Electric motorbike comes out on top in e-Race across London
18-mile race was undertaken to find out the quickest form of electric urban mobility.
An electric motorbike has proven to be the quickest mode of electric transport in a recent 18-mile ‘e-race’ across London.
The Super Soco TC Max saw off other electric mobility solutions – including a Porsche Taycan and a Gocycle G4 e-bike – in a race across the city.
The TC Max managed to make the journey from race organiser Move Electric’s headquarters in Twickenham to the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, in one hour and 20 minutes. It made it across the line ten minutes quicker than the next runner-up, which was the Porsche.
Though competitors could plan their own route through the city, the start and finishing points were pre-decided in order to provide a mix of routes and surfaces.
With its 5kW electric motor and 2.7kwh battery, the Super Soco can reach a top speed of 60mph while providing a range of up to 60 miles. Though the Taycan might be able to return up to 302 miles of range, it couldn’t nip through traffic as quickly as the e-motorbike.
The Porsche only crossed the line slightly ahead of the Eskuta SX-250. It’s a pedal-assisted electric bike which managed the route in an hour and 36 minutes. The Gocycle G4, meanwhile, completed the route in an hour and 43 minutes, despite its rider having to travel for much of the race without electrical assistance. It was later found that a safety feature had caused the motor to shut down.
James Attwood, Move Electric editor, said: “It’s official: if you want to get across London quickly and cleanly, you need an electric motorbike.
“With an increasingly diverse range of electric vehicles for people living in urban areas, we decided to put them to the test. It wasn’t a surprise to see the Super Soco TC Max electric motorbike lead the way, and what impressed everyone was how close the Eskuta SX-250 and Gocycle G4 e-bikes were.
“Both Atlanta and Rebecca reckoned they could go quicker now they know the route – especially with the technical issue for the G4. If we staged the race again, we think they could well have beaten the Taycan and given the TC Max a run for its money.
The Citroen Ami was the fifth and final vehicle to finish the course, crossing the line in an hour and 54 minutes. However, unlike the Taycan, this quadricycle couldn’t use the North Circular and, instead, had to crawl through central London traffic.
The only vehicle which failed to complete the race was a rental electric scooter. E-scooters can only be legally ridden on UK roads that are part of government-approved rental schemes, However, since Stratford isn’t included in Transport for London’s e-scooter scheme, the scooter wasn’t able to reach the finish line.
