by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) back in 2020, battery maker NAWA Technologies presented what it called back then the Racer. It was a motorcycle concept designed to showcase the company’s newest idea for a battery. More than a year has passed since then, and now we’re finally getting word of a fully rideable dynamic prototype being in the works.
That means that yes, we will not be getting a production run of the two-wheeler, at least not for now. Yet NAWA is determined to show its technological innovation has its merits, and if it succeeds, we might get to see it integrated into other electric motorcycles.
But what does the company do differently? Well, it doesn’t use a standalone lithium-ion battery but somehow integrates it with ultracapacitors. By doing so, the company promises increases in energy efficiency and battery lifetime while reducing charging times.
We’re not told in numbers what exactly that means, but the French do say the NAWACap, as it calls the tech, should provide ten times more power and five times more energy than existing ultracapacitors. The size of the battery is reduced by half, while range doubles, we’re told, although we have no idea compared to what.
The bike NAWA will be making together with AKKA Technologies, Pronergy, FAAR, and YSY Group will have an aluminum body that will integrate the battery into the chassis, thus removing the frame out of the equation. It will move along thanks to an in-wheel motor.
NAWA says the demonstrator should be ready to roll in a few months. If successful, the tech (the world’s first hybrid battery system, as the company describes it) might be adopted by others, especially considering how it has been designed to be scalable. What’s more interesting is that it could probably be adapted for cars as well, not only electric motorcycles.
