Tork India’s FZ Electric-Battery Powered Brutality Yamaha’s FZ 16 has been a greatly appreciated bike. The street look it brought was fresh and came at a time when the concept was still catching on. The FZ has a nice set of wide tyres, which let’s face it are a rarity in entry level performance bikes. The FZ manages the 0-100 km/h run in about 15 seconds. Move up the line to the lightweight KTM Duke 200, which manages it in just short of 10 seconds. Tork India decided to pull the plug on the petrol I.C.E and plug in a pack of Duracells. Well, not literally of course, but the Electric FZ with its battery powered motor, manages the 0-100 km/h run in 8.7 seconds! Electric vehicles haven’t become a popular concept in India. A lot of cars have supporting electric motors, but an entirely electric vehicle is far from practical. The FZ electric is a look at the future. Above all else its performance put all apprehensions and prejudices related to electric vehicles being slow, put to rest. After all it was an electric bike that demolished 82 gas burning super-bikes in the peak spike international hill climb by a margin of 20 seconds! The bike made by Tork India is powered by an electric motor that is bolted onto an FZ 16. The motor can be designed to fit almost any other bike. Kapil Shelke, Director, Tork Motors India says the FZ has a very common frame, hence if the company can make a bolt on motor for the FZ, they can make it for 90% of Indian motorcycles. Here’s the cherry on top. Since the motor is bolted on to the frame and works as a stressed member, the entire conversion process, takes just around 4 hours! To put this in perspective, in the time a petrol FZ 16 goes from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar, another FZ has now gone green. Not to mention, electric motors deliver all their torque from the word go. So, by the time the petrol FZ rider washes his hands after lunch, the electric FZ rider has reached the same place and is now jonesing for a well deserved beer. Or is he? Well here’s the catch. The electric bike has no gear, so transmission loss and engine braking are non-existent. However, the issue of the range comes in here. On a full charge the bike will manage a range of 40 kms when pushed hard. 70kms when used modestly. Now comes the biggest issue i.e. the price. The drive-train alone costs around Rs 4 lakh, making this marvel a great work in progress, but not a practical or affordable reality for now.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 02:38:30 +0000
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