KYMCO unveils new high-performance SuperNEX and RevoNEX electric motorcycles
KYMCO unveiled updated versions of its two high-performance electric motorcycle prototypes at the EICMA Milan Motorcycle Show, giving riders a taste of what’s to come from the major two-wheeler manufacturer.
KYMCO is better known for its scooters and smaller format motorcycles, but the brand announced a stark departure with its 2018 unveiling of the KYMCO SuperNEX electric superbike.
A year later KYMCO rolled out the RevoNEX, a slightly toned down model designed more for high-performance recreational riding than laying down track times like the SuperNEX.
Both bikes were supposed to offer high speeds, high torque, and, most interestingly, a multi-speed gearbox.
Both bikes also seemed to disappear from the company’s product horizon, with only occasional updates over the years but lacking clear timelines for production.
Now KYMCO is breathing new life into the pair of bikes, unveiling their updated designs at EICMA 2022, where I had the chance to sit down with KYMCO’s chairman Allen Ko to learn more.
As Ko explained:
KYMCO SuperNEX and RevoNEX expand on the original design philosophy that gives riders five distinctive experiences: the joy of shifting, the thrills of performance, the assurance of control, the sensation of sound, and the versatility of driving modes.
We don’t yet know exactly what the bikes will offer in terms of concrete tech specs — which has become a running theme with electric motorbike unveilings at EICMA 2022. But we have a pretty good idea of what platform the SuperNEX and RevoNEX might share.
KYMCO was one of the key investors in Harley-Davidson’s public offering of its electric motorcycle brand LiveWire. The Taiwanese motorbike manufacturer already has major manufacturing agreements with other motorcycle companies such as BMW and Kawasaki, proving itself as a manufacturing partner for major international brands.
It thus seems likely that KYMCO will perform a similar role with LiveWire, helping to manufacture some of the company’s upcoming electric motorcycle platforms or components.
That could lead to LiveWire’s Arrow platform or other design foundations making their way into KYMCO’s products, most notably into the SuperNEX or RevoNEX.
While this hasn’t been officially announced by either brand, KYMCO representatives have indicated that the move is likely in the works.
We also don’t yet know much about the gear shifting that will be employed on the bikes, though Ko hinted in an interview with Electrek that it will likely be a form of simulated electronic shifting as opposed to a traditional gear box.
MV Agusta Ampelio electric scooter
In another example of KYMCO’s partnership prowess, the company also unveiled an electric scooter developed with MV Agusta known as the Ampelio.
That scooter relies on KYMCO’s Ionex platform, which uses the company’s electric drivetrain and swappable battery packs to create compact electric scooters.
The MV Agusta Ampelio features a sleek champagne exterior and a floating rear pillion seat, offering a unique design style that contrasts with the modern lines normally seen on IONEX scooters.
New IONEX scooters
KYMCO unveiled several new electric scooters under its IONEX line with increasingly higher power levels.
The two-tone KYMCO IONEX i-One Air features a yellow and blue colorway, a small 2 kW motor and uses a single IONEX battery pack.
The i-One Fly scooter uses a pair of batteries to power its higher-spec 3.6 kW motor.
The Super 6 Pro also uses a pair of batteries but has an even higher power 6.4 kW motor.
KYMCO is not only rolling out new IONEX-based electric scooters, but also pitching its platform as a solution for OEMs to develop their own electric scooters.
With IONEX’s batteries as a starting point, other manufacturers can leapfrog their own production to quickly iterate electric scooters around an existing drivetrain.
It’s a solution we’ve seen employed by other companies in the market, allowing early movers in the market to capitalize on their proven technologies.
What do you think of KYMCO’s unveilings from the EICMA 2022? Let’s hear your opinion in the comments section below!
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Yadea, which has claimed the title of the world’s largest electric vehicle maker for seven years running, has just announced a new electric motorbike powered by the company’s innovative HuaYu sodium-ion battery technology.
Yadea has long dominated the electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler market globally, but has generally relied on both lithium-ion and lead acid batteries to power its vehicles in different markets.
The newly unveiled electric scooter uses Yadea’s recently introduced sodium battery technology, offering what the company says is outstanding performance in range, charging speed, and safety. Using the HuaYu Sodium Superfast Charging Ecosystem presented by Yadea, the battery can reach 80% charge in just 15 minutes, providing greater convenience for riders.
Yadea’s sodium battery has successfully passed more than 20 safety tests, many focusing on its resistance to fire and explosions under extreme conditions like punctures and compression.
Yadea’s new sodium battery offers an energy density of 145 Wh/kg and a lifespan of up to 1,500 cycles at room temperature, with the company rating it for a five-year useful lifespan. It also includes a three-year warranty for added assurance.
