67-Pound Carbon Fiber Electric Motorcycle Revealed In Norway

While electric cars are stumbling, electric motorcycles are finding more and more fans in the marketplace thanks to improved performance and generous subsidies. Brands like Brammo and Zero Motorcycles here in America are making a name for electric motorcycles. Over in Norway however, a group of 5 college students have revealed a carbon-fiber electric motorcycle that they plan to build and sell. And on paper, this 67 pound, 94 horsepower motorcycle sounds like some serious competition.

Ambitious, Clever, And Cool Looking

Called the Roskva, the idea evolved from pen and paper to CAD drawings to the real deal, and the 5 Norwegian engineering students behind the project have big ambitions. Constructed of tough-but-light carbon fiber, the weight of the Roskva is pegged between 50 and 70 pounds. That’s almost unbelievably light, especially when bikes like Brammo’s Empulse tip the scales at around 440 pounds.

Of course carbon fiber isn’t cheap, so to keep costs down the Roskva’s designers utilize lithion-iron phosphate batteries. These less-expensive batteries have less energy density as well, though they also have a longer lifespan. Still, range will be limited to just 60 miles, though an all-electric highway in Norway will offer recharge times of just ten minutes or so. The top speed of 113 mph is also pretty appealing, though I imagine you’d drain the battery pretty fast if you cruised at that speed for very long.

The students hope the Roskva will be the Tesla of electric motorcycles, though no word on how much the bike will cost. As I said, carbon fiber isn’t cheap, and neither are those batteries. On the same token, I expect to see carbon fiber used with increasing regularity in the coming years, albeit in a more selective fashion.

Source: Engadget

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Tags: Batteries, brammo, carbon fiber, carbon fiber motorcycle, curb weight, Electric Motorcycle, Empulse, lithium iron phos, lithium-ion, Norway, Norwegian, Roskva, weight, zero

About the Author

Christopher DeMorro A writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs, Chris can be found wrenching or writing- or esle, he's running, because he's one of those crazy people who gets enjoyment from running insane distances.

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W Hitcher

As any engineer would realise this is plain wrong.

The 6 kWh 96v battery alone would be in excess of 80lbs. Each 36kw motor a minimum of 25lbs each. The cycle parts shown are in excess of 80lbs in carbon fiber. Say a Total 210lbs rock bottom.

Whether the structural parts are made from CS or unobtanium, 67lbs is not possible.
The Roskva website has no weight claim. No doubt they would have failed their exams with these figures.

I suspect a press release wildly ambitious 67kg conversion (minus battery) error. Brammo are no fools.
- T Adkins
  
  The Engadget article talks about the weight being 25kg but they say that carbon fiber frame and body work weigh this amount.
  
  -T
- Paul A’Barge
  
  … not a Harley …
- Willy
  
  But it’s a “lithion-iron” battery. Whatever that means. It must be very light.
  - Skeeve
    
    LiPO4-Fe batteries are the newer Lithium battery technology that’s been seeing lots of use in e-bikes & now batteries for running the electrics on regular motorcycles: they weigh more than Li-ion, but they’re still MUCH lighter than any form of lead battery usually found in vehicles, and the lithium phosphate-iron batteries don’t catch fire & blow up the way Li-ion batteries have been known to do, so they’re much preferred for “bulk” battery uses.
electric motorcycles

I Agree with W Hitcher.
THE FIGURES JUST DO NOT ADD UP!!

shame on them for telling lies

shame on the journalist for repeating them

this sort of bull*** just makes the whole industry out to be a bunch of fantasists and is damaging
http://www.evworld.com Tech Editor

I have to agree with W Hitcher. I’m the engineering behind our website and think that these weight claims could only be for the bare frame alone. Years ago when I was an aerospace engineer some buds and I built a Graphite/honeycomb frame for a FJ750. Using the lightest wheels, brakes, cables and tubes available we still tipped the scales at 125 lbs (sans engine, tranny and fuel).

The tires, wheels and brakes alone for any street bike will need to be 50 lbs to survive any chuck holes going over 50 mph. I suspect it will tip the scale at closer to 250 when it’s all said and done.

I’ve ridden motorcycles all my life; I currently have a 96 volt Seca Turbo (of my own build) and I get around everyday on an Aprilia RST 1000. A light-weight road bike would be ideal for EV applications, and this bike is still impressive, but I would never be caught dead riding a street bike over 50 that weighs less than 200 lbs; that scares me.
- http://importantmedia.org/members/joborras/ Jo Borras
  
  I think you’re right about the frame weight … but that’s just a guess. In any event: I’d love to see that Seca!!
  - Tech Editor
    
    Jo, go here and you’ll see how I built it:
    http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-96-Volt-Electric-Motorcycle
    Pictures at the end of the instructables
- Christopher DeMorro
  
  @ Tech Editor and other commentators
  
  I agree with all of your assertions that this motorcycle sounds impossibly under weight. That said, without being a motorcyclist myself, I did not feel it my place to judge that which I do not know. I have friends who have some pretty small Honda motorcycles that barely break 100 pounds. Furthermore, I came across the website FXbikes.com which purports to sell the “world’s lightest motorcycle” at just 125 lbs…and they don’t use any carbon fiber.
  
