Italian electric sports bike company Energica has unveiled a scrambler concept that finally shows how their patent-pending battery avoids overheating and losing power.
Designer Paolo Iemmi says the concept (pictured above) is named after the EsseEsse9 road that snakes through the Italian motor valley where the company is situated.
“We melded the future of mobility with the precious tradition of our land, crossed by a road that is called EsseEsse9,” he says.
“We’ve been inspired by the irregular blocks of stones of this route in the choice of tyres.”
The dual sport would be handy in the bush as it wouldn’t startle the livestock, but it also wouldn’t scare off the roos!
It represents a major departure for the company that produces high-powered electric Ego sportsbikes and Eva streetfighters.
But it also finally reveals the electric heart of the bike – the enclosed battery case.
It contains the rechargeable batteries sealed in-house, so we never see them.
Enclosed batteries are usually subject to overheating, which greatly reduces the life cycle.
However, the Energica battery case has been designed to avoid overheating.
The case, now visible on the EsseEsse9, includes a cooling plate made of aluminium and holes through the casing for air flow.
There are no other technical details on the EsseEsse9 but the 2017 production models retain the same tech specs, so there may be no further advances in range, charge times or speed.
Meanwhile, electric competitor Zero Motorcycles has announced it has an extended battery pack that delivers more than 320km (200 miles) of range.
Instead, the Energica Ego sportsbike now comes in Lunar White or an optional Italian flag model.
Energica Ego in Lunar WhiteThe only advances are that the company has now listed on the Italian stock exchange and are moving into mass production with the promise of a third model next year. Presumably it will be a production version of the EsseEsse9.
Meanwhile, here are the tech specs for the current (pun intended) range:
Energica tech specs
- Battery: 11.7kWh
- Range: 200km in ECO mode (Eva); 150km at 80km/hor 180km at 60km/h (Ego)
- Charging: 0-100% in 3.5 hours via the standard 3.5KW AC charger; or 0-80% in 30 minutes using 20KW DC Fast Charger
- Battery lifespan: 1200 cycles at 80% capacity
- Price: €30,998 Energica Ego (black or white), €32,854.60 (Italian flag)
- Top speed: 240km/h (Ego), 200km/h (Eva)