With excellent low-temperature capabilities, the battery retains over 92% of its discharge capacity at -20°C, making it well-suited for colder climates.
Sodium batteries present major advantages
Most electric vehicles used in the West, especially electric two-wheelers, rely on lithium-ion batteries for their high energy density. But sodium-ion batteries offer many benefits over traditional lithium-ion batteries.
Sodium is an abundant element on the planet and is easily accessible, unlike lithium, which is concentrated in specific regions and often expensive to extract. This abundance can make sodium-ion batteries cheaper to produce, reducing costs for EV manufacturers and potentially making electric vehicles more affordable.
Lithium mining also has environmental challenges, such as water depletion and habitat destruction. Sodium, on the other hand, can be sourced from seawater or common salts, offering a more sustainable and environmentally friendly option.
Sodium-ion batteries are less prone to overheating and thermal runaway compared to lithium-ion batteries. This makes them inherently safer for electric vehicles, reducing the risk of fires and improving consumer confidence in EV technology.
Sodium-ion batteries perform better than lithium-ion in cold climates. Lithium-ion batteries struggle with capacity retention in freezing conditions, but sodium batteries maintain efficiency, making them ideal for EVs in colder regions.
Sodium batteries still have challenges to overcome
While sodium-ion batteries are promising, they currently have a lower energy density than lithium-ion batteries, meaning they store less energy per unit of weight.
For EVs, this translates to shorter driving ranges for the same-sized battery. That’s especially important in electric two-wheelers like motorbikes and electric bicycles, which don’t have much extra space for storing bulky batteries.
However, advancements in cathode materials and battery architecture are quickly closing this gap, which Yadea has demonstrated. These sodium-ion batteries still can’t match the energy density of lithium-ion batteries, but as they continue to improve their energy density, the technology’s other major advantages provide encouraging signs for larger adoption in the industry.
Yadea’s status as a major electric motorbike maker also means that its adoption of sodium-ion battery technology could help lead the entire industry towards this battery chemistry, bringing safety and performance benefits along with it.
Last year I had the unique opportunity to visit one of Yadea’s global manufacturing sites.
To see inside the company’s massive and highly-automated manufacturing processes, check out the video below!
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At CES2025, the impressively built-out John Deere exhibit was all about automation. Autonomous job sites, autonomous farms … but it was this new, battery electric, autonomous lawn mowing robot that stole the show.
The self-driving Deere mower robot was positively dwarfed by the giant farm machinery surrounding it, but it continues to prove that humans will pack bond with anything as more than one burly-looking and grizzled man asked what its name was. (It’s Howard. I’ll fight you.)
For his part, Howard packs a 21.4 kWh battery pack that runs a suite of electric motors that includes a drive motor and three cutting blade motors spread across a 60 inch cutting deck – but it’s not the electric motors that make John Deere’s little robot mower cool, it’s the way it works.
See, instead of using “just” GPS data or “just” repeating a pre-recorded run, Howard can do something in between. The way it was explained to me, you would ride the stand-up mower around the perimeter of the area you wanted to mow, select a pattern, then hop off, fold up the platform, and let it loose. Howard mows just the way you would, leaving you to focus on edging, planting, or (let’s face it) schmoozing with the clients.
It’s exactly the sort of help landscapers are looking for.
But that should come as no surprise, of course. John Deere, perhaps more than most companies, knows its customer. “We’ve been in the turf business for 60 years — it’s a core part of Deere,” says Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at John Deere, explaining things beautifully. “The work that’s being done in this industry is incredibly labor intensive … they’re not just doing the mowing work. They’re doing the tree trimming, maintaining flowerbeds and all these other jobs. The mowing is table stakes, though, for them to get the business. It’s the thing they have to do in order to get the higher value work.”
Tim Lewis, lead engineer with the commercial automatous mower, told Lawn & Landscape that the industry in general has a high turnover rate as well, making it difficult to hang to people who know where one job ends and another begins. “There’s a lot of nuances it takes to do these jobs effectively,” he explains, “so “Autonomy can help with that.”
The John Deere autonomous commercial mower (there’s no snazzy alphanumeric, yet) leverages the same camera technology as other Deere autonomous machines, but on a smaller scale (since the machine has a smaller footprint). With two cameras each on the front, left, right, and rear sides of the little guy, he has a 360-degree view of the world and enough AI to lay down a pattern, avoid an obstacle, and shut off if it thinks it’s about to mow down something (read: someone) it shouldn’t.
John Deere will have Howard on display through tomorrow at CES in the LVCC’s West Hall. If you’re in town, be sure to go say hi.
John Deere CES2025
SUOURCE | IMAGES: John Deere; Electrek.
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