A custom frame, 275 hp, 25 kWh electric race bike being designed by a bunch of college bozos to put Ducati on their ass.

SparkElectricRacing

SparkElectricRacing

100 µW
Joined
May 8, 2023
Messages
9
Location
Ann Arbor, MI
What's up Endless Sphere, we’re SPARK Electric Racing from the University of Michigan and we build electric motorcycles. We are in the midst of a new build and as we shift from design to manufacturing, we want to share our journey. For the past year, our team of about 50 students has been designing a bike that we hope to race in Moto America and maybe the Isle of Man if they ever bring back the tt zero. The performance we are shooting for is pretty nutty.

Here are the Specs.

Motor: 200 kW, 19,000 rpm Helix SPC 177-79.
Controller: Cascadia CM200
1683601389408.png
ehelix.com

SPM177 Platform | Electric Motor | Helix UK

The SPC, SPM177 platforms are ideally employed where high power is required, yet radial package is limited.
ehelix.com ehelix.com

Battery: Custom-built 186S 8P pack with Samsung 50S 21700. 25 kWh 800 V 400 A.

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Frame and Swingarm: Fully custom design, low-pressure cast aluminum with 3D printed sand mold.

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1683601389473.png







1683601389524.png
Early rendering of the design.

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Our first bike, Atlas.

Let us know if you have any questions, we are excited to share this project and see what other people are building too!
 
Specs are very impressive, love to see the finished bike and the performance facts.
It´s quite a different setup than the chineses motor powered "low voltages" bikes, most of the peaople here are staying under 120Vdc.
 
Great project! Will follow your progress.
How will the gear reduction be designed/built? Direct from motor sprocket to rear wheel sprocket via chain or will there be a gear reduction unit?
 
Always fun to watch the progress of a race team.

Here's a blog you may find interesting.
Lightfighter
Lightfighter ... Zero Brian has been at it a while ...
Does Atlas have a blog ?

Happy trails
 
j bjork said:
Looks impressive, but what is your thought on the battery?
Do you mean that you will draw 50A on each cell? (8p, 400A)
Isnt the 35A max already probably on the high side?
Click to expand...
Good catch! We actually ordered a few samples of the 50S cells and did a bench test on a cycler where we simulated a race based on telemetry data from the Isle of Man. We were pushing 50 amps through the cell in short bursts with no problem towards the bottom of the discharge when we needed to make up for power.
1683650894148.png
 
SlowCo said:
Great project! Will follow your progress.
How will the gear reduction be designed/built? Direct from motor sprocket to rear wheel sprocket via chain or will there be a gear reduction unit?
Click to expand...
Were designing a custom gearbox to bolt on the motor, then a sprocket and chain to the rear wheel. 19,000 rpm is way too high to go direct to the rear wheel.
 
CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING said:
What kept you using circular cells instead of pouch cells?
Click to expand...
We wanted to make the battery structural like an engine would be in a typical sportbike. Also, with the cylindrical cells, we can contour the battery to fit nicely in the belly and not be a giant brick like a pouch cell battery would be. Cylindrical cells are probably less energy dense but we make up for it by packing them in super tight.
 
PaPaSteve said:
Always fun to watch the progress of a race team.

Here's a blog you may find interesting.
Lightfighter
Lightfighter ... Zero Brian has been at it a while ...
Does Atlas have a blog ?

Happy trails
Click to expand...
We've heard of the Lightfighter build and love the content they put out. We don't have a blog but we have a website SPARK Electric Racing The reason we started posting on this forum is because we're gauging interest in our build and might start up a series on Youtube later this summer.
 
j bjork said:
These motors looked real nice, I suppose they have a substantial price tag as well?
Click to expand...
Substantial would be an understatement. If we manage to get our hands on it, it would likely be on the order of 20,000 to 30,000 USD. Haven't really been able to get an exact quote from them and haven't heard of any other small teams using them but we're in conversation. The only thing we have seen is Triumph doing the TE1 prototype using them.
 
Well ... If your shooting for unobtainable motors ...
Have you seen the Koenigsegg electric motor ?
It's an interesting combination of radial flux and axial flux.
Very high power to weight ratio.
His cars and engineering are rather expensive though and may never trickle down to the average $20,000 ~ $30,000 buyer. :eek:

Clean Technica article

FT Share article
 
Very interested in your controller and BMS choices with a battery voltage that high. Presumably you'll be building those components from scratch?
 
PaPaSteve said:
Well ... If your shooting for unobtainable motors ...
Have you seen the Koenigsegg electric motor ?
It's an interesting combination of radial flux and axial flux.
Very high power to weight ratio.
His cars and engineering are rather expensive though and may never trickle down to the average $20,000 ~ $30,000 buyer. :eek:

Clean Technica article

FT Share article
Click to expand...
The Koenigsegg was high on our wishlist until we found out that it cost $500,000.
 
harrisonpatm said:
Very interested in your controller and BMS choices with a battery voltage that high. Presumably you'll be building those components from scratch?
Click to expand...
BMS is going to be semi-custom. For the controller, we are going with an off-the-shelf Cascadia CM200 to start with and maybe look into a custom design for a later iteration. Our electrical team already has their hands full with the BMS. The plan is to repackage existing evaluation board designs from TI and disperse those around the modules for different 16S groups. Kind of a huge undertaking with so many batteries as you can imagine.

 
Looking very promising guys! Building a fast custom race bike is hard, but not impossible.
Ducati MotoE bike is impressive, but I'm confident Voltron can match them with a new battery ;) I'm building a new 12 kWh pack at the moment.
I'm all in on team cylindrical now - pouches are just a lot more hassle. They deliver the amps, and some of the amp-hours, but 5 times the headaches with compression and physical constraint.
 
As you are considering currently unobtainable motors, maybe you have seen the H3X products from the USA, as linked in another thread..
www.h3x.tech

H3X | Electric Aircraft Propulsion

Ultra high power density integrated motor drives for electric aircraft.
www.h3x.tech www.h3x.tech
250 kw, 2600 rpm, 16 kg, inclusive of inverter and reduction gearbox !😲
 
jonescg said:
Looking very promising guys! Building a fast custom race bike is hard, but not impossible.
Ducati MotoE bike is impressive, but I'm confident Voltron can match them with a new battery ;) I'm building a new 12 kWh pack at the moment.
I'm all in on team cylindrical now - pouches are just a lot more hassle. They deliver the amps, and some of the amp-hours, but 5 times the headaches with compression and physical constraint.
Click to expand...
OK How much does Voltron weigh? O P Atlas is apparently weightless - no reply at all.
 
Stealth_Chopper said:
OK How much does Voltron weigh? O P Atlas is apparently weightless - no reply at all.
Click to expand...
With the 6 kWh LiPo battery it was 175 kW at the wheel, and 214 kg race-ready.
The new battery will probably make it 220 kg, but have twice the range, and only 145 kW. Need more money for lightweight go-fast bits.
 
Two wheels, two contacts with every perceived reality while Leaning over facing that tarmac and sliding along through any weather is the toughest .
A noble effort, But you've seen Ducatis race and these electrics have no chance after the first drag race :
Panigali 172kg. Desmosedici GP 153kg 'Warhorses'
I'll stop now.
 
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