Triumph have revealed key details of their TE-1 electric bike project, which not only looks amazing but also boasts tech and performance figures that could tempt even the most die-hard petrolhead.
Working with an array of British companies, including Williams Advanced Engineering, Integral Powertrain and Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, and funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, Triumph have created a prototype that has the power to challenge what we think about electric bikes. Before we get to the details though, let’s look at the headline figures.
In finished trim Triumph say the TE-1 will weigh a hair over 220kg, will produce 174bhp and will travel around 120 miles before you need to plug it in.
In short, it’s a portly Speed Triple but we’ve not even told you the really positive news yet: The TE-1 will be capable of a 0-80% charge in just 20 minutes. If you’d limped into a charging station when you started reading this, the bike would already have added five miles to its range.
In the battle to convince more people to take up electric, a key part of keeping aggressive green legislation away from two wheels, it’s a huge stride forward and something Triumph are well aware of.
"What we wanted to do was investigate how you could create an electric bike that would convince somebody to consider an electric bike, or even move them away from something with an internal combustion engine (ICE)," says Steve Sargent, Triumph’s Chief Product Officer.
"To do that we have to understand the customer, how they use their bikes and what they’d want from their bikes. For electric bikes to grow, it has to be a natural choice for someone because the bike is desirable in its own right."
Interestingly Triumph appear to have skipped the whole ‘you can ride it to work for less than a bag of chips’ angle, instead focusing on how the TE-1 could be a weekend plaything. Despite that, they’re keenly aware of the cost of similar competitors
"The challenge is that people want something that gives them the performance of an internal combustion engine bike but they don’t want to pay a huge premium," adds Sargent.
"For us, it has to be at a price point where there’s enough people willing to pay for it. Whilst battery costs are coming down, they’re still expensive, so the bike will come to market when we can get it down to a price that we think people are willing to pay."
So what’s next? This reveal is phase two of the project (phase one – the initial announcement – was in May 2019) with Triumph saying that phase three, likely to be a preview of the prototype they’re now testing, is expected in October.
After TE-1 the sky’s the limit, with Sargent hinting at the scalable potential for torquey applications like the Rocket, while Triumph’s CEO, Nick Bloor, has said the TE-1 is "one of the foundations for our future electric motorcycle strategy". This bold first reveal shows Triumph intend to be an electric super-power.
The TE-1 project has been a huge team effort, bringing together British companies that have long histories in engineering excellence along with funding from the government.
With each concentrating on a specific area where they already have experience – Triumph the chassis, Williams the battery, Integral the motor and WMG the computer modelling – Triumph have been able to work towards something far greater than they likely could have achieved on their own. Here the other key partners reveal the parts of the project they’ve developed.
Tech from Formula E
Williams have experience designing and building batteries for everything from Brompton bicycles to Airbus planes. For the TE-1, Williams have created the battery, which employs new architecture, as well as the vehicle controller and associated software.
"We’ve taken a lot of our existing tech from motorsport, such as Formula E, and utilised the next generation cell technology to meet the attributes required by a Triumph rider," says Dyrr Ardash, Senior Commercial Manager, Williams Advanced Engineering.
"The capacity is approximately 15kWh but that’s not the whole story, as we’ve managed to optimise it to give a 120-mile range and a charge time of under 20 minutes to 80% from zero. The battery also delivers the same performance 100-0% thanks to good thermal management and our control system, which has been found through simulations.
"The biggest challenge for us," reveals Ardash, "was that we were pushed quite hard by Triumph to maintain the correct centre of gravity, which we needed for the right handling attributes."
Lightweight electric motor
Integral are no strangers to performance electric motors, having built the motors and inverters for VW’s I.D R race car which set outright records at Pikes Peak and Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Although two wheelers are new to Integral, their motor and inverter package for the TE-1 claims new standards for electric bikes producing nearly 175bhp but weighing just 10kg.
"We started quite freely but it quickly became clear the motor needed to be very small to maximise the room for the battery inside the bike," says Andrew Cross, Chief Technical Officer at Integral Powertrain.
"A key part of that for us was packaging up the motor with the inverter [the bit that changes DC to AC].
"The other key bit was maximising the efficiency with our motor achieving 97% and the inverter nearer 99%. These motors use switches that open and close very quickly. Each time you open and close a switch, you create a loss.
"The switches in this motor use silicon carbide, which is a compound semi-conductor, and more efficient than typical switches, meaning every time the switches open and close, this motor loses less energy than a typical motor. This means you either get a greater range for a given amount of energy, or can potentially reduce the battery size."
Development through simulation
WMG (University of Warwick) will be a familiar name to many bikers due to their recent Aurora electric superbike project, but they have been around since 1980. As well as bringing together suppliers, thanks to their expertise, WMG have built simulations of the TE-1, allowing countless hours of testing before anyone has even turned a wheel.
Related: Aurora electric superbike project
"In the old days when you developed a new product you’d build it, then test it but if you want to make any changes, you have to start all over again," says Phil Whiffin, Head of Advanced Propulsion Systems at WMG.
"We are able to simulate the rider, the motorbike, the environment and the drive cycle. Triumph were able to set out their targets and through simulation, we could work out what the specifications would have to be to meet that.
"Straight away you can see if what you want to build is feasible. We built a ‘hardware in the loop’ set up, and the simulator can feed info to the sensors, ECU etc so they all believe they are on a motorbike that’s out on the road. The result is that you can make hundreds of changes quickly and without the expense."
