A team of 23 students from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands is causing a storm, taking off for a 14,300-mile trip around the world. The center of all the excitement is the STORM Wave, a revolutionary development in electric motorcycles developed by group of several independent companies. While we at THUNDER PRESS remain partial to recycling dinosaur hydrocarbons (the internal combustion engine), even we skeptics took notice when noting the bike’s specs. The motorcycle uses a modular battery pack that delivers 28.5 kWh that, when combined with the electric motor generating a nominal 35 kW (max 70 kW), can propel the bike to a top speed of 100 mph and accelerate from 0–60 in five seconds.
While it is interesting that the STORM Wave is capable of covering 235 miles without charging, the most applauded aspect is that since the battery is a modular unit, it can be exchanged with a second fully-charged battery within seven minutes, doubling the bike’s range. While that little bit of propaganda sounds great on the surface, there is a weight factor to take into consideration. Without the modular battery the bike weighs 352 lbs. Adding the battery jumps the weight up to a whopping grand total of 750 lbs. We figure that’s why they needed 23 students since lugging 400 lb. batteries in and out of motorcycles in seven minutes must be exhausting work. With all the promise electric bikes hold, it seems plausible that the reliable combustion mode of two-wheel transport will continue to be around for a while.
