Kymco Launches SuperNEX Electric

Kymco has been producing solidly-built and reliable scooters, ATVs, and side x sides for years. Recently, though, the Taiwanese manufacturer has set its sights on the motorcycle industry. Specifically, the electric motorcycle industry. Its opening salvo was revealed last week at EICMA, and here it is: the Kymco SuperNEX electric motorcycle.

Kymco claims the SuperNEX will sprint from 0 to 60MPH in less than 2.9 seconds and hit its 155 MPH top speed in less than eleven. The SuperNEX will make extracting these Tesla-threashing performance figures child’s play by employing Kymco’s Full Engagement Performance (FEP) traction control system and launch control.

There’s more to those software settings than just ultimate performance, however. FEP will help riders control wheelies and wheel slip during launch, as well stoppies and rear wheel lift during hard braking, ensuring every kiloWatt gets to the rear wheel with minimal loss … or, you know, maximum loss. Depending on what you want, you know?

You can check out the official press photos of the Kymco SuperNEX, above. For the moment, it’s just a concept– but Kymco has a history of taking on the big guys. With Yamaha, Harley-Davidson, and Honda all looking at an electric future, Kymco may see an opening and push this thing to market first. Will it be successful? Let us know what you think in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Source | Images: Kymco, via Paul Tan.

Kymco to Build BMW i3 Extended-range Hybrid Engine

Taiwanese scooter-builder Kymco will be responsible for BMW’s upcoming i3 extended-range electric car, according to reports circulating in the media this week.

Adding plausibility to the reports is the fact that Kymco, which has factories in China and Indonesia, is already a BMW supplier – selling motorcycle engines to the German company that can be found in the BMW G450X enduro, as well as the BMW C-class maxi-scooters that debuted back in 2011.

Expect the Kymco/BMW motor to look something like this …

… and for the engine to be fed by a small fuel tank, which should stretch the i3′s range to almost 220 mi on a combined diet of electrons and fossils. Keep in mind, that’s adding to the i3′s projected 80-ish mile range on a fully charged battery.

In addition, it should be noted that this range-extender is just that: an OPTIONAL ADD-ON that BMW is offering to i3 buyers who suffer from “range anxiety”. This is opposite of what we’d find in cars like the Chevy Volt or Fisker Karma, for example, which are sold as EVs that feature range-extending ICE engines as standard equipment.

More than the functionality of the engine itself, the bigger question BMW might have to face is: will the public accept a premium price tag on (what could be perceived as) a Chinese car?

We’ll soon see …

Source: HybridCars.