Among many customised Ronin and RTR 310 motorcycles revealed at the Moto Soul 2023, TVS also took the wraps off its new Apache RTE electric race bike. The RTE will head to its one-make championship in 2024.
At the Moto Soul 2023, we got in touch with Babu Rengarajan, Vice President, R&D, TVS Motor Company to understand the brand’s prospects for the Apache RTE electric race bike. TVS announced some impressive facts and numbers at the stage of the Moto Soul, drawing comparison with the race-winning 400cc class motorcycle under the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship.
Sharing a few figures, TVS claimed that the Apache RTE crossed a top speed of 200kmph at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) and clocked 3.1 second faster lap time over the equivalent internal combustion-engined motorcycle. In addition, the RTE also clocked 1.8 seconds faster quarter mile drag time and 1 second faster 0-100kmph acceleration time than an equivalent ICE motorcycle. The impressive times are achieved with an 80PS electric motor.
The Apache RTE comes with 2 battery packs working as a stress member with the chassis. The battery packs support Quickswap, enabling quick change of recharged battery packs. As per TVS, a pair of fully charged battery packs will enable you to complete 5 laps around the MIC. Rengarajan didn’t reveal the capacity of the battery pack but confirmed that it uses NMC cells for better energy density.
Speaking about the platform and other electric components, Rengarajan revealed that the RTE sits on an all-new platform, that has been designed exclusively for electric powertrain. Upon asking about the future Apache electric motorcycle, he mentioned that the company could derive a road-going version of this platform, which could be launched for the customers in the near future.
Furthermore, Rengarajan also revealed that the RTE has been designed and engineered in-house. “It doesn’t share any component with other motorcycles. The platform, electric components and powertrain is all new” said Rengarajan. While the motor and inverter of the Apache RTE are liquid-cooled, the battery pack only benefits from air cooling, which is facilitated by a large RAM air intake at the front cowl.
Speaking further about the future racing plans with the RTE, Rengarajan revealed that the RTE could not participate in the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship because of technical regulations. Hence, TVS will begin the one-make championship for the RTE from 2024 onwards, enabling multiple riders to participate and race with the all-electric Apache RTE race bike.