We first told you about Warwick Moto back in February, 2020. It’s an enterprising, multi-disciplinary group of University of Warwick students focused on building an electric superbike to compete in UK road races. By February, Isle of Man TT organizers had already announced that no TT Zero would run in 2020 or 2021, well before the 2020 IOMTT event was scrapped entirely due to the ongoing global pandemic. Still, Warwick Moto said at the time that it hopes to compete in TT Zero in 2022, provided the series picks back up again.
Even if it doesn’t, interest in electric motorcycles—including superbikes—is only growing. As such, Warwick Moto proudly unveiled its first-ever electric superbike design, the Aurora, in July, 2020. The team plans to race it ‘when appropriate,’ following the successful resolution of the coronavirus pandemic. Racer Tom Weeden still plans to put the Aurora through its paces once physical racing (as opposed to virtual racing) is a more regular calendar feature.
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Warwick Moto says that the finished bike makes about 200 horsepower, or 150kW, along with 400Nm (or 295 lb-ft.) of torque. Current top speed rating is 160mph. Other features include an oil-cooled 17kWh battery, a carbon fiber subframe, and what the team says is a ‘uniquely positioned radiator to maximize the cooling to the powertrain components.” All told, the finished Aurora superbike weighs 260 kilograms, or 573 pounds.
While Warwick Moto has brought more sponsors onboard, including Michelin and UK motorsports supplier Demon Tweeks, the team is still in the midst of crowdfunding efforts to raise a little more money to finalize Aurora. At this point, the team says that it has done what it could with the budget it had, but that it could make an even better bike if it had a little more money. Anyone familiar with the ins and outs of motorsports and racing development knows this particular tune quite well by now. If you’re interested and able to help, you can find the crowdfunding campaign here.
Sources: YouTube, Warwick Moto