The full-bore battery-powered bike market is sorely in need of a technology step-change. While the car sector has developed platforms that combine a decent, usable range and performance with fast charging, high-powered electric bikes are still lagging behind. Current battery technology is too heavy, expensive, and bulky to enable a realistic benchmark; say, a 150+bhp/250kg bike with a 200-mile range and 10-minute charging. Solid-state battery designs have long been touted as a possible alternative because they use solid electrolytes rather than liquid or gel, making them smaller, lighter and allowing faster charging. They are also safer, with lower fire risks.
Solid-state technology is difficult, and still in its infancy, but pioneering Finnish electric superbike maker Verge has announced a deal with the quirkily named Donut Lab firm to use new solid-state battery designs in its bikes. The result is claimed to be a 10-minute 0-80% charge time and up to 370 miles of range, with an extended battery pack, on the firm’s 136hp TS Pro super-naked roadster, which has an RRP of £31,980 and will be available in Q1 this year.
These are potentially game-changing numbers that, if proven in the real world, could help electric two-wheelers break into the mainstream petrol-powered motorcycle market in the same way as four wheelers.
“The use of solid-state battery technology in motorcycle production is a historic breakthrough, shaking up the entire industry,” said Tuomo Lehtimäki, CEO of Verge Motorcycles. “Verge’s close development work with Donut Lab, along with battery pack testing and validation, has reached the point where we can implement the technology in the new evolution of Verge TS Pro model, which is already in production and available to order on Verge’s website and in our showroom stores.”