In July 2020, students at the University of Warwick have unveiled the Aurora, their very first Superbike project. Based on a Honda Fireblade, the group of students built an electric motor, battery, cooling systems and all the necessary components to create an electric Superbike. They had started the project well before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with the intention of taking part in TT Zero on the Isle of Man. Destiny would have it otherwise, but their project was not stopped.
As one might expect, building any type of racing motorcycle is expensive. The same goes for new technologies. When you combine the two, as does Warwick Motorcycle, it is important to have good sponsors on your side. Fortunately, in October 2020, Norton Motorcycles provided significant support to the Warwick Moto teams.
Norton donated a motorcycle frame and shared various data with the students, who were also able to interact with experienced Norton engineers. It allows them to tap into this repository of knowledge that you really can't get anywhere else. Sometimes the biggest benefits are intangible.
Team Warwick Motorcycle has thus created its new electric superbike, called Frontier, based on what it had previously developed, combined with Norton's new frame and new data. The electric powertrain develops 160 kW, the equivalent of 201 hp and 400 Nm. At this stage of development, the team has not revealed the weight of the bike.
The battery, which Warwick Moto designed and built in-house, is immersion cooled. The team uses robust thermal management strategies to help the battery last longer, as well as to better handle the short-term power spikes required on racing motorcycles. This immersive cooling system can also help the team set precise temperature requirements for optimal performance on each track, based on real-time conditions.
The battery can reach a full charge in just one hour. This makes it easier for the team to continue testing on track without a ton of downtime.
“Since we started the Warwick Moto project, the overall goal has always been to learn and improve our engineering experience. We gained hands-on experience in our research that is required to deliver a real-world project, as well as considerations such as tight budgets and deadlines, while learning the logistics and everything related to delivering an industrial project . "It made us even more proud of the Frontier's appearance," said the chief engineer of Warwick Motorcycle, Aman Surana, in a press release.
“Having access to the Norton engineering team, years of experience and data was a great resource, integral to the design of the motorcycle. Combining Norton's motorcycle knowledge and WMG's cutting-edge research, the University of Warwick has been a fantastic learning opportunity for all students involved. We are very excited to see what this collaboration leads to,” he concluded.
