After setting a total of eleven new speed records in 2020 at Châteauroux airfield in France, the team does not want to rest on its electric laurels. Although this is often the case with top performers, Voxan also has another reason to want to stay ahead: competition. British company White Motorcycle Concepts is currently aiming to break Voxan's existing records, so Voxan naturally wants to beat them in first.
Initially, the Voxan Wattman should have driven on a salt desert in Bolivia in July 2020, but the health situation at the time made the trip unthinkable. Since then, It was on the runway at Châteauroux airport (France) that the team set 11 world speed records 1 year ago.
The asphalt having proven to be an interesting surface, the Wattman – modified to adapt to it – will continue its program on another runway, that of the Space Florida takeoff and landing facilities at the Kennedy Space Center (Florida, USA). From this Monday, November 15, this is where the first very high speed tests will be carried out.
The Wattman has fallen below the 300 kilo mark, which allows it to compete in said category. The weight gain is mainly due to a new design of the Voxan-Saft battery, both mechanical and electrical. Saft, a French subsidiary of the TotalEnergies company, is particularly specialized in very high-power, high-performance batteries. The accumulators used, in “pouch” format, make it possible to develop nearly eighty times their energy compared to around ten times for standard products on the market, and are assembled in modules allowing in particular the management of their cooling by a recently patented process, for an ultra-optimized level of compactness.
The powertrain remains the Mercedes EQ from Formula E which delivers a power of 320 kW (compared to 270 on the previous version) and offers a torque at the wheel of 1 Nm.
Among the other notable differences with the previous Wattman, the dimensions: for the purposes of stability and penetration in the air, the wheelbase increases to 1 mm (957 previously) and the saddle height now peaks at 1 mm ( against 800 until then). Note that in the event of significant side winds, the team will now have the option of fitting a fairing which offers less wind resistance.
Regarding tire fitting, historic partner Michelin worked on specific tires for this challenge. The front 120/70-17 is a MICHELIN Power GP tire modified to accept very high speeds. For the 190/55-17 rear, Michelin relied on its technologies proven in MotoGP to develop a tire with more grip. The challenge is to harness all of the extraordinary torque from the Wattman's electric motor, allowing it to accelerate as quickly as possible without spinning.
When the new Wattman is perfected, new speed records will be attempted; certainly before the end of the first half of 2022.
Like last year, Max Biaggi and Voxan will then face the timing cells with 2 types of motorcycle, for 2 distinct categories: “semi-faired” (traditional sports motorcycle) and “naked” (roadster without aerodynamic element).
