Last week I was visiting the guys over at EMC and they showed me a new toy - a 100% electric mini-dirt-bike! OK so its not really an official Emax branded product as such, but nevertheless the result is a surprisingly fun toy bike with an amazing amount of zip!

The electric minibike

This hybrid was created by taking spare parts from an Emax electric scooter and building it into the chassis of a mini motorcross bike. Emax owners will recognise the tell-tale Emax components, such as the rear wheel hub motor, the handlebar accelerator with power button, and motor controller box (on the other side not visible in this photo).

This minibike uses only 4 batteries instead of the full 8 batteries of a standard Emax Sport. This, along with the minimal frame, results in it weighing a fraction of a normal Emax scooter, yet still having the full acceleration of the 1500w motor.

Performance

The most obvious benefit of the lower mass is an enormous improvement in acceleration! I only gave it a quick test-ride, but the acceleration speed from stand-still was amazing - especially when pressing the 'power' button! Not quite enough I think to do any real stunts or jumps (at least not for someone of my size and weight!), but still fast enough to have fun, and probably a great alternative to a petrol minibike for kids.

A commercial possibility?

The EMC guys created the minibike as a bit of an experiment to see what could be done with this technology. They mentioned the possibility of perhaps creating a more polished version of the bike to sell in the minibike market. Time will tell whether this becomes reality, but is sure encouraging seeing this technology already being put to other uses!