Electric motors need to be prevented from overheating , and just like combustion engines , there ' s a clear choice for their designers between aircooling and liquid-cooling . Zero - undeniably a leader in electric motorcycles - has been in the aircooled school so far , but a new patent shows the company is considering a switch to liquid-cooling in the future . As with combustion engines , there are pros and cons to both technologies . The benefits of air-cooled designs are that they ' re lighter and simpler , with fewer components and potential points of failure . But when it comes to outright performance , liquid-cooled electric vehicles tend to have the edge because it ' s easier to keep components within the small temperature range that maximises their performance . For example , the Ducati MotoE race bikes used in the series that supports MotoGP have not one but two liquidcooling systems , with completely |
separate pumps and radiators for the cooling of the batteries and the motor . Why ? Because their optimum operating temperatures are different - the batteries need to be kept cooler than the motor - and with two cooling systems , those temperatures can both be maintained .
" Water-cooled motors for future Zero electric bikes "
So far , Zero has stuck with air-cooling for both its batteries and motors , but the company has filed a patent application for a liquid-cooled motor that could be the next step up for its bikes ' performance . The design uses a series of layers for its motor housing , with a water-filled cooling jacket sandwiched between the stator and an outer housing . The cooling jacked
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features manifolds that allow hot water to be pumped out to a radiator and cooler water to come in to replace it . Inside the cooling jacket , the patent illustrates a pattern of bumps that are used to increase its surface area - ensuring better transfer of heat - and to create turbulence in the water that ' s running through the jacket , improving the heat transfer from the motor to the coolant . Outside , the system is much like that of a liquid-cooled combustion engine |
bike , with a radiator mounted behind the front wheel and a water pump - electrically powered , of course - to keep the fluid flowing between the radiator and the motor . As the patent says , " the amount of work that an electric motor may perform may be proportional to the amount of heat that can be removed " - suggesting that by shifting to a liquid-cooled motor , Zero hopes to be able to make a bike that ' s more powerful than its current rangetoppers . |