Northants-based White Motorcycle Concepts is taking its electric motorcycle to Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni salt flat next summer where it will be ridden in an attempt on the world land speed record.
The carbon-fibre prototype is said to have run without fault during its shakedown test at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground and has now completed a full system pass off.
Prototype electric motorcycle set for tilt at land speed records
A striking feature of the WMC250EV is WMC’s V-Air ultra-low drag system which uses a large duct at the centre of the bike to force air through the vehicle, reducing aerodynamic resistance by 70 per cent compared to a conventional motorcycle. The front wheel is powered by the bike’s D-Drive, which makes it possible to harness regenerative braking energy.
In its final powertrain configuration, the WMC250EV will feature an 800V high voltage system, but WMC said that for the early testing phase it is using a 60V system that produces 100kW. WMC anticipate that in world land speed specification the bike will be two and a half times more powerful.
WMC added that a key element of the initial phase was to correlate the Computational Fluid Dynamics data of the 300kg vehicle with the results of a real-world test. This has been completed and the team will continue its testing programme ahead of next year’s world land speed record, which will include a British record attempt in early 2022.
“We are delighted with the progress made so far with the WMC250EV,” said company founder and CEO Rob White. “We were encouraged by the great reception the launch of the bike received in June, and the high level of interest that the project has gained subsequently. This is a completely bespoke motorcycle, so for it to run cleanly straight out of the box is fantastic.
“We are taking a measured and controlled approach to our testing programme to ensure no stone is left unturned and given the results we have gained to date my confidence is building all the time that we will be successful.”
WMC is working on road-going projects and its patented technologies are being incorporated into road-going variants, with details set to follow in October.
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