TECH
There are loads of hybrid cars, so where are all the hybrid bikes?
The company who just bought Norton are close to launching their first hybrid motorcycle. The TVS Zeppelin is a 220cc cruiser that uses a beefed-up starter motor/ generator to add torque when needed – you press a button to get the boost. It’s an interesting idea, so why aren’t there dozens of hybrid bikes on the market? The technology, after all, is old hat. It’s 23 years since the first Toyota Prius brought hybrids to the mainstream and now most car firms are dedicated to the idea. Bike manufacturers haven’t completely ignored hybrids – Piaggio launched the three-wheeled MP3 Hybrid in 2009, combining a 125cc single with a 2.6kw electric motor and a lithium battery that could be recharged either by plugging into the mains or using the petrol engine and regenerative braking.
It illustrated the versatility of hybrids, allowing the bike to be used in all-electric mode at low speeds for up to 12 miles but with none of the range problems of a pure electric bike. What’s more, it offered a claimed 85% improvement in acceleration compared with a normal 125 when both power sources were harnessed together. However, it was heavy, slow, cost £7000 and was not a success.
So close and yet so far
Yamaha have pushed development too, showing an art-deco-inspired cruiser concept that combined an R6 engine with a hybrid electric system. It had a CVT transmission that used planetary gears to seamlessly mix petrol and electric power as well as battery charging. However, just as Yamaha were going to push it into production, the 2008 financial crisis hit and it’s not been seen since.
Honda spent years working on a hybridised version of the Goldwing, lopping off the front two of the six
showed how a ZX-6R with such a system might offer ZX-10R levels of acceleration in a compact package. Suzuki’s patents show they have been inspired by F technology, developing an insanely complex hybrid sports bike with a turbocharged fourcylinder engine. Like current F cars, it featured an electric motor/generator unit connected to the transmission to boost acceleration and a second motor/ generator to spool up the turbocharger.
What’s the big problem?
Any hybrid has two powertrains – a petrol engine complete with its transmission, fuel system and tank, and an electric motor, its control unit and batteries. On a car, with lots of space, a high price and little emphasis on weight-saving that’s not a problem. But on bikes it’s a nightmare.
The idea of ZX- R power from a ZX-6R motor sounds great, but would you pay significantly more for a heavier machine that offered negligible improvements in performance and fuel economy over a ZX- R? Perhaps India’s TVS have come up with a genius innovation with their new Zeppelin – we hope so – but the likelihood is like all the motorcycle hybrids before it, the Zeppelin will either float off into peaceful anonymity, or crash and burn.
‘Any hybrid has two powertrains – a petrol engine and an electric… on bikes that’s a nightmare’