1. Curtiss Zeus
Custom bike builders Confederate motorcycles have assumed a new avatar – Curtiss motorcycles, and are going all-electric. From the house that gave us the awe-inspiring hellcat, comes the Zeus Radial V8 – named after the way its battery pack has been designed to resemble a V8 and is laid out at the spot where a motorcycle engine is placed. Though they are foraying into electric motorcycles, Curtiss still has one last motorcycle model on sale – a 2163 cc V twin Petrol driven bike called the Warhawk. They have only released prototypes and concepts of the Zeus so far, including a café racer and bobber variant of it.
The Powertrain for the Zeus Radial V8 has been built in collaboration with Oxford-based engineering company -YASA, specialising in electric motors. The ‘V8’ electric powertrain produces two hundred and seventeen horsepower and almost two hundred Nm of torque. Its battery is capable of providing 16.8 kWh at 399V. The way the battery packs are designed also takes inspiration from the way that cooling takes place in motorcycle engines. Exposed when the bike is in motion, the battery ‘cylinders’ get air-cooled, keeping them at maximum efficiency throughout the ride. The Zeus Radial V8 pays tribute to the V8 motorcycle that was ridden initially by engineer Glenn Curtiss in 1907 and was capable of speeds up to 218 km/h. It will, however, be among the most expensive motorcycles one can buy at $75,000.
