Electric Superbike Wins at Silverstone

THE MIGHTY CURTIS GREEN MACHINE Welcome to the brave new world of electric racing bikes – clean, green and reliable thanks to the technology and support of Curtis Instruments the global industry leader in motor speed control, battery measurement and related electric and hybrid vehicle system technology across all sectors. Curtis’ customer of the moment is ARC EV Engineering Ltd, an engineering company near Derby, formed in 2009 specialising in electric vehicle design and build. Bike enthusiasts Brendan Rice and Matt Bagshawe - the two principals – combined their love of motorbike racing with an interest in encouraging zero-carbon growth globally, resulting in the creation of a high performance superbike perfectly suited for racing championships on the Isle of Man TT circuit and the MotoE European Championship Cup spread over five events at circuits across Europe. The notable and proud culmination of this joint partnership saw the ARC EV bike, ridden by Richie Welsh, winning recently at Silverstone! This prestigious race was the final stage of the 2014 MotoE European Championship Cup. Curtis provided their latest E Series AC motor speed controllers for the two High Performance Electric Motors from American company HPEVS, for who ARC are a European dealer. The two 1239E 500 amp controllers provide energy efficient control of AC motors performing vehicle traction drive duties which are mounted onto a specially made water cooled (via the radiator) base plate (their design and build) which helps with heat dissipation. The huge 170V battery pack sits just in front of the rider and they curve their body around it when they’re riding the bike – at speeds of up to 160mph! The superbike operation is monitored by Curtis’ enGage VII colour LCD instrument panel. This on-board CAN compatible dash display seamlessly integrates with speed controllers and input devices to show high resolution vivid colour details of core functions like battery charge, wheel position, fuel and temperature levels. Brendan of ARC EV is delighted with this positive progress “We were very excited with our first race win, pulling out a 20 second lead at the finish line and we delivered a lot of positive interest and compliments for Curtis. Their support has always been solid and dependable whilst being flexible for our needs and ensuring safety at all times. Their VCL software language especially enables us to implement and combine key functions whilst improving cost-effective higher performance. We are looking forward to this advanced format of racing moving ahead, particularly with the appeal of these comparatively quiet and planet friendly machines which currently can reach 215mph”.

For more information on Electric Superbike Wins at Silverstone talk to Curtis Instruments (UK) Ltd