Battery in the future

[Steve Agronick]

Curious I'm fishing here. Just absolutely love my Varge Without qquestion the best dirt bike I have owned to date. To be clear in the last 5 years had modern Husky KTM Gas Gas all good . But not this good. If I have one complaint it's the weight. Once riding don't feel it where it becomes a problem is moving it around for instance loading and unloading and moving it around. I'm hoping Stark Future will be working on battery development is ongoing (please) Any thoughts.
.

 

[Beagle]

It will be easier to buy accessories to help with loading the bike

Most improvement will come from battery suppliers, not bike manufacturers directly. Good news is that performance is steadily improving but the weight gain will be moderate.

For instance take Molicel batteries (that Stark is using), they went from 4.2 Ah P42A cells in the 2022 6 kWh prototype to 4.5 Ah P45B cells in the 2023 6.5 kWh production bike. Now their newest 5.0 Ah P50B cell is slated for mass production later this year. That could mean capacity going from 6.0 to 6.5 and 7.0 kWh (if Stark were to adopt P50B) in a couple of years. Or even up to 7.2 kWh for an extra 800 g. In my opinion they will first focus on getting up to a target capacity (say 8 kWh) before further performance gains could go towards lightening the pack.

Flux is aiming for 7.9 kWh so any improvement in battery performance could possibly be used to lose weight instead of increasing capacity.

Maybe some manufacturers, or aftermarket suppliers, could offer some lighter batteries with limited capacity but honestly I'm not sure if that would be so popular?

At one point we'll get to hybrid then solid state batteries, weight loss could be more significant, but that won't be too soon so don't pin all your hopes on this .

 

[Swank171]

I agree with this....For the time being i think it would make more sense to extend ride time for minimal weight gain than to keep the the same to save a few lbs. I too think a lighter bike would be nice but at the same time i dont think 5-10 lbs would be a big difference and i really wouldnt give up that much energy density for such a small weight change....however i would agree to adding 2 lbs for another 1-1.5KW! haha

I think weight cuts can start when we can ride the bikes without being range restricted.

Range now isnt bad for what it is....but if you are die hard most of us have 2 bikes for big track days or the stark is just for the half day. I think another 1.5-2kw could be getting close to that realistic sweet spot especially if riding in the 48hp range....depending on terrain, sand is gonna suck life.

Obviously this is me talking and im sure there are others with different needs....would be interested to see how long it takes for stark to have a few battery options

TRUE HP choices....

Instead of SOFTWARE LOCKING us on 60 or 80 HP....Offer a lighter bike with a 60hp max for those who arent worried about range and really care about weight.

This circles back to battery tech....i think things like that would be possible when we see better energy density out of these cells. Super cool we get to watch this all develop...also cant wait to see FLUX hit the scene and create more pressure on the racing organizations. The more people who own these bikes the more it will benifit AMA and the MOTO MAFIA to allow it. Also the competiton will drive innovation....Free market is a fair market! LET THEM RACE! haha.

 

[happyinmotion]

Yeah, batteries keep getting better and bikes will get lighter for a given range and power. So what's that going to look like?

I mostly ride trails, the more technical the better. I don't want the equivalent of a 450 race bike, I want a 250 enduro bike and as light as possible. And then there's a need for bikes for people who aren't six foot tall like me. Maybe Stark will end up with:

Stark Hund - 45 horsepower to beat any 250 and under 100 kg, eventually, when batteries get good enough
Stark Valp - 35 horsepower to beat any 125, weight closer to a Sur-Ron, and a smaller frame for smaller riders

 

[Judd]

Curious I'm fishing here. Just absolutely love my Varge Without qquestion the best dirt bike I have owned to date. To be clear in the last 5 years had modern Husky KTM Gas Gas all good . But not this good. If I have one complaint it's the weight. Once riding don't feel it where it becomes a problem is moving it around for instance loading and unloading and moving it around. I'm hoping Stark Future will be working on battery development is ongoing (please) Any thoughts.
.

I find it heavy doing single track training sessions and would like a battery that weighs 40% less.
Normal battery for day trips.

 

[mbw479]

Has anyone tried to open up the battery pack yet? Could the cell be replaced with the P50B by someone with the normal skill to repack a battery without the increased capacity causing any other issues to the controller etc?