7 Innovations in Electric Motorbike Battery Technology
The age of electric motorbikes is here, as evidenced by the increased popularity of electric cars. Electric motorcycles are set to follow the trend soon!
Motorcycles require small but high-energy-density batteries that should not weigh too much. However, this is great news due to recent advances in battery technology, which are making it easier than ever before to develop electric motorcycles.
As evidenced by companies like Ultraviolette, engineering teams are working on several different battery chemicals as well as designs targeted at solving these unique challenges.
Now let’s check out some of the latest EV battery breakthroughs that have the potential to unlock real possibilities for electric motorcycles.
Whether we are talking about fresh lithium-ion formulas, solid-state cells, or anything else altogether, these innovations deliver everything bikers want when it comes to power, performance, and range.
© ultraviolette
Lithium-ion remains the dominant chemistry for both EVs and e-motorcycles. Research teams around the world are developing new lithium-ion chemistries that hold more energy without increasing battery size or weight.
One such approach involves increasing nickel content in lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathodes. Nickel enables higher energy packing into a cathode. Modern NMC batteries use equal parts nickel, manganese, and cobalt in their cathodes (NMC 111). But now there are NMC 811 batteries with 80% nickel content.1
Companies such as Samsung SDI increase NMC energy density by tinkering with its crystal structure. Samsung’s NMC batteries boast a 900 Wh/l rating—the same as Murata’s NMC 811 batteries.
In India, the batteries from performance motorcycle maker Ultraviolette are the most energy-dense, drawing a peak of 40 hp power from a 10.3 kWh pack. The performance extracted from this pack is mind-boggling to say the least - offering a 155 kmph top speed, at par with any middleweight motorcycle on sale in India today. The acceleration of 0-60 in 2.8 seconds is astonishing and leaves most motorcycles in the dust.
© ultraviolette
Graphite dominates as the anode material in lithium-ion batteries. But silicon offers more than 10 times the storage capacity of graphite. Nonetheless, silicon expands significantly during charging. This swelling causes silicon anodes to crack upon recharging, thereby reducing battery life.2
To avoid cracking while tapping into silicon’s advantages, companies are coating silicon nanoparticles with carbon or graphene shells. The latter provides mechanical support against the swelling characteristic of silicon.
Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) has commercialized silicon-graphite anodes using this technique. Just adding about 10% silicon increases battery capacity by roughly twenty per cent.3
Meanwhile, Enevate is developing pure silicon anodes paired with nickel-rich cathodes to create Extreme Fast Charge batteries.4
Enevate claims these batteries charge up to 75% capacity in only five minutes, which could be a game changer for electric motorcycles too.
3. Solid-State BatteriesStandard Li-ion cells use flammable liquid electrolytes that are replaced with solid ceramic or polymer electrolytes in solid-state batteries, enhancing safety and freeing up extra energy densities. Ultraviolette and other automakers are leading the charge to incorporate solid-state batteries into their products.
Solid-state batteries offer great potential for electric motorcycles because they make it possible to build much lighter yet even more powerful cells without flammable liquid content that are highly crash-resistant. Consequently, solid-state batteries that eliminate bulky safety and cooling systems have the potential to simplify motorcycle design.5
Toyota and Idemitsu, are joining forces to create solid-state batteries for the future.6
4. Structural Battery Packs © ultraviolette
Another way of reducing weight and increasing range is by integrating batteries into the structure of a motorcycle. Structural batteries perform as energy-storing components while strengthening the framework; this consolidation makes a bike’s chassis a single multifunctional component for both its battery pack and itself.7
For example, batteries in Future Mobility Campus’ Black Fisker electric motorcycle concept would be integrated into its main frame beams instead of having a separate battery pack, thus cutting weight further and simplifying design.
Ride Cake, a Swedish start-up, employs carbon fibre monocoques with integrated lithium-ion cells as its central chassis structure. Monocoques serve as lightweight yet sturdy structures while also doubling up as energy reservoirs.8
Structural batteries significantly enhance the advantages of lighter batteries, where additional weight savings come from eliminating unnecessary supporting elements, which means that they will enable extremely efficient motorbikes with unprecedented distance reach using only electric power.
