first electric touring bikes capable of long distances
- Australian company Cohda providing vehicle-to-infrastructure communications
The bikes use a swappable, modular battery pack.
A 28.5 kWh battery pack gives the motorcycles a range of 380 kilometres without charging, and when empty, the energy can be renewed within 7 minutes by simply swapping the battery.
This gives the STORM Wave a capability of covering 500 km per day.
Each day, the students will re-charge batteries from the local power grid at companies, universities or homes along the route.
The modular nature of the battery packs also gives the rider the ability to adapt the vehicle to the riding conditions, whether it is being ridden in a city environment or open road.
Without batteries the bike weighs 160kg, and the battery packs take the weight up to 340kg.
The bike is built around an aluminium sheet frame and a custom designed Hossack suspension system.
The electric motor generates a nominal 35 kW and 120 Nm with a maximum of 70 kW and 240 Nm available as required.
It has a top speed of 160km/h and will accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in just 5 seconds.
Many companies have contributed to the development of the STORM Wave, and going along for the ride is Australian company Cohda Wireless.
Adelaide-based Cohda provides world-leading vehicle communication technology.
The bikes are using the Cohda V2X (vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure) systems to provide real-time data about their operation to support cars and, where possible, obtain traffic and road information.
During the journey, Cohda also plans to demonstrate how V2X systems can improve vehicle safety and traffic efficiency in cities such as Shanghai where the V2X infrastructure is installed.
The STORM World Tour began in the southern Netherlands city of Eindhoven on August 14 and will circumnavigate the northern hemisphere, leaving Europe via Central Asia and then crossing North America before returning to Eindhoven on November 2.
You can follow the team at http://follow.storm-eindhoven.com.