Making the Switch to EV
Neil Crayston took on petrol off-roaders in the British Extreme Endurance series
“Electric is the future, especially in offroad, and I wanted to demonstrate how competent one could be – so what better way than in an Extreme Enduro? “I raced it in 2016 and 2017 but could only do two of the four rounds due to the format. Some Enduros are loops, so I could swap the battery, but those that weren’t I obviously couldn’t compete in as I couldn’t leave batteries in hedges. “The E-XC was so good it almost felt like I was cheating as it was that easy to ride. I race in the veteran class and I finished as good, if not better, on the E-XC as I did my four-stroke. I was never lower than 29th and had a best of 12th overall out of 129 riders. “Extreme is a dead engine start, so the electric bike destroyed everyone on the holeshot as you just twist and go, and the nimbleness of the E-XC through the trees was amazing. The only slight disadvantage was its short wheelbase made it tricky dropping off rocks and when it was slippery the battery lasted less time as you have no clutch so it span up more, eating power faster. “Extreme is a nine or ten-lap race and I could do two or three laps (about 30 mins) before a battery change where a petrol bike might only stop once, but it only took 15 seconds to swap batteries. The latest E-XC will do closer to 50 mins on a battery. “The best thing about racing the E-XC was as you have no engine noise, when you reached a tricky section you could hear spectators say ‘here comes that electric bike’ and laugh. Once you easily cleared the section all you heard was ‘bloody hell...’”