‘Things are just moving so fast’: Arc boss discusses brand’s next big step following news of Government backing

Mark Truman, founder of luxury electric firm Arc Vehicle, says the British brand are working on a range of battery machines promising significant improvements to weight, charge time and performance.

The comments came following an announcement that the Coventry company has received backing from the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), via Innovate UK, to develop a new dual motor with integrated inverter for future electric motorcycles.

“These will always be performance machines, these will always be premium, but of course there’s a very limited market for a £100,000-£120,000 motorcycle,” Truman told MCN. “Our top-end motorcycles will always be at that really high price point, but when we start to look at the other models, they will definitely come down.”

He continued: “For instance, our supersport bike which we’re developing… that may be almost a MotoE – dare I say it – Honda RCV level of motorcycle and will probably come along with a similar kind of price tag.”

Codenamed HiPERMOD, the incoming Government-backed dual motor is intended to increase performance whilst reducing weight. Developed in partnership with Warwick-based Talos Technology, it’s conceived as a modular system for multiple model configurations and looks set to be shown in 2026.

Arc Vector updates

Although the new dual motor is still some time off, the Arc boss did confirm that an updated version of the existing Vector model would arrive in the meantime. He said: “You should see something new next year, which will build on top of our existing architecture, but with a significant specification upgrade.

“We’re always looking to push the needle – in terms of tech, innovation, and performance. Things are just moving so fast. And I’m not necessarily talking about battery technology,” he continued. “To give you an idea, the motor on our bike currently weighs just over 35kg.

We have a new motor which we’re working on, which is much more powerful, spins over twice as fast, and only weighs 14kg.” Arc’s current 399v motor revs to 8000rpm, but it’s claimed this new unit will spin past 20,000rpm and offer about a third more power. This means a theoretical output of around 153bhp.

“It’s going to be a leap – not just in terms of outright performance, but also in terms of weight reduction,” the Arc founder commented.

On top of teasing the new motor tech, Truman also spoke about the future of batteries – claiming that we could see up to 75% lopped off of charge times very soon. A stumbling block for many potential EV buyers, this is said to be possible via the use of immersion cooling – where the battery components are dipped in dielectric coolant fluid, to aid heat management when charging.

“We’re also developing something that is immersion based and that should reduce a charge time to potentially 20%-25% of that they are currently,” he claimed. “I think where ours are different is that everyone else is still working on building battery modules,” he says.

Truman explained: “If you open up a battery and you look inside, generally these batteries will be like little rectangular brick shapes and that’s because most people are using battery modules that are developed for cars, because they’re cheap and were made in high volume. These little bricks are fantastic for putting in cars, but they are terrible for putting in motorcycles, because motorcycles have these unusual shapes.

“So, we are working on a process – and as far as I’m aware we’re the only ones doing anything like this – where we can effectively make a battery module in the shape of the actual motorcycle. That will radically reduce the package.”

Currently there are 960 cells within the battery of an Arc Vector, but Truman says this could be boosted to 2500 using their new tech. Although this would be impractical due to weight, it does mean the size of the existing layout could be significantly reduced, or potential range could be extended.

“That then reduces weight, it reduces package size, it means the bike can be more compact, it means you can potentially package other elements for the battery which help – chillers for instance – so it’s not just air cooled,” added Truman.

“The performance is there, but it’s being able to keep the weight down, and being able to maintain that performance.”

Arc’s A-list customers

Arc Vehicle have now begun delivering the first of their ultra-premium Vector machines to customers, with one being Hollywood A-list actor Ryan Reynolds. Mark Truman and other members of the Arc team recently went out to the USA to deliver the filmstar’s bike and meet the man in person.

“It was amazing and a real experience. He’s such a nice guy and exactly what you would expect,” Truman commented. “His family were lovely, and his surroundings weren’t ostentatious in any way and he’s exactly what you would expect.

“It’s fantastic for the brand, and just so great to be involved. I’d love him to come and see us in the UK. I think he may, and we’d obviously love to do more, but we obviously respect the way that he likes to operate, so the ball is very much in his court.”