Ultraviolette has set up its manufacturing facility near Electronic City in Bangalore and plans to produce 15,000 EVs annually
Ultraviolette, like many other promising electric vehicle startups in recent times, has managed to grab attention from all corners even before it could launch its first product. Speaking of its first product, the company revealed its first product in the form of an electric motorcycle prototype named F77 back in October 2019.
Recently, it was revealed that the F77 electric bike is slated to undergo series production from the first quarter of CY2022 with its launch expected to take place by March next year. Ahead of its productions, the brand has released a new video on YouTube which reveals the advanced testing being carried on the upcoming motorcycle.
Ultraviolette F77 Performance – New testing protocols
Unlike conventional pre-launch test trials, the one conducted by Ultraviolette involved the use of many electronic sensors to obtain various kinds of data. The tests involved evaluation of handling, stability, acceleration and braking of F77. As explained in the video, there are two parts to vehicle testing- qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative means obtaining data through evaluation by riding in different conditions and getting responses, feedback, efforts, etc. Quantitative means correlating the information obtained from the former with tangible data such as pitch, roll, yaw, stiffness and more. Different sensors have been used to capture and monitor various parameters of F77.
Quantitative Tests
Starting with the quantitative evaluation, LVDTs (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) are mounted on front forks and rear shock absorbers to determine suspension travel and behaviour. Further, accelerometers are installed on multiple points of the motorcycle such as wheels, swingarm and handlebar to measure forces induced when traveling on road.
Strain gauges are used to determine minute deformations on critical components which are also attached on multiple points in the chassis. In addition to these, several temperature sensors are employed to capture a thermal map of the motorcycle under various scenarios.
Qualitative Tests
Coming to qualitative assessments, these involve multiple tests like Slalom, braking, acceleration, wobble and weaving which are conducted by almost every automotive manufacturer to evaluate various parameters of a vehicle’s on-road performance. Other attributes evaluated are feedback from the rider, tyres locking up and how much the bike dives while braking and so on.
The upcoming F77 is claimed to be the fastest motorcycle in the electric two-wheeler space in India. Based on the initial prototype revealed earlier, the bike could attain a top speed of 140 kmph and a 0-60 kmph acceleration in just 2.9 seconds. The battery pack involved is expected to return a range of 150 km on a single range though there have been talks of Ultraviolette launching another variant of F77 with a greater range.
