What Happened to Electric Motorcycle Roadracing?

It was 2009 and it appeared that a revolution had begun. High-level, all-electric motorcycle roadracing had arrived. 

The Victory Empulse TT taking flight in the Isle of Man TT Zero event.

Companies like Zero and Brammo had just begun launching electric, on-road motorcycles, and already there was a race event that would feature electric motorcycles on one of the largest stages for motorcycle sport—the Isle of Man TT. 

The TT organizers had created TTXGP—a one-lap (37.730 mile) race around the famous Isle of Man TT circuit on electric-powered motorcycles. The Isle of Man government ministry were notably forward-thinking, bringing electric-motorcycle racing to their event 10 years before electric motorcycles would be added to the MotoGP series with the MotoE class.

I had the privilege of attending that inaugural TTXGP (later to become TT Zero) event, as I was consulting for Brammo Motorsports at the time. Brilliant designer and engineering leader, Brian Wismann created their Brammo Enertia TTR race bike to test technology that would eventually end up in the Brammo Enertia streetbike, and would ultimately lead to Victory’s acquisition of the company and that model several years later. 

Brian Wisman and the 2009 Brammo Enertia TTRs in our pit at the Isle of Man for the inaugural TTXGP.

What I saw on the island those two weeks was raw, creative innovation. This took the form of our beautiful Best Buy-sponsored “factory” Brammos, the tech-oozing MotoCzysz entry, all the way down to home-built bikes entered by university students. Batteries, battery management systems and motors were in their infancy, and it was fascinating to see all the different takes on how to make an electric motorcycle lap the island circuit fast.

After topping 100 MPH on the Sulby Straight, we faced some technical challenges in the race that saw us finish third. The rare-earth motor magnets were demagnetizing due to the sustained loads and high heat from the wide-open sections of the TT course. These learnings directly influenced development and improvements on Brian’s future racebike and streetbikes. Rob Barber on the Team Agni machine won that inaugural TTXGP with an 87 mile-per-hour lap. 

From that first race in 2009, the tech improved and speeds increased rapidly. Brian continued to compete on the island with the Victory Empulse TT that served as the development platform for the Empulse TT streetbike that hit dealers in 2016—a true example of racing on Sunday, selling on Monday. 

Despite Brian’s Victory team giving them fits, Honda’s Mugen-entered TT Zero team took lap speeds over 120 MPH and began a six-year winning streak. This was a money-was-no-object effort led by Hirotoshi Honda, the grandson of Honda founder, Soichiro Honda.

The futuristic technical masterpiece of the late Michael Czysz winning the 2012 Isle of Man TT Zero. Photo by Phil Long

Ironically it was the dominance of the Mugen Hondas that led to the end of innovation. It became too costly and too challenging for the small teams and brilliant, independent engineers to top this factory Honda effort. This caused Rob Callister, the Isle of Mann Minister responsible for motorsport, to put a pause on TT Zero in 2020. While partly due to the pandemic, the Minister said they needed to pause the electric class to allow the technology to “catch up” to provide deeper fields. 

Unfortunately it did the opposite, as we no longer have a high-level, global event or series to challenge teams and engineers to build faster, longer-range, electric roadracing motorcycles. Yes, MotoE now runs electric racing in MotoGP, but this is a one-make, paid-marketing exercise. There is no incentive for continual development and improvement. It is just revenue for series rights holders Dorna and more visibility for the spec manufacturers. It’s a great show, as all the bikes are the same, but development does not need to advance to stay ahead of competition. 

While it shares chassis technology with it’s MotoGP siblings, the Ducati MotoE electric bike is heavy and faces no competition in the one-make spec class, so innovation is limited. 

MotoE needs to evolve like the auto racing, Formula E series. Yes, the Formula E chassis are spec, but the manufacturers and entrants are free to develop the most innovative motors, battery-management systems and drivetrains they can. This only advances technology in this space.

The good news is that the original Brammo designer—now SVP of Product Development at Zero Motorcycles—Brian Wismann has not let this lack of a world stage for electric-motorcycle racing stop him nor his passion for innovation. In fact, it has inspired him along with fellow EV pioneer Ely Schless to build an electric racebike to take on traditional gas-engine motorcycles in head-to-head competition.

Brian does this with his side project not connected to Zero—Lightfighter Racing. As opposed to the heavy MotoE Ducatis, Brian’s focus is small, light and nimble—like a true GP bike. His Lighfighter weighs almost 100 pounds less than a Ducati MotoE bike while still producing 141 horsepower, leading to an unrivaled power-to-weight ratio for electric motorcycles. 

Less than 400 lbs with 141HP and 240 ft/lb of torque, the Lighfighter races competitively against ICE bikes with seasoned pro, Jason Uribe aboard. Photo by Josh Alvarez

Brian’s Lightfighter team regularly beats up on ICE bikes at local races. It’s just a shame there isn’t a global stage for him to race this against entries by other brilliant engineering minds. Now is a far better time to drive these electric-technology advances than those early attempts by the TT in 2009. 

Despite a lack of electric competition outside of club racing and no high-profile event to show it off, Brian and the Lightfighter team are constantly developing and improving their race bike with the hope that their efforts will keep the spark of innovation alive that started at that 2009 TTXGP event.

Currently the fastest electric racing motorcycles in the world. Photo by Josh Alvarez

Should Dorna open up MotoE to other manufacturers? Should electric motorcycles go back to the Isle of Man where they raced for 11 years? Maybe MotoAmerica should add a one-off exhibition? I hope a series or event organizer will give electric motorcycle racing the stage that it deserves to show off the performance and continue the rapid advances in technology that racing drove for these unique machines.