Triumph Motorcycles has revealed a sketch of what their electric motorcycle will look like – and it looks very sporty indeed.
The British company has been working for a couple of years with the British F1 team Williams after receiving millions in government funding to produce electric motorcycles.
Triumph has been surveying its customers since 2012 to see if they want them to produce electric bikes and in 2019 the company issued a trademark filing for the name “Trident” to be used for “all possible classes” including motorcycling gear, accessories, clothing and “electric machines”.
However, for the moment, the bike is called the TE-1 project and there are only a few vague technical details available.
They say it will have “class-leading power, efficiency, charging time and range” thanks to an innovative, lightweight battery.
“The all-new battery has peak power of 170kW and continuous power of 90kW, with a capacity of 15kWh,” their press release says.
“This enables the motorbike to deliver 130kW of peak power and 80kW of continuous power.
“Class-leading system cooling combined with the optimum balance of power and energy means TE-1 can give the rider more electric power for longer and deliver outstanding performance regardless of battery charge.
“The 360-volt system also enables a fast-charging time of under 20mins (0-80%), which is combined with a market-leading target range.”
That last statement is a bit vague, but could mean more than the 360km range offered by Zero Motorcycles with their extended battery pack.
After two years, the project has completed phase two of what they say is a four-phase program, so it could be another couple of years yet before we even see a prototype.
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Add another couple of years before a production model is ready.
Triumph CEO Nick Bloor says the project will “provide one of the foundations for our future electric motorcycle strategy, which is ultimately focused on delivering what riders want from their Triumph; the perfect balance of performance, handling and real world usability, with genuine Triumph character”.
Williams spokesman Dyrr Ardash says the “next-generation battery technology” will provide “more power, for longer”.
The company was the original supplier of batteries to the entire grid of FIA Formula E World Championship cars in 2014, a relationship that has been revived for 2022-23 season with Williams Advanced Engineering being awarded the exclusive contract to supply the Gen3 battery system.
WAE also supplies battery systems to ETCR and Extreme-E.
