Here’s an incredible project from a young man in Vietnam, who built a stunning and functional electric motorcycle from scratch.
The motorbikes design is based off the BMW HP Kunst Hydrogen Concept bike.
They describe the project as a technological showcase of hydrogen technologies positioned in the high performance range, that combines the racing characteristics of a supermoto bike and the sportiness of a roadster.
They imagined the motorcycle as having an aluminum frame, tubular steel and carbon parts, a brushless 100kw motor powered by a fuel cell with a cryogenic hydrogen tank, a lithium polymer battery, electronic controls, and electromagnetic suspension.
Inspired by this forward looking concept, young Pham Vu decided to build an electric motorcycle based on the design.
As a mechanical engineering student, the design and mechanical work came naturally, but the electronic components required some research and testing.
The frame was designed in Autodesk Inventor software, and he cut the steel and welded it together himself. The project which took about 6 months to complete, cost Pham nearly $3000 USD and was actually his graduation project for university. He hopes that it can prove his skill and ingenuity to future employers.
With features like a remote key and a custom tablet dashboard, the build is definitely quite impressive.
The build includes repurposed parts such as wheels from a Yamaha ex150 and a nitrogen air shock absorber, and this ingenious ebike can travel 80 km / 50 miles on a single charge, although Pham doesn’t have much time to cruise because he’s busy with other projects lately.
With a top speed of 85k/mh | 53MPH, the electric bike is powered by a 60volt 50 amp hour lithium iron phosphate battery pack, and driven by a 2000 watt electric motor.
He told me the wiring was typical for an electric motorbike project, but was difficult to get right, and it looks like he did a great job with pro details like headlights, tail lights and brake lights.
In future projects, he hopes to be able to incorporate carbon fiber 3d printing to extend his build capabilities.
For this bike he made body panels by cutting and flat pressing PVC pipe into shapes he designed in CAD software.
The ride has that characteristic electric sound, and it looks to be an absolute blast to ride. With comparable electric motorcycles typically being much more expensive than this home built DIY electric bike, it looks like he made himself an incredible toy for commuting, or just hotrodding around Vietnam where i’m sure he’s got a lot of people snapping their necks to take a peak at this boy geniuses crazy creation.
Update: Pham was featured in one of Vietnam’s largest newspapers, got several job offers, and just accepted a position with a growing technology company in Asia. 🙏 Newspaper Photo:
