Voxan Tops 180mph and Bags Four Speed Records

The French electric bike maker, Voxan, has been chipping away at some speed records again, competing in the sub-150kg class and topping a very respectable 180mph.

The record-breaking runs took place at the historic Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, and the Voxan RW-5 that was used was a collaboration between the Ohio State University and the Venturi Group.

Venturi was a niche sportscar maker from France best known for its Atlantique and Le Mans. The business has shifted now though, and it sees itself as an innovator in the alternative fuels and electric sector. It acquired the Voxan brand way back in 2009 and in 2021 a Voxan-built Wattman was cracking 283mph at the Kennedy Space Centre runway, with WorldSBK legend Max Biaggi at the controls.

The bike they have just returned from Bonneville with, though, is a very different kettle of fish compared to the Wattman. The featherweight (comparatively speaking) RW-5, was competing both with, and without its fairing, and despite the speed runs still pending FIM approval, it’s posted some impressive results.

Without a fairing, the RW-5 managed a top speed through the measured mile of 168.59mph, and with the aerodynamic fairing fitted it topped a heady 180.03mph over the same distance. That’s not bad going for a bike with a claimed 107bhp, although backed by a whopping 132lb ft of twist at the axle.

The speed runs come at a difficult time for the electric motorcycle market, at home and abroad. And while it’s not initially clear how blasting across a dry lake bed could benefit the wider electric bike industry, Voxan is still going to pour over the data gathered during the runs. Further down the line, who knows - one day we might see some of the tech developed for this machine, landing on the battery bikes we can go out and buy.

Maybe…

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