The wandering wires that wind their way through most electric-drive vehicles are a sign of a design flaw, says Michael Czysz, and it is one that he wanted to eliminate when his MotoCzysz LLC began creating its electric racing motorcycle.
“Others will take an existing bike and add batteries,” Czysz said during the Industrial Designers Society of America annual conference, held Aug. 4-7 in Portland. The problem with that approach is that the most important part of the electric bike — the battery and engine — are merely jerry-rigged into an existing frame.
By starting with the battery, MotoCzysz created a bike in which the battery pack connected directly into the operating components through its carbon-fiber frame, creating a streamlined motorcycle that has hit more than 140 mph.
Now Czysz — pronounced “sizz” — is taking the Portland-based MotoCzysz technology breakthrough into wider use through an agreement with Remy Electric Motors LLC. The deal will create a drive system for both cars and motorcycles.
Czysz had been seeking a partner for the technology that he sees as vital to making electric-drive vehicles a more competitive option when he spoke at the IDSA event. Less than two weeks later, MotoCzysz and Remy Electric — part of Remy International Inc. of Pendleton, Ind. — announced its agreement.
“Electric drives are the purest and best solution to propel the majority of automobiles around the world,” he said.
Czysz's family history in motorcycle racing dates back to his grandparents, but his first career was in architecture and interior design. MotoCzysz has combined the two sides of his history, with speed and function playing a part along with an aesthetic outlook. Its traditional racing bikes already were using carbon-fiber frames he developed, and when the company took on electric drive, it continued its use of new materials for the frame as well as expanding its view of ways to package those ideas.
The battery pack on the E1PC motorcycle that Czysz has speed tested at the Isle of Man Time Trial, for instance, turned to prototyping technology.
“We couldn't afford the tooling for regular molding, so we used a [three-dimensional] printer for the battery pack,” he said.
Plugging into the frame and avoiding unneeded wires is more than aesthetics, however. The company says it has 93 percent efficiency through direct connections, compared to 70 to 80 percent for other electric vehicles.
MotoCzysz used a motor from Remy in the E1PC in the 37.7 mile time trial, and posted an average speed of 94.6 mph, just missing a $10,000 prize for any electric motorcycle able to hit a 100-mph average.
Now the arrangement with Remy and MotoCzysz to create the “D1g1tal Dr1ve” system will make the system available in motorcycles as well as electric cars, where it would be packaged as a “super axle” located between the two drive wheels.
“Remy and MotoCzysz have the experience and technology to make this remarkable propulsion system the new industry standard for electric automobiles,” Remy CEO John Weber said.