MOTO GP

MotoE Energica Ego Corsa, it's not just music
Sharing the attention of the cameras with the premiere of Moto2 Triumph engines, the drivers of the new MotoGP electric category were leaving in Jerez ready to take the first steps of a new era. The sound? As if a squadron of starfighters had taken the Andalusian facilities. But the change is not only auditory, piloting these new machines is a new challenge for all those brave who have climbed the electric car to try their luck.
The company that has dared to take the reins of MotoE has been none other than Energica, an Italian company that has become one of the referents of the sector. And I say cheeky because you have to be very sure of your product to deliver to some of the best drivers in the world to be mourned with 18 other drivers on the tracks half a world, always with the knife between your teeth. Wow, if Energica wanted to find some kind of weak point in their machines to finish fine-tuning their sporting character, they are about to find it ... and it may not always be the best viewer to the viewer, as happened to Michelin when he replaced to Bridgestone as supplier of MotoGP tires.
Electric vehicles have been fighting for years to finish convincing the user that the time of change has arrived, that they are no longer special vehicles for a few. At first it did them no favors that virtually all the models that appeared, whether on two or four wheels, would like to wear a design that, if it was so futuristic, ended up conveying the message that it was something unreal.
In 2018 the situation has changed and it has already become quite normal to see 100% electric or hybrid cars circulate around our streets and highways. Something more is costing the sector of the two wheels because they still have to put solution to the weight and space that they occupy the batteries, the main element of the electric motorcycle. The Energica EGO Corsa MotoE, the definitive version of the bike that will compete next year, is a challenge for the organization, teams and drivers. They are bikes that, without the almost infinite resources of the big corporations, have not gone through the same process of setting that can pass a Japanese superbike. Although it has been shot in circuit and performed thousands of tests, the Energica Ego Corsa still has a long way to go to find its best version.
It is driven by an oil-cooled permanent magnet synchronous motor which, thanks to a 20 kWh battery pack (almost twice as much as the standard machine but far away, logically from the 100 kWh of a Tesla P100D) is able to develop a power constant and continuous 120 kW (more than 160 hp) and a torque of 200 Nm from 0 to 5,000 rpm, higher than any bike that has been seen on the grid of a Grand Prix. Figures that, a priori, place the Italian machine in direct competition with the performance of a supersport of 600cc or a Moto2.
Its main disadvantage, as you can imagine, is the weight of the batteries. To put us in position, the base of the Ego on which it is built, weighs almost 260 kg, a number more typical of a touring. In the Corsa version in which absolutely all the elements not necessary to run have been eliminated, we can expect a more contained figure but it will hardly fall of the 230 kg. Simon Crafar, when he was able to test it in Qatar, said that "in braking you feel the weight of the batteries, the bike wants to go straight with more effort than normal. I had to pull both brakes to avoid it."But do not be fooled by the numbers, it is a race bike with all the letters. There was a similar debate years ago when Honda used the engine of its CBR 600 RR to propel Moto2, would they be series-powered motorcycles? Time and development showed us that no, Honda's Moto2 have been radical motorcycles destined for competition and very little have to do with what we can get out of the dealership. In this case, the Energica EGO Corsa has already taken the same road and wear carbon fiber dresses c In MotoE there is no gear change, no gearbox, no relationship, no clutch. For now, we can forget the task of entering with the correct gear in each curve, and of giving the perfect configuration of relations for each circuit. The drivers who have already climbed the Ego Corsa have had to focus solely and exclusively on the layout, the brakes and the throttle grip.
But even if we say goodbye to that part of the tuning work, electronics will obviously continue to play an important role, how to use the regenerative power of the engine in deceleraicones? Will they use more or less motor brakes? De Angelis, after the tests, underlined that part of the adaptation will be based on making the best use of the engine brake and the rear brake.
In addition, many have found that they will have to adapt their riding style. After her first laps, María Herrera stated that "the first feelings with MotoE have been good, the accelerator is quite smooth and reminds me of the 600: you have to make a curve through not to kill it, because you can not open gas in a violent way ".on the best selection of components from Öhlins or Brembo. And, as expected, he remembered that weight becomes a key point, "I have to understand how to stop this bike with the weight it has, this would be one of the points where you have to focus, in addition to the inertias entering a curve, since I've never ridden a motorcycle of these characteristics. " Eric Granado's speech, the only Brazilian on the grid, was very similar to Herrera's, especially pointing out that it is something completely different from what they are accustomed to.
Another one of the fears of the amateur is that, for some reason, they get boring runs or that the pilots do not really enjoy, on these bikes. Sete Gibernau, the surprising signing star of Pons Racing, declared:
"MotoE has surprised me for good in every way.It is a bike more fun than I could imagine and, despite being heavy, allows you to enjoy it on top of it.I'm very happy with this first contact and I am surely it will be a category in which times are going to be very tight. "
He was not the only one surprised with the character of the EGO Corsa, Alex De Angelis stressed that the response of the accelerator is very positive and that the weight, in Jerez, did not notice much. Josh Hook, also a Pramac Racing rider, agreed with his teammate and said he would have liked to roll more, but the batteries would not allow it. The same song sang Bradley Smith or Niki Tuuli, noting that there is much to test by varying engine settings, suspensions and brakes.
When next March comes the Spanish Grand Prix 2019, the grid will have left behind the huge differences that have been seen in the timings of these tests and everything will be ready for the new great show. Do you think they will not convince you? What is a propulsion engine? Wait and see.
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