Understanding lithium demand, page-306

New electric lap record at 2019 Isle of Mann TT Zero

This year is the 10th anniversary of a full electric class at the infamous Isle of Mann road racing circuit.

Team Mugen took the win again, continuing their ongoing domination at the absolute upper echelon of electric motorcycle sport.

Winning in the TT Zero class at the Isle of Mann requires a bike that can be ridden at around 200km/h, up and over 61km of mountains, valleys, towns and tree lined lanes with a nice handful of bridges and cobblestone streets for good luck.

Riders must negotiate 264 separate corners, many at frighteningly high speeds, and if their racing line is correct, they will hurtle past stone walls, knees scraping the tarmac, helmets just inches from the wall.

They will also need a bike that can handle being airborne at high speed, as they launch over numerous humps and bridges and literally fly through the air for up to 30m.

To be competitive, e-bike riders need to hit top speeds of more than 280kmh and be at full throttle for a lot of the time on the track. The bike of choice this year would be the refined 2019 Shinden Mugen electric race bike, capable of producing 120 kW (around 160 bhp), and 210 Nm of torque.

This is handicapped by around 80kg of additional weight (totalling 248kg) compared to your lighter, more powerful and longer-range petrol powered compatriots in the Superbike class.

A single race lap is undertaken from a standing start, further impacting the ability to produce a high average lap speed, compared to other classes which run multiple laps.

Each year the electric bikes inch closer to the premium superbike class lap record speed, but alas 2019 will not be the year to beat the penultimate lap speed.

Petrol bikes took from 1950 to 1992, or 42 years to go from 155km machines to 196kmh machines. The electric class took from 2010 to 2018, or eight years, to do the same thing, albeit for only one 60km lap, so far.



As opposed to my "Race Bike" atm



GLTAH

Bike Riders and Enthusiasts

Stay Sake on those Roads Boys & Girls

Cheers

Frank

p.s. - I wish i had another 8 Horse Power some Days