Photo: Norton Motorcycles
When a famous motorcycle brand and talented students join forces to create an electric racing motorcycle, the result can only be spectacular. Meet “Frontier”, a cool new bike featuring an innovative battery pack, developed by Norton Motorcycle and a student team at the University of Warwick.
It only took 7 months to bring the new motorcycle to life, since last year, when the project began. The company donated a Norton frame plus the associated parts, and students at the WMG department at the University of Warwick equipped it with a specially developed electric powertrain, control systems that were designed in-house and a battery pack that is the first of its kind to be used for a motorcycle.
Together with researchers and engineers at WMG, the students came up with a 160kW (214.5 HP) electric powertrain that can deliver 400 Nm of torque, which, according to Norton, is close to its own petrol powertrain specifications. This means that we’re talking about a powerful motorcycle that was designed to be TT capable.
Additionally, the 16 kWh battery is immersion-cooled, designed by the team at WMG to last longer, and the first of this kind to be integrated on an electric motorcycle. Thanks to the cooling system, the dielectric fluid’s temperature can be adapted to the track requirements, before a race, for the best temperature range that would support performance. And, if you count the fact that this battery can be fully charged in just one hour, the overall result is quite impressive.
But that’s not all. Laser welding techniques that were developed at WMG were used to create the battery case, making it more durable. Plus, this manufacturing technique can be successfully used for serial production, as well. This goes to show that the electric motorcycle prototype was developed using several innovative elements, from technology to manufacturing processes.
After intensive testing, both computer-based and physical, Frontier was ready to be unveiled. It may not be as famous as other well-known bikes yet, but it’s ready to show what it’s capable of on the track.
Together with researchers and engineers at WMG, the students came up with a 160kW (214.5 HP) electric powertrain that can deliver 400 Nm of torque, which, according to Norton, is close to its own petrol powertrain specifications. This means that we’re talking about a powerful motorcycle that was designed to be TT capable.
Additionally, the 16 kWh battery is immersion-cooled, designed by the team at WMG to last longer, and the first of this kind to be integrated on an electric motorcycle. Thanks to the cooling system, the dielectric fluid’s temperature can be adapted to the track requirements, before a race, for the best temperature range that would support performance. And, if you count the fact that this battery can be fully charged in just one hour, the overall result is quite impressive.
But that’s not all. Laser welding techniques that were developed at WMG were used to create the battery case, making it more durable. Plus, this manufacturing technique can be successfully used for serial production, as well. This goes to show that the electric motorcycle prototype was developed using several innovative elements, from technology to manufacturing processes.
After intensive testing, both computer-based and physical, Frontier was ready to be unveiled. It may not be as famous as other well-known bikes yet, but it’s ready to show what it’s capable of on the track.
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