Zero Fuel, Zero Fun?

Electric whiz kids Zero tell us that they’ve created the ultimate toy; a full blown electric supermoto with enough torque to pull a house down. But is it the real deal or just an oversized vibrator?

- Pretty Boy

Let’s face it, electric bikes don’t really have the best reputation, do they? I mean they don’t really have much go at the top end, they don’t have great range, and they usually come out pretty chunky in both size and weight – and for all this you still have to pay a pretty hefty price. But fear not, as whether you’re a fully blown petrol head or one of those new age tree huggers, Zero look like they’ve created something special and actually exciting… their FXS Supermoto.

Okay, glancing at the spec sheet shows that the FXS is A2 friendly with just 46 horses, but if you look beyond horsepower the FXS gives an absolutely staggering 106Nm of torque – just three less than you’d find in an MT-10. But how is this possible? Well it’s all thanks to the Z-Force Motor system, a result of ten years of solid R&D which has made for a bizarre ol’ motor. The powertrain has no transmission, no cooling system and just one single moving part, which means the power delivery is so smooth and precise that it’s belt driven – and requires absolutely no servicing whatsoever. Yep, none. And Zero have worked their tits off in order to make it go the distance as well. The Interior Permanent Magnet system means the FXS cools down more efficiently, while an internal Re-Gen system helps to recharge the power pack under deceleration in order to eke out that little bit of extra range – even with all this though it still means that on the biggest ‘capacity’ model it will only claim about a 60 mile range on a regular ride. Although you can swap batteries out, and get a quick charger to bring the time from nine hours all the way to under two…