  That said, it is most likely just the frame weight, with the motor and batteries adding significantly more. I am going to reach out and see what, if any, clarification I can get.
  - Tech Editor
    
    Fair enough Chris, but keep in mind a trails-motocross bike by it’s very nature is very light, and slow, and made to be dropped, and not made for the street, etc., etc. My brother-in-law raced trials bikes for years and most are 125cc too. And 125cc is about the smallest cc allowed on the road (but not on interstates). Like I suspect: 67 lbs is frame weight…and that’s still pretty darn light by anybody’s standard. I hope to see it on the street soon.
http://www.edinburgh-homeforce.co.uk/ourservices/edinburghelectrician.aspx Marty

Even if the bike did weigh 67 pounds I cant imagine that even being safe to take to high speeds. I’ll stick to my Harley thank you.
- http://importantmedia.org/members/joborras/ Jo Borras
  
  So, wait … you think additional mass makes your VTwin oil-dispenser SAFER? More load on the tires, more mass to brake, turn, and accelerate makes things safer? Let me guess at your chosen profession: you are NOT the dean of physics at MIT.
  - TFish
    
    I believe he referred his VTwin was safer than a 67lb motorbike at high speeds.
    That makes you someone who has zero reading comprehension, yes?
- FZ1 Rider
  
  Let me see, Harley rider ? I’ll bet you never have seen or experienced any way ,shape, or form of high speed riding.
Dr Dave

Maybe they can be the Tesla of motorcycles. Large govenment support, very expensive, impractical. Pull the support and the enterprise collapses
JeffC

talk about the cart before the horse … an all steel, fiberglass electic bike with li-on batteries would most like match the range and speed of this utopian fantasy … dozens of companies can build you a strong cheap motorcycle frame … all the other parts are off the shelf … its the motor, batteries and controller that will make the difference and these clowns aren’t doing anything new in those areas … put a motor on a lightweight 10 speed if you want a lightweight deathtrap …
Tim McDonald

Of course the extra mass makes it safer. Stability counts when you are on two wheels, and that extra mass is lower to the ground, to compensate for the mass of the rider being up on top.

Why do you think the downhill parts of the Tour de France don’t clip along at 100+ mph like a motorcycle?
Jim

Maybe just a units issue? 67 Kilos?
Mike

And neither is Jo! Put a 150+ lb of rider and gear on top of a very light bike makes the package extremely top-heavy, and therefore, unstable.
Rashomon

I was one of the engineering leads (platform director) at Buell Motorcycles, and I’m very familiar with lithium-ion batteries and electric motor weights, as well as what can be achieved with extremely optimized, lightweight components for motorcycle racing applications. As an example, in MotoGP, a main frame and fuel cell may weigh about 10kg, swingarm about 5 kg, and the front and rear wheels in forged magnesium about 7 kg. There’s almost 50 pounds already, without motor and battery pack. They might achieve their 113 mph top speed on a 25 kW motor with a small rider in a tight tuck, and while such a motor has the potential of weighing as little as 4 or 5 kilos if built on a F1 budget, most commonly available motors in that size range are more like 15 kilos or more, pushing the machine over the claimed weight.
And then there’s the battery pack. For 60 mile range even at low speeds, they’re going to need about 5kWh, and the type of cells they are using are good for power, not energy density. The pack is likely to weigh 40 to 50 kg using the best cells available in that chemistry, or more than the claimed machine weight. Just for reference, the latest Zero electric bikes weigh about 295 pounds with a 6 kWh pack, with the pack weight about 90 pounds. They’re capable of 85 mph or so, and have an urban range of about 70 miles. I’m sure with exotic materials the Zero chassis weight could be trimmed by 40 or 50 pounds, but a sub-100-pound electric motorcycle with the claimed top speed and range of this machine isn’t currently possible.
- Disillusionist
  
  You were at Buell? I absolutely love my Firebolt – a 2004 XB12R. An awesome piece of machinery. Wish I’d had the wherewithal to get an 1125 before Harley pulled the plug. Any chance that Eric Buell is going to start up again somewhere?
bill

Uh…that would be “lithium-ion” battery…mistakes like this make the whole article suspect.
- Christopher DeMorro
  
  @ bill
  
  No, actually, there is such a thing as “lithium-IRON” batteries.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery
Occupied Territory

I hope the weight includes either a cow catcher (i.e. deer catcher) or a permanently-on blaring speaker. An electric bike “sounds” dangerous. I don’t like especially loud bikes, but I like the moderate noise my Suzuki puts out to give a heads-up to deer and other animals that I’m in the vicinity.
Jon A.

This is a misreading of the source article. The carbon fiber frame/body weighs 25 kg. That’s not including the batteries, motor, suspension, wheels or tires. Or even the handlebars, most likely.
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Susanna Schick

the Mugen which kicked ass at the TT this year was pretty much all carbon fiber and closer to the standard (for an electric superbike) 500 lbs. It also seemed to have a bit more battery power than the Czysz bikes.
Jay Dillon

My 2014 Piaggio Typhoon 50cc motor scooter gets 144 mpg and weighs around 250 pounds, I think. I’m curious as to why what might be called “lead” was used to build so many motorcycles, even newer ones made at a time when carbon fiber composites had been invented and manufactured. I’m very interested in this 67 pound electric one you’ve got there. Thank you.