In order to travel through time you need a device known as a flux capacitor...
Or that's what the Mad professor from Back To The Future would like you to believe!
But then, that stuff movies are made of...
...today, I have a device that will actually take us into the future
With the name cooler than a flux capacitor and definitely better looking.
This one's called the Emflux One!
I say future because the Emflux One is way ahead of its time...
It is already an electric sports bike in a country where electric vehicles are mostly scooters and rickshaw...
It is already an electric sports bike in a country, which has never made a Superbike till date...
And looking at it, you might think that it has been built in a state-of-the-art facility...
With shiny white floors, by men bearing perfectly pressed lab coats...
But no...
Instead the Emflux One was conceptualized here, in a start-up office in the heart of Bangalore...
...made by overwork people who kept missing meals and repeated their t-shirts!
....but they all had something in common...
I'm Varun. I'm the co-founder & CEO of Emflux motors.
We started this company around two and half years back.
I'm Vinay Raj Somashekhar. I'm 32 years old.
Mainly in India, there's a big misconception that electric vehicles are slow and boring...
..and flimsy, badly designed and unreliable.
What we wanted to make was a product that completely shatters these misconceptions...
So initially, it was just Varun, one mechanical engineer and three electronics guys...
and now we have grown to 21 people.
The main piece of the puzzle is the electric vehicle technology.
Which we have been developing since the inception.
Once we develop the technologies to run an electric Superbike...
...it will be easier for us to build any sort of vehicle that we want.
First things first, it is said to be a sports bike. So it looks like one!
For example, you can see a bit of the KTM RC8 in a way...
This vertical LED headlamps setup splits the full fairing in half...
...and then you have the raised tail section which again looks like a bit of KTM RC8!
But that's just the looks, when we talk about the components...
You have got Öhlins and Brembos taking care of suspension and braking...
Something that you will see on high-end Superbikes!
What is unique to the Emflux however is the motor...
There's no higher revving inline-four or a parallel twin engine...
This one is pure electric!
It's making about 72 HP and 84 Newton meters of torque!
Now I know this might not sound like a lot but the final production version...
..is gonna weigh in at about a 169 Kilograms!
And all of that torque is going to be available right from the word-
Go!
Emflux claims that 0 to 100 can be achieved in about three seconds, which is faster than a Ferrari 458!
Keep the throttle pinned and you will eventually reach 200 kilometers per hour...
but this is a prototype and it's performing at about 40% of its peak performance...
...but even after that you still feel that silent torque punch!
With a bike this fast you're expecting things to be a little racy or aggressive...
But surprisingly, things are a lot more comfortable here.
...the rider's triangle is very balanced...
...something that you will find on a Yamaha R3!
...but in the final production version...
...there is going to be something turning around with the way the foot pegs are placed.
Also this seat, this prototype has got quite a firm seat...
But in the final version, they're gonna add more foam and overall things are going to look a lot better!
Keeping you glued onto the road are the Pirelli Diablo Rosso two tires...
These aren't just good for the road, but should also work well on the track...
...if you like spending weekends in a leather suit!
With the wheelbase are 1395mm...
The One is a very manageable motorcycle in the city....
...and when we talk about heating, it does not heat up as much...
It'll keep your legs cool unlike traditional sportbike!
The first prototypes that we built were probably not as good as the ones we have right now...
So in terms of the design process, that's the main challenge that we faced...
But somehow we have come out of it and I think we have a decent enough design for now...
We have a whole battery pack which weighs around 50 kgs...
It is composed of 896 Cylindrical 18650 cells.
This is what enables us to get so much performance out of our bike.
The batteries have another advantage!
Range!
Now Emflux says that you can cover up to 200 kilometers on a single charge...
and about 160 when you're out in the highways.
For reference, the most efficient EV in the country today can do about a hundred.
And because there isn't any exhaust note to accompany. It feels all too surreal...
It is like, someone has opened the floodgates to hell, while Beethoven plays in your earphones
I can't even imagine what it'll be with its full potential unlocked.
More time away still is the infrastructure for such vehicles in a country.
But Emflux claims that their warp charger can charge the One from 0 to 80 percent in just about 36 minutes
Because of the lithium-ion battery pack the bike feels light...
It's placed in a stack of seven right where your fuel tank should be...
So it looks good, is fast and it's pretty comfortable for your daily commute too...
What more? it is from the future as well! Is this a dream then?
Unfortunately, it is!
The downside of the lithium-ion batteries, the Öhlins setup, Brembo brakes and the Pirelli tyres...
Is the Price!
Now, Emflux says that when this finally his production form, this is going to cost about six lakh rupees!
...and then you have the question of when? The One is still a prototype...
...which means there's still time for it to go into production...
Having ridden the Emflux I have seen a glimpse from the future...
...and I'm convinced that the future isn't a bad place to be after all!