Project Triumph TE-1
Could this Triumph concept be the most realistic electric bike option for the future?
Triumph has turned its attention to that of the electric world by teaming up with Williams Advanced Engineering to produce our first glance at the new TE-1 Project. Phase 1, the announcement of this ambitious project was released in 2019 with the promise to deliver a bike that champions the electric market.
Phase 2 brings us more of an idea of what the finished product may look like. Triumph tells us they aim for the bike to weigh 220kg with a range of 120miles and produce 174 bhp… not bad ey?
The cherry on the top of this cake is the 0-80% charge in just 20minutes. That’s not all, it’s clear they are approaching this project in a very different light to a lot of their competitors.
"What we wanted to do was investigate how you could create an electric bike that would convince somebody to consider an electric bike or even move them away from something with an internal combustion engine (ICE)," says Steve Sargent, Triumph’s Chief Product Officer.
"To do that we have to understand the customer, how they use their bikes and what they’d want from their bikes. For electric bikes to grow, it has to be a natural choice for someone because the bike is desirable in its own right."
This is certainly reflected in the concept sketches that Triumph have released, you can see this bike has been designed to catch the eye of the weekend rider bearing a distinct resemblance to the Speed Triple. Then of course there is the price to factor in.
"The challenge is that people want something that gives them the performance of an internal combustion engine bike but they don’t want to pay a huge premium," adds Sargent.
"For us, it has to be at a price point where enough people are willing to pay for it. Whilst battery costs are coming down, they’re still expensive, so the bike will come to market when we can get it down to a price that we think people are willing to pay.”
Now that's something we all wanted to hear from manufacturers.
So where do we go from here?
Phase 3, which is expected in October will bring us the first look at the prototype they're currently testing. From there the sky is the limit. Once the core elements are finalised the applications are endless.
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