Electric motorbikes are already a thing. However, they can travel only limited distances because they cannot fit a very large battery. Most e-motorcycles can go around 180 km before you need to charge them. The company behind the Nawa Racer boasts that it can travel up to 300 km.
The thing that sets this bike apart is the so far unseen hybrid motor that uses a standard lithium-ion battery in combination with an “ultracapacitor” to reuse braking energy. Nawa Technologies claims this is the first electric motorcycle to use an ultracapacitor in its design. The technology captures and uses more than 80 percent of the braking energy. It also delivers 10 times the power and five times the electricity of existing ultracapacitors. This means that the travel distance is 65% higher than other e-motorbikes with the same size battery.
It falls in the category of so-called café racers and is mainly built for city riding (i.e. in stop and go traffic). The motorbike has a cool, futuristic look with a hubless rear wheel and sleek design. It has a decent acceleration rate and it can go from 0-100km/h in under 3 seconds. The top speed it can reach is around 160km/h.
However, the company that made the Nawa Racer does not have initial plans for manufacturing and selling these electric motorcycles. The showcase was made for demonstrating the power of the technology built in the ultracapacitor. According to the creators, they can be used in other electric vehicles as well. As they are built of carbon, the ultracapacitors are relatively inexpensive and weigh just 10 kg, yet they boost range by up to 65 percent. To get the same range with a regular battery, the weight and the cost would be drastically increased.
