A project by: Pat Wheeler
University of Nottingham – Electric SuperBike Race Team
In 2014 a group of students from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering built an Electric Motorbike to race in the then recently launch MotoE European Electric Bike race series. This is a competition between bike manufacturers and the team were pleased to come 3rd in the MotoE Championship. In 2015 the team redesigned a new Electric Superbike and won the MotoE European Championship as well as winning the University team prize at TTZero, part of the annual Isle of Man TT races held every June.
In 2016 the team plan to run two bikes with the aim of being competitive against the Honda electric superbike (winners for the last 3 years) in the TTZero race on the Isle of Man, to retain the MotoE championship and to win the MotoE constructors Championship (currently held by a large Chinese motorbike manufacturer). The team also have end of season plans to try for the UK Electric Vehicle land speed record, which is well within the theoretical capabilities of our Electric Superbike.
This project supports a successful and award winning electric superbike race team. Not only is this a great sport and a challenging project, but is a dynamic way to demonstrate interesting an emerging technology. This outreach is not only to the motorbike community, but also to students, sports fans and the wider, international public. As well as experience gained by students working as part of the race team we have found the very existence of the bike to be a great outreach opportunity and it is a very popular exhibit at Open Days and UCAS events, attracting a wide range of students into Engineering at the University of Nottingham.
We have a long term sustainability plan for the Electric Superbike race team. This will result in an academic acting as a permanent Race Team manager who will engage students and ensure that the project moves forward and continues to succeed. The electric bike continues to inspire and enthuse students in the Departments of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering as well as across the whole University communitee.
We also have a range of great sponsorship packages available. If you would like to discuss these please contact us directly by emailing pat.wheeler@nottingham.ac.uk.