Thes days, a fully-electric motorcycle has become the most recent “must-have” in brand's lineup to catch up with the times and perhaps so as not to offend some environmentally-conscious consumers. BMW unveiled Vision DC Roadster earlier this year.
Just recently, BMW Motorrad showcased its newest e-bike prototype that they claim can produce a whopping 1,500 Nm of torque. Called the E-Power Roadster prototype, it is somewhat of a fusion of different BMW models in its inventory, which includes a 2 Series battery pack, a 7 Series hybrid electric motor, an R 1200 RS swingarm and driveshaft, then finally, an S 1000 R front end. As for the chassis, BMW constructed a trellis frame specific for the E-Power Roadster.
To demonstrate the e-bike's capabilities, BMW had the E-Power Roadster go head to head with the S 1000 R in a drag race in which the latter was easily smoked by the e-bike's very impressive acceleration, needing only 2.9 seconds to reach 100 kilometers per hour.
For now, until further improvements are made, the E-Power Roadster has a claimed range of 177 kilometers on its 13 kW battery pack, which also has a DC fast-charging option.
Though it might still be far from reaching the production stage, this is a good sign that companies are really investing their efforts toward electrification. On the contrary, until we see battery charging stations pop up like regular gas stations and charging times as fast or close enough to the time it would take to fill up a gas tank, these e-bikes are still not practical to use. They could be using more fossil fuel to produce the energy required to charge the vehicle or motorcycle, but it has to start somewhere.
