Prague, Aug 19 (CTK) – Experts and students from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of West Bohemia University in Plzen have developed an electromotorcycle whose riding properties are identical with a classical 125 to 250 cc volume motorcycle and they are now looking for a producer, daily Pravo writes yesterday.
It cost 160,000 crowns to make the prototype of the motorcycle with a sporting design, which has the working title Electricite, Josef Formanek, head of the development team, told Pravo.
“Conventional motorcycles in this class are available for 90,000 to 180,00 crowns,” Formanek said.
“We printed some of the component parts on a 3D printer,” he said and added that it took one year to implement the idea.
“It was a great challenge because money for similar projects are difficult to gather in the university environment. Grants and sponsors also helped us,” Formanek said.
He said a common socket suffices to recharge the motorcycle that can be tailored to the customer’s requirements, from the engine whose performance can be three-times bigger than the 11 kilowatts of the prototype, to the gearbox that can be either automatic or manual.
The motorcycle can be built for both brisk and calmer riding. “It would be ideal for driving schools,” Formanek said.
However, it is not sure whether the university will find a producer.
Formanek said the West Bohemia University has developed one interesting electric-powered vehicle annually, including a go-cart, a retro-style car and a chopper, but it has not found any seriously interested firm.
“This is a problem of the entire academic sphere,” university rector Miroslav Holecek admitted for Pravo.
“There are excellent ideas, able students, designers. But the question of what commercial firms consider interesting for their business is only dealt with when the prototype is ready,” Holecek said.
He said the university should cooperate with the relevant firms in projects where it sees a commercial potential right from the beginning.
($1=24.427 crowns)
