Electric vehicles have become increasingly popular in recent years, particularly in the car world, and although low powered electric scooters are selling reasonably well, more powerful machines are still a very rare sight on our roads.
Streetfighters like Energica’s Eva and the Zero SR are enormous fun to ride, but for longer journeys there is still plenty of resistance from old school bikers. Developments in battery and charging technology have accelerated in recent years, but the challenge of packaging a large power pack in a motorcycle chassis remains a limiting factor in giving motorcyclists the range between recharges that they desire.
But now Energica are challenging the preconceptions that electric motorbikes are only for commuting and short Sunday blasts with the introduction of their new Experia, an adventure bike which they are describing as a ‘Green Tourer’.
The Experia isn’t the first electric adventure motorcycle to come to market, American EV specialists Zero brought out its DSR Black Forest model a few years ago, but the Energica is the first to incorporate the latest technology that should be a gamechanger in this sector. It’s an all-new model, purpose built for distance riding, rather than a derivative of the Ego superbike, and the Experia uses a bespoke frame, newly developed motor and lithium polymer battery pack.
That battery, the key element in determining range, has a capacity of 22.5kWh to make it the biggest battery fitted to an production electric motorcycle to date. Energica claim a range of 261 miles around town, but more realistically the standardised WMTC range is 138 miles, which should be achievable when taking on gentle touring duties.
Maximum power from the new motor is 102bhp, but these bikes are all about torque and it delivers 115Nm – which is a hefty figure for petrol bikes but actually quite sedate for an EV. Top speed is capped at 112mph, with 0-60 coming in a claimed 3.5 seconds.
Of course, one of the big complaints about electric motorcycles is the time it takes to recharge. The 3kw on board charger will likely mean an overnight charge at home or at a public charging point, but DC charging means that riders can use motorway service station style rapid chargers to top up at 24kw, giving an 80% recharge in 40 minutes.
Styling wise, the Experia owes a lot to the latest generation of road-biased adventure tourers, like the Ducati Multistrada and Yamaha Tracer series. It’s full of top end componentry, with brakes from Brembo, tyres from Pirelli and a high-end electronics package including IMU controlled Bosch cornering ABS. It also comes with a three-box luggage system.
No word on prices yet, or when it will arrive in showrooms, but if you are interested your friendly Energica dealer will happily relieve you of a deposit right now if you want to be first in the queue.
