The future of MotoGP will be electric
Wolverhampton, England, United Kingdom
The electric revolution will be televised.
Carmelo Ezpeleta, head of Dorna Sports, the company that owns the commercial rights for the motorcycling sport of MotoGP announced back in May 2017 that the future of MotoGP was well and truly electric.
Confirmation of electric motorcycle and tyre suppliers were announced this week for the 2019 FIM Moto-e World Cup.
Energica is the Italian company behind the Eva and Ego electric motorcycles and they will be the sole supplier for the FIM Moto-e World Cup, providing their 'Ego' machine to the class which finished seventh in this year's Isle of Man TT Zero race. They will run a tuned version of the bike, which offers 145 horsepower and a top speed of 150mph.
The Energica Ego will be used in the Moto-e class
The naked roadster Eva is now available in the UK for £26,499 and the sportsbike Ego 45 costs £48,499. So there's still a little way to go before these prestigious battery-powered bikes are affordable enough to see on the roads.
It is reported that the Italian manufacturer beat Belgian firm Sarolea to the Moto-e contract.
It comes as no shock that electric racing will join the biggest motorcycle racing class, with more and more manufacturers turning to the battery powered motor. Companies such as Mahindra, Victory and Zero are producing machines of the future, but it's Japanese company Mugen Shinden who rule the TT Zero, the only current electric motorcycle racing class.
Get yourself familiar with the TT Zero by watching TT legend John McGuinness smash his own lap record at the 2015 Isle of Man TT, reaching 119.279mph over 37.75 miles. Hear that odd whizzing sound? That's the sound of the future of motorcycle racing.
ELECTRIC Bike! MUGEN Shinden - Lap RECORD - SES TT Zero Race - John McGuinness - TT 2015
Michelin have also announced that they will be the official tyre suppliers to the class, which comes as no shock after their MotoGP technical boss Nicolas Goubert announced he was leaving the firm to work as executive director to the Moto-e Cup.
It's expected that the initial grid will be made up of between 15 and 20 entrants with the race distance being around ten laps, which will hopefully mean that a mid-race battery change will not be necessary.
Dorna are right to be encouraging this electric class, after all this is the way road vehicles are heading. As much as I'd hate to lose the sound of a motorcycle ripping around a track, it's an exciting advancement and we are witnessing the future before our very eyes - just like those who watched the transition from two to four stroke.
The TT Zero and even Formula E are incredibly strange to watch as you completely lose the sound, something that motorcycle racing fanatics thrive on. But one thing is for sure, the electric revolution will be televised (most likely on BT Sport).
Let me know your thoughts on an all electric class running alongside MotoGP from 2019.
