General Ural Electric Sidecar By Duncan Oliver March 12, 2017 Search Search for: CTA Title CTA Content Follow Us Join Our Community Leave this field empty if you're human: Read Also: News Motorcycle Jeans with Airbags coming soon Bikes Beta Alp 4.0 General Awesome collection of Epic ride videos General 5 Reasons to ride Small Motorcycle on a Long Adventure trip General Marijuana and Motorcycling General '18 URAL cT General Spare tube Post Activity 39702 Share this post 0% Back to Top
A Ural electric sidecar has been spotted just a few miles from Urals American head office being ridden by a Fedex jacketed rider. The number plate on the electric Ural is in sequence with other Ural sidecars recently loaned from the factory to motorcycle magazines for testing.
A Ural owner in the area that is known to have previously tested Ural upgrades before release has commented online that they have ridden the Electric Ural Sidecar and it offers both Sport and Economy modes and in Sport mode “comes off the line strongly” and in Economy mode “has a range of around 100 miles”.
Fedex have stated in the US media that they are pushing the development of hybrid and electric delivery vehicle development from a number of manufacturers, which possibly explains the Fed-Ex rider in the photograph as electric vehicles make sense for the ‘last mile’ delivery of parcels in the same way NZ Post has recently introduced electric 4 wheelers for post and small parcel delivery.
Ural have officially announced thneir electric sidecar and it looks exactly the same as the prototype unit spotted above. Here’s the official Ural press release
>A URAL CHARGED. LITERALLY.
Iconic sidecar motorcycle brand reveals an all-electric prototype.
Ural Motorcycles finalized the first development phase of an all-electric sidecar motorcycle. The electric prototype was built on the existing one-wheel drive cT chassis (https://www.imz-ural.com/c-t/), utilizing Zero Motorcycles’ powertrain package (motor, batteries, controller and other components). California-based company ICG developed the overall design and was responsible for fabricating the initial prototype. Zero Motorcycles’ proprietary also provided the necessary engineering support during the development and testing of the prototype that made this project possible.
“We always knew our sidecar is the perfect platform to build an electric motorcycle because it can offer what regular two-wheeled motorcycles can’t: passenger comfort, stability and safety, not to mention more space for batteries,”- says Ilya Khait, President and CEO of Ural Motorcycles. “We’re very happy with the results. At a glance, it’s still a Ural, but the electric bike offers a totally new experience. It’s very easy to control, thanks to a low center of gravity and optimal weight distribution. It’s very stable thanks to its three wheels. It doesn’t have a clutch or gear shifter, twisting the throttle is basically all you need to operate the bike. And it accelerates very quickly – for a Ural … Overall it’s a fun and very versatile vehicle that you can use almost like a car.”
“Proof of concept was the main goal for this project,”- says Jason Rae, Ural VP of Operations and project manager. “We went through several iterations, searching for the best configuration of the electric powertrain package. One of the main challenges was to find the optimal location for the batteries while maintaining passenger comfort, storage capacity and stability distinctive to Ural sidecars. The bike was tested intensively in real-world conditions – in the rain and snow, on cold and hot days, on the highway and city streets. We accumulated a lot of data that will be used in the next phase of the project. Admittedly, I was apprehensive in the beginning that an electric Ural was something worth putting our resources into, but now I’m totally convinced and looking forward to the development of our production intent prototype.”
The company has no immediate plans to manufacture an all-electric model at this time. The decision will be based on market research, consumer and industry experts’ feedback. Ural estimates it would take approximately 24 months to ramp up serial production upon final design approval. Production bike design would incorporate the latest battery technology and charging options.
The electric Ural will be displayed at the Progressive Motorcycle Show in Long Beach November 16-18. Ural Motorcycles is currently organizing demo-ride events to collect feedback before moving to the next phase of this project.
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Technical Info:
Power Train
Motor
Z-Force® 75-7 passively air-cooled, high efficiency, radial flux, interior permanent magnet, brushless motor
Max output (hp)
60hp (45kW) @5,300rpm
Max torque (ft-lbs)
81 ft-lbs (110 Nm)
Batteries as tested* ZF13.0 powerpack, ZF6.5 powerpack (combined peak power 19.5kWh)
Charging system 1.3kW on-board charger from a standard 115V/15A breaker (estimated 13 hours to charge from empty to 95%)
Performance/Economy Range as tested Up to 103 miles /165 km (* The newer batteries from Zero (ZF14.4 + ZF7.2 for 21.6kWh Total maximum capacity) will provide increased range over the prototype)
Recommended maximum cruising speed
65mph (105 kmh)
Maximum speed as tested
88mph (140 kmh)
Dimensions and Weight
Overall length
91.6 in (233 cm)
Overall heights
53.8 in (137 cm)
Overall width
63.6 in (162 cm)
Seat height
31.0 in (79 cm)
Ground clearance
9.2 in (23.4 cm)
Max permissible weight
1325 lbs (600 kg)
Dry weight
822 lbs (373 kg)