At this year's Salon de la Moto in Paris, behold Voxan's hulking new
Wattman. It may weigh nearly 800 pounds, but it zips from zero to 100mph
in 5.9 seconds.
The usual suspects like Honda, Yamaha, and BMW were at the Salon de la Moto, but the motorcycle that really stood out was a massive all-electric machine called the Wattman from Voxan Motors.
The French company debuted the unusual machine here at the sprawling
show dedicated to motorcycles, scooters, and off-road four-wheelers.
Although bystanders gave it a lot of attention, don't expect it to
unseat any of the industry's incumbent players: they'll be built by
hand, one at a time, for an "exclusive international clientele."
The Voxan Wattman is a hulking machine, weighing 772 pounds and stretching 7.7 feet long. But it's powerful: its 200-horsepower motor, with torque of 200 newton-meters, outclasses a Ducati Monster 1200S whose 1,998cc engine produces 106 horsepower with torque of 113Nm.
It'll accelerate from 0 to 100mph in 5.9 seconds. Its top speed is 106mph.
The 12.8kWh battery, enough for a range of about 110 miles, is hidden away behind inside an aluminum exoskeleton, a smooth surface that contrasts strongly with most motorcycles' combustion-engine complexities.
It takes less than 30 minutes to charge the battery to 80 percent capacity using a high-voltage, the company said
Voxan was founded in 1995, but Gildo Pallanca Pastor acquired it in 2010 and is trying to use the Wattman to revive the brand name. Pallanca Pastor also is the chief of electric vehicle maker Venturi Automobiles, whose designer Sacha Lakic also designed the Wattman.
The usual suspects like Honda, Yamaha, and BMW were at the Salon de la Moto, but the motorcycle that really stood out was a massive all-electric machine called the Wattman from Voxan Motors.
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| Voxon Motors' Wattman has a swooping seat and a belt-driven rear wheel. Its top speed is 170kph, or 106mph. |
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| A view of the Voxan Motors Wattman's rear wheel and suspension. |
The Voxan Wattman is a hulking machine, weighing 772 pounds and stretching 7.7 feet long. But it's powerful: its 200-horsepower motor, with torque of 200 newton-meters, outclasses a Ducati Monster 1200S whose 1,998cc engine produces 106 horsepower with torque of 113Nm.
It'll accelerate from 0 to 100mph in 5.9 seconds. Its top speed is 106mph.
The 12.8kWh battery, enough for a range of about 110 miles, is hidden away behind inside an aluminum exoskeleton, a smooth surface that contrasts strongly with most motorcycles' combustion-engine complexities.
It takes less than 30 minutes to charge the battery to 80 percent capacity using a high-voltage, the company said
Voxan was founded in 1995, but Gildo Pallanca Pastor acquired it in 2010 and is trying to use the Wattman to revive the brand name. Pallanca Pastor also is the chief of electric vehicle maker Venturi Automobiles, whose designer Sacha Lakic also designed the Wattman.