Electric bike beats petrol twins to podium

An electric superbike has taken two podium spots at a California-based race series – fighting off a petrol-fuelled grid of RC8s and 1198s.

The Swigz.com Racing team bike – which makes 194bhp and 295ftlbs of instant torque – was piloted by team owner Chip Yates. An overjoyed Yates tweeted shortly after the races: “History has been made, and the gasoline bikes are on notice!”.

The race took place yesterday – Sunday 9 Jan – at the Autoclub Speedway in Fontana, California, as part of the WERA West Sportsman Series. Yates’ team finished second in the Heavyweight Twins Superstock class and third in the Heavyweight Twins superbike class. They also secured the fastest lap in the second race, setting a time of 1:39:792 around the 2.62 mile course.

Yates explained to MCN how the Swigz.com electric superbike works:

“The motor has no gears – the torque is made from the permanent magnets that are bonded to the spinning rotor being repelled by the windings that are bonded to the inside of the motor housing.  The UQM motor uses a very large number of these windings that are computer controlled by the liquid cooled motor controller. On our model the charge is held by 102 lithium ion polymer pouch cells.”

For more information visit: www.chipyates.com