NEWS
It may look like a typical middleweight Ninja on the outside, but there are no pistons under the bodywork
EV bike now: HoverBoard next?
Charging ahead – Kawasaki reveals a possible electrifying future
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fter years of speculation Kawasaki confirmed at the Milan EICMA motorcycle show that it has been working for some years on a battery powered two-wheeler. Referred to by Yuji Horiuchi - President of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle & Engine Company – as “EV or so-called electric vehicles” in his keynote speech as part of the media presentation of six new 2020 models, the EV bike “sparked” a wave of interest. Based on a mid-weight machine structure akin to, say, a Ninja 400 or Ninja 650, the vehicle is a working research test bed and has performed well in tests at Kawasaki’s Autopolis test track near Kumamoto in southern Japan as well as on a series of secret runs on the streets of Kobe, the nearest big city to Kawasaki’s Akashi factory. Using conventional Ninja 650 style forks and swinging arm etc. plus very similar bodywork, the clever packaging of the machine allows it to maintain the size and silhouette of any familiar contemporary mid capacity Kawasaki sport bike. Being KHI the project had to have a
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certain “Kawasaki-ness” and fulfil the criteria of Rideology – the philosophy that all Kawasaki vehicles should do their task well but also be fun to operate and control. Accordingly, the test programme not only looked towards durability and
The EV bike was was tested on a “short circuit” and the results were “positive”
distance but also that elusive “fun factor” that is sometimes absent from electric vehicles. The answer? Create it with a clutch and gearbox just like the sort of machines that a Kawasaki enthusiast already rides. Engaging the rider in a new experience – and encompassing Rideology – the four gears available (with normal handlebar mounted clutch lever) are focussed on
harnessing the greatest performance possible in the most fun way. Naturally, once the shock of seeing a Kawasaki two-wheel EV subsided, the questions cascaded like a waterfall. Sadly information at this time is sketchy, but full power on demand has been confirmed at the equivalent of 26 horsepower and at cruising speeds around half that. The range is currently 60 miles and the weight is just shy of 220kg. Charging is via a CHAdeMo quick style charger or, in normal use a domestic 240V input. There is even a small lever on the left bar like a thumb brake that is a discretional regenerative brake meaning you can harvest energy during braking if you so wish – a typical clever touch from the overall Project Leader, Matsuda-san. Before anyone gets excited and starts fixing 13amp all weather sockets in their garages, KHI are at pains to point out that this is not planned to enter production any time soon, if at all. And – more encouragingly – that it is “only one” of the possible avenues they are investigating… perhaps Marty McFly will get his Hoverboard after all!