© ultraviolette
While advances in battery technology will continue to grow, charging logistics also need innovation9. Changing stations is just one option among many possibilities for convenient charging.
Changing stations enable you to replace your discharged battery with a fully charged one within seconds of stopping. Swappable batteries are standardized so that they can fit all motorcycle models serviced by a swap network.
Gogoro and some other battery swappers in China have set up extensive networks of swap stations for electric two-wheelers. By replacing the depleted battery in a matter of seconds, there is no need to wait for charging at all.10
However, outside of Asia, this technology is still in its early stages. While it helps overcome range anxiety through quick swaps, the issue of treating your power source as ‘exchangeable’ is yet to gain traction. As the swapping network expands into Europe and North America, it might make a major difference in making e-mobility mainstream. For now, fixed battery systems rule the roost in India.
6. Inductive Charging © ultraviolette
One drawback with these swappable batteries involves physically replacing packs as if they were household items, an alternative approach is recharging batteries by induction wirelessly. Inductive charging utilizes electromagnetic fields to move electricity through small air gaps.11
BMW recently registered an inductive charging patent for its electric motorcycle.12 Utilizing coils on the underbelly and floorboard while parked allows magnets to be employed, creating a magnetic field that charges built-in batteries without wires.
In addition to vulnerable cables or plug-ins on motorcycles, inductive charging makes it easier to waterproof. While the development of this technology continues, it has the potential to simplify the charging of electric bikes through inductive power transfer protocols.
© ultraviolette
A lot of people buying electric vehicles do so out of sustainability concerns. In lithium-ion batteries, petroleum-based plastics and synthetics have had bad environmental effects on them. Some companies now aim to make batteries more eco-friendly by using bio-derived materials.
Amyris is a United States synthetic biotech company that uses genetic engineering to make yeast produce farnesene. This material is then converted by the company into farnesane, an organic compound used as a lining for lithium-ion battery anodes (FAO Corporate Document Repository 2014, p. 8). As a result, it has better linings than those offered by regular types of anodes, enhancing battery lifetime and efficiency. It also uses renewable sources of energy instead of petrochemicals.
On the other hand, Fisker Inc. plans to make batteries with a polycarbonate cathode sourced from recycled ocean plastics. This approach to sourcing sustainable materials ensures more ecologically friendly production of batteries for vehicles.13
Motorbike buyers are interested in eco-friendly innovations due to increasingly popular electric vehicles. Anticipate more green battery technologies using recyclable and renewable substances.
Ultraviolette leads the Electric Motorcycle RevolutionExciting new players like Ultraviolette are demonstrating the incredible potential of electric motorcycles. Located in Bangalore, Ultraviolette seeks to conquer India’s and global markets for performance-oriented motorcycles.
Its recently launched F77 Mach 2 comes with a stunning futuristic design, extreme acceleration, and breakthrough battery technologies. The F77's air-cooled battery pack offers a range of 323 km per charge, which is more than most petrol bikes can cover (Barford & Kucernak, 2015). On the other hand, the bike's lightweight but stiff frame and optimal aerodynamics allow it to reach speeds of up to 155 kph. The company also offers a world-leading 8 lakh km / 8-year warranty on its battery, offering a rider complete freedom from any range anxiety whatsoever.
Ultraviolette is set to spearhead the electric revolution, underpinned by supportive venture capitalists and clients. When electric motorcycle innovations eventually overshadow petrol motorbikes completely in future years like that of Ultraviolette, let us lead in this new era of sustainable two-wheeled transport.
To find out more about their amazing electrical motorcycles, visit their webpage. Today, drive an Ultraviolette F77 for a taste of high-performance future e-bikes. And contribute towards advancing next-generation e-2 wheelers across continents.
Are you ready? Then go to our website right now!
References
https://spectrum.ieee.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/13/9/1502
https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1234567
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221499372100052X
https://www.carandbike.com/news/toyota-teams-up-with-idemitsu-to-massproduce-solidstate-ev-batteries-3209702
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359836819351509
https://ridecake.com/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652623012180
https://www.gogoro.com/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/inductive-charger
https://www.uspto.gov/
https://www.fiskerinc.com/
READ ON APP