Kymco unveils SuperNex, the world’s first electric sportbike

By Charles E. Buban Philippine Daily Inquirer March 27,2019
Kymco unveils SuperNex, the world’s first electric sportbike

Kymco chair Allen Ko leads the unveiling of the company’s first electric sportbike, the SuperNex.

In the business of motorcycles, you need guts to stand out above the rest.

Perhaps, this was in the mind of Kymco executives when they decided to debut the Taiwan brand’s first-ever electric sportbike model, along with a host of electric scooters that feature batteries that could be swapped at vending machine-style charging stations, at the recently concluded 46th Tokyo Motorcycle Show in Japan, one of the world’s biggest annual spectacles where the most powerful and meanest-looking gasoline-powered motorbikes are featured.

Kymco, being one of the five largest scooter manufacturers in the world and Taiwan’s largest scooter company, saw the event as the perfect venue to launch the SuperNex, a six-speed (foot-activated sequential) electric sportbike that could attain an insane top speed of 250 km/h.

This electric sportbike that allows clutchless shifting and equipped with a slipper clutch, is capable of reaching zero to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds, zero to 200 km/h in 7.5 seconds, and for the daredevils out there, zero to 250 km/h in 10.9 seconds!

The SuperNex, however, won’t reach showrooms yet as Kymco chair Allen Ko explained, during an interview with this writer, that the company is still testing a number of battery solutions, which is why no specs on battery performance ratings or charging times were revealed during the presentation.

Fine tune

“As we fine tune the SuperNex, it is also crucial for us to convince the market of this sportbike. Aside from its superbike-like body panels, we also need to impress future riders of its capabilities. Thus, we are looking forward to the possibility of participating in racing–that could provide the right track experience and exposure for the SuperNex (there are already electric motorcycle racing leagues—like the TT Zero and the all-new FIM Enel MotoE World Cup),” shared Ko.

What is more definite at the moment, are Kymco’s latest groundbreaking electric scooter models, also displayed during the motorcycle show: the Like EV scooter and Carry EV scooter that features 50-volt, 650 watt-hour lithium-ion batteries that can be removed for quick battery swapping.

Each battery weighs just 5 kg. Additionally, the scooters can hold two more batteries in the compartment, allowing for longer range of up to 200 kilometers.

Vending machine style

Kymco also presented their Ionex charging stations that allow riders to charge batteries in a vending machine-style charging station.

Developed by Kymco, Ionex is an electric vehicle (EV) total solution that enables consumers, businesses and governments to smoothly adopt premium electric mobility.

Aside from the original line of Ionex EV scooters announced last year (intended for private use), the company also added a scooter line under the Ionex Commercial platform.

These models, equipped with cargo holders, target logistics, as well as retail companies that require transporting goods and equipment.

“With Ionex, Kymco developed batteries with the goal of creating a standard platform that other companies could design their version of electric motorcycles around. The beauty of the Ionex Commercial solution is how easy it is to implement a commercial fleet of electric scooters for a wide variety of businesses. Ionex Commercial could help businesses operate zero-emission fleet that simply works better than their gasoline-powered counterparts,” added Ko.

In fact, Kymco last year, partnered with Twenty Two Motors, an electric scooter startup in India, to share knowledge, technology and expertise to create premium electric mobility architectures in the country.

Ko added that he expects half a million “22 Kymko” brand of scooters to be sold over the next few years in India.

Analysis by the International Energy Agency suggests that the number of electric vehicles on the road will go from 3 million today, to 125 million by 2030.

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