Emula Concept: An Electric Sportbike Pretending To Be An ICE-powered Motorcycle
The bike uses a unique McFly system and a virtual gearbox
A number of electric motorcycles have cropped up in the past that claim to offer the same experience as an ICE-powered motorcycle. But almost none of them have been able to match up to their claims -- it’s one of the downsides of having an electric motor. However, an electric bikemaker from Turin, 2electron, may just turn things around.
Enter the Emula Concept, an electric sportbike that could change the way electric bikes are perceived. It intends to emulate the riding experience of an ICE-powered motorcycle. In order to do so, the bike uses a virtual gearbox with adjustments to the power delivery, gearshift and clutch levers, and speakers placed on the chassis.
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The McFly system allows the user to select between various power plants. In other words, you could have the engine behave like a 1989 single-cylinder two-stroke, a 1999 600cc inline-four, and a 2004 800cc four-stroke twin. The system is expected to add several other bikes to its list when it hits production. This includes a 1980 125cc two-stroke or a modern superbike, so you could basically ride a new bike every other day.
Besides, the bike comes equipped with a couple of strategically placed speakers and Bass speakers that produce different exhaust notes and vibrations. Don’t mistake these engine configurations for mere sounds being played through a speaker, they actually work according to the folks from 2electron. The McFly software basically adjusts the motor tune, response and power delivery to mimic that of a petrol-powered motorcycle.
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The system is also smart enough to be aware of the gear in use and adjust the power delivery accordingly. In addition, the clutch and shift lever replicate the feeling of a gear shift as and when you change gears. The bike even gets a slipper clutch that prevents wheel hops during hard downshift.
You could choose to stay with the McFly simulation or shift to the Emula-Boring mode which switches the bike into a conventional electric motorcycle with no noise and a top speed of 250kmph (claimed). But if you were to stick to the geeky McFly mode, you could play around with four sub-modes: Real Emulation, Real Emulation, Arcade Emulation and Beginner Emulation.
The first mode mimics an ICE-motorcycle to the T. It even stalls the bike if you let go of the clutch too early without giving it enough throttle. Miss-shifts are also part of the drama. The second mode is a lot easier and probably the perfect fit for beginner riders as it's more forgiving with the above-mentioned aspects. Arcade gives you the ability to upshift or downshift without having to yank on the clutch and in the fourth ride mode, the bike basically transforms into a DCT system where the gearbox does all the work without any rider inputs.
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Almost everything can be controlled or adjusted via the bike’s 8” TFT touchscreen display. The Emula electric sportbike sure seems promising, but it’s still in its concept stage and how much of this will actually make it to the production model is anyone’s guess. Having said that, if 2electron manages to pull this off, it will change the electric bike segment forever.
Gaurav Sadanand
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