With fewer moving parts and less reliance on liquids, electric vehicles have some serious potential as desert rally racers…but few EV makers are ready to test their expensive prototypes in such harsh climates. Well Tacita, an Italian motorcycle maker, has no such reservations. Last month the Tacita T-Race electric motorcycle made its racing debut at the Merzouga Rally in Morracco.
The name is derived from Tacita, the Roman Goddess of Silence, and it is quite appropriate for a quiet electric motorcycle. The Tacita T-Race was developed specifically for off-roading, and the company claims a full-days worth of driving can be had from the four lithium-polymer batteries on board providing 10 kWh of power. Yet Tacita still managed to keep the weight of the bike under 400 pounds, though to achieve ideal weight balance the batteries were just kind of strapped to the side of the bike. Not the best look. I much prefer the slimmer look of the Zero X, another off-road capable electric motorcycle. However the Zero-X also has just a 3 kWh battery to the Tacita’s 10 kWh. Hence the big batteries.
With rally racing in mind, power is less important than endurance, which is why the T-Trace makes just 32 horsepower. That didn’t seem to bother Canadian rider Patrick Trahan, who took the T-Race out on the sand dunes and said that the electric motorcycle had plenty of power. Sure, this run was mostly about collecting data, but it’s also about building some street (or sand) credibility.
Source: Auto Evolution
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