With the decision of Dorna and FIM to pull the plug from the Motoe World Championship after this season, the Chapter Electric Racing appears to be closed for the time being. But at Ducati in Borgo Panigale, the research is just full.
The Motoe deal with Dorna was primarily a testing ground for Ducati: building internal know-how, collecting data and seeing if the technology is ready for an electric street bike that would be worthy of the Ducati name.
Thanks to the 18 riders on the Motoe grid, Ducati has been able to bring in mountains of data in recent years. It even resulted in a weight saving of 8.2 kilos in the battery pack of the V21L prototype, but still not enough to give an electric racer the same power-to-weight as a MotoGP machine with gasoline engine.
That is why Ducati is now fully focusing on new battery technologies. Together with Volkswagen Group, Audi and Powerco, research is being conducted into Solid-State batteries with higher energy density. On the IAA Mobility in Munich, the first prototype of the V21L with Quantumscape Solid-State Cells was shown on 8 September-an important step forward, although the road to an electric “MotoGP-Ducati” was long for a long time.
In short: Motoe may be put in the fridge, Ducati uses the experience gained to prepare for the future. Because if the technology is ever there, Borgo Panigale wants to be in front.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.