The Yamaha YZ250F-based electric motocross bike will be powerful enough to compete against 250cc internal-combustion bikes. A prototype will be ready by the end of this year.
The new EMX machine is slowly becoming a reality on the drawing board of startup SPIKE in Helmond, where an electric drive is being built into an existing Yamaha YZ250F chassis. “I am convinced that the electric motorcycle we build will soon be faster than the current generation of dirt bikes,” says Bas Verkaik of SPIKE. “The higher torque of the electric motor is a big advantage and enables much higher traction on the circuit.”
SPIKE is a relatively new company founded in 2017 and based in The Netherlands. SPIKE is actually a spinoff from STORM Eindhoven, a project in which the team developed an electric motorcycle. This vehicle, STORM WAVE has an electric range of 400 km from its modular and swappable battery pack. In 2016, they took this motorcycle around the world in 80 days, to demonstrate the potential of electric mobility.
The battery that will power the motorcycle is developed by SPIKE, while Dohms is responsible for the drive and weight distribution. The battery is easily swappable, allowing for back-to-back motos if you have enough battery packs.
Dohms Projecten B.V.is another tech company based in The Netherlands, it’s developing the motor, drivetrain and chassis layout. Details about the motor have not yet been released.
Yamaha Motor Europe is also onboard with the electric motocross bike project and excited to see the result. “We are happy to support this project as we feel it is important to boost developments in electric technology. We are very much looking forward to test and evaluate the prototype to understand how the technology from Dohms and SPIKE performs in our YZF chassis”, says Leon Oosterhof from Yamaha Motor Europe’s Product Planning Division.
The governing body for motorcycle racing in The Netherlands, Royal Dutch Motorcyclists Association, supports the project, seeing it as a step in the right direction for ensuring the future of motocross racing. “I am a huge fan of motocross, as well as the associated smell of petrol and the sound of crackling engines ”, says Patrice Assendelft, director of the KNMV. “So we really don’t give up on traditional combustion engines yet, but we also have to look into future possibilities. Especially if race circuits increasingly face restrictions, we must be prepared for the future. An electric MX machine, which emits no harmful substances and makes no noise, could make it easier to practice motocross.”
For updates, visit www.emx-powertrain.com
