Recently there has been a huge spurt in the number of electric driven two and four wheelers in the transportation industry. However, the only problem these electric powered vehicles have is that they are unusually heavy due to the batteries they are equipped with. This undoubtedly affects their dynamics and overall performance. Founder of Amarok Consultants and award winning motorcycle designer Michael Uhlarik has recently come up with an electric road racer christened Amarok P1 which proposes to eliminate these flaws of electro-cycles through its aero-dynamic design.
The idea for designing the P1 germinated when Kevin O’Neil, the partner and chief fabricator of P1 met Uhlarik over dinner in February 2009 and during its course sketched out a concept for designing a stressed-skin aluminum monocoque electro-motorcycle built around its batteries. Using these paper drawings, they hand-built a motorcycle in an ancient coach house at Quebec, Canada. The resultant mode of transportation was the electro-cycle P1, which had in a single aluminium chassis the frame and the exterior skin built around the battery box. With a weight of about 325 lbs (147 kg) and a power of 7.5 kWhs (killowatt hours), this entire assembly is powered by a pair of Agni 95R DC motors.
The USP of the Amarok P1 is its weight, which is significantly less especially due to the use of the light weight metal aluminium. Additionally the design of P1 is such that it has enclosed the battery storage space and aerodynamic fairing all into one, thereby resulting in an optimized distribution of weight across the body of the electro-cycle. With about a year being dedicated towards its design, fabrication and stress testing, the P1 design is a result of concentric design methodology being implemented for achieving the maximum power-to-weight ratio possible in a motorcycle.
Currently one of the lightest electric sport motorcycles in the transportation industry, the Amarok P1 will also be participating in the Formula 75 class at the forthcoming season of TTX GP electric racing series to prove its worth. However, irrespective of the result, Uhlarik has already started work on a more advanced P2 model. And, with his philosophy of designing bikes with better handling and performance regardless of the heavy and costly batteries, we might as well soon get to see electric motorcycles with better aerodynamics than those currently available.
Via: AutoBlog Green
