Source: press release Triumph Motorcycles | Project TE-1 is a unique collaboration between four major UK industry and academic leaders – Triumph Motorcycles, Williams Advanced Engineering, Integral Powertrain Ltd.’s e-Drive Division, and WMG, at the University of Warwick. Project TE-1 is funded by the UK Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), and delivered through Innovate UK.
“The completion of Phase 2, and the promising results achieved to date, provide an exciting glimpse of the potential electric future and showcase the talent and innovation of this unique British collaboration. Without doubt the outcome of this project will play a significant part in our future efforts to meet our customer’s ambition and desire to reduce their environmental impact and for more sustainable transportation.” said Nick Bloor, Triumph CEO.
Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE)
Dyrr Ardash, Senior Commercial Manager:
“We are delighted to be working on this project, working to deliver next-generation battery technology and control systems. Within the current landscape, most electric motorcycle technology arguably delivers compromised performance at low levels of battery charge. By using a lightweight, compact solution we have been able to give the rider all of the performance all of the time (regardless of battery charge), and a class leading range. We have focussed on pushing the boundaries to reduce mass and optimise frame position to benefit handling. We have also pushed the limits of battery performance, balancing the design for acceleration and range, with simulations modelled on track-based riding. In other words, as aggressive as possible,” said Dyrr Ardash, Senior Commercial Manager, Williams Advanced Engineering. “The energy density of this new battery will be a significant step forward from existing technology giving the rider more power, for longer. WAE has also designed and developed an electronic control unit from the ground-up combining the battery management system with the bike control functions in one package. This is a first for this market, benefiting packaging and integration whilst optimising performance and range.”
Integral Powertrain LTD.’s E-Drive Division
Andrew Cross, Chief Technical Officer:
“One of the most influential factors in how well a motorcycle handles and performs is mass, so at Integral Powertrain we have focused heavily on making a step change in motor and inverter design, removing heavy high voltage cables for example. This delivers a product that is significantly more compact and lighter than anything currently available on the market. The motor produces 130kW or almost 180 horsepower, but weighs only 10 kilograms, much lighter than existing technology and clearly a small fraction of the mass of traditional internal combustion engines.” said Andrew Cross, Chief Technical Officer at Integral Powertrain Ltd. “The silicon carbide switch technology in our new scalable integrated inverter will help set new standards in terms of electric motorcycle efficiency; application of this technology means a lighter weight overall with significantly more performance and range. In parallel, we have a very strong focus on design for manufacture and assembly activity, so that all this high motor and inverter performance can be offered cost-effectively. Ultimately, this is really going to be an industry-leading powertrain that will help define the future of electric mobility. With the TE-1 project we are proud to be part of this landmark project for British industry.”
WMG, at the University of Warwick
Truong Quang Dinh, Assistant Professor of Energy Management and Control Systems:
“Our creation of initial computer-based simulation models at the start of Phase 1 has been instrumental in ensuring that the component selection was appropriate to achieve the performance targets defined by the partners for the TE-1 Prototype. We have continued with this work across Phase 2 of the project, refining the models to a much more complex level to allow us and the partners to imitate further components on the bike such as braking, throttle, lighting and other systems and mimic real-world riding to provide development opportunities before components were fully designed. Additionally we have created a physical rig wired with all of the control units, in order to implement a design validation test programme to ensure the function of each section was within the allowable range.” said Truong Quang Dinh, Assistant Professor of Energy Management and Control Systems at WMG, University of Warwick.
Triumph Motorcycles
Steve Sargent, Triumph’s Chief Product Officer:
“The starting point for us in the TE-1 project was to gather important customer feedback about what riders really want from their motorcycles and understand how an electric motorcycle can provide the experience that riders desire. This includes considering the type of riding, range, feel and nature of power and torque delivery together with the ergonomics and bike controls. Taking all of this feedback into consideration we began the chassis design, focusing on bringing everything together on the TE-1 Prototype in a way that provides a riding experience that is exciting and new but ultimately familiar. We have begun to define the powertrain and battery interaction through the use of software refinement to deliver an exhilarating power delivery and throttle response, which provides great control and feels intuitive to the rider. Overall with the styling we wanted to create something that is fresh and exciting but a natural evolution of the Triumph brand. Something desirable in its own right, with distinctive Triumph DNA and definitely not something that is different just for the sake of being different. Pulling all of this together with the partners we are thrilled to see the progress of such an exciting demonstration vehicle which incorporates the cutting-edge technology needed to guide the strategy for the future roadmap of electric motorcycles from Triumph. The team are proud to be leading such an innovative, strong and dynamic project with a fantastic group of partners which ultimately should set British engineering and design rightly at the forefront of future 2 wheel design.”
Office for Zero Emission Vehicles
Jon Bray – Research & Development (R&D) Lead:
“Investment in Research and Development is key to our mission of putting the UK at the forefront of the design, manufacture and use of zero emission vehicles. By supporting these technologies, we are helping to deliver our road transport decarbonisation goals, while anchoring economic activity across the UK, which will support the green recovery in the wake of the pandemic. This is why the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles continues to design and fund a series of R&D competitions, which support UK innovation in developing zero emission vehicle and charging infrastructure technologies. Triumph’s TE-1 project is part of our diverse R&D portfolio of ambitious electrification projects, which are addressing challenges in line with our accelerated phase-out ambitions of petrol and diesel cars and vans and electric vehicle commitments in the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan. We are excited to see that our funding is supporting Triumph Motorcycles in driving forward innovation and capability in the electric motorcycle space, while fostering collaboration between several pioneering UK companies”.
Innovate UK
Dr Francesca Iudicello CEng MIMechE – Programme Manager – Automotive Zero Emission Vehicles:
“Innovate UK has worked in close partnership with the Office of Zero Emission Office to deliver the integrated delivery programme since 2013. This provides funding to ground-breaking innovation in the automotive sectors for zero emission vehicle technologies from proof of concept to vehicle demonstration. The TE-1 project is a part of this programme under the IDP15 competition and is aligned with the road to zero policy and marks an important milestone towards zero emission vehicles and the race to net
zero. We are proud to have delivered the funding for this project which is a pioneering project for the zeroemission vehicle motorcycle manufacturing in the UK as it has successfully developed, thanks to a very talented group of innovators, the very first Triumph electric motorcycle in a very quick development time and prepared the groundwork for the future of electric motorcycles.”
More info at Triumph Motorcycles
All pictures copyright Triumph Motorcycles
