Arc Vector - A Ground Breaking £90k Motorcycle

Coventry-based Arc Vehicles have said that their new Arc Vector motorcycle is almost ready for production and the first deliveries will begin within weeks. 

So, what do you get out of a bike that sets you back £90,000? 

Certainly not something that screams like a banshee and coughs out unburned hydrocarbons! Amongst other important specs: 

• Carbon front swing arm steering 
• 230kg gross weight 
• 399v battery 
• Charges in 40 minutes via CCS rapid charger 
• 271 miles per charge 
• 124mph max speed 
• 0-62mph in 3.2s 

The carbon front swing arm and carbon monocoque frame make for lightness and amazing agility. Arc’s professional test rider James Ellison, a multiple British Superbike race winner, has said that the machine has the agility of a far smaller machine due to the innovative steering system. 

Being able to jump between turns like a smaller bike will give a real thrill to bikers who are used to bigger machines. The winner of a bike race is the one who can get the best line between turns and who can go from knee to knee the quickest. This is amply aided by the carbon monocoque frame that keeps the weight down despite a fair weight of lithium ion batteries inside. 

The other bits - CCS charging and the healthy range between charges - are technologies that many other EV superbike brands seem to have mastered already. 

Speaking to MCN, CEO Mark Truman said, “Arc are rewriting the rules of motorcycle design. We’re not just putting together a frame with a battery, motor and a set of forks, this is a new construction philosophy – almost every idea, concept, component and technique is new. We are building our perfect motorcycle and we are incredibly close but bear with us – perfection is worth fighting for.” 

The Vector was due for release as early as 2020 but ran into financial difficulties due to what Truman referred to as non-aligned investors. Essentially the ex Jaguar Land Rover engineer seems to be saying that the investment came with demands for compromises that he and the team refused to make. 

Simply, if you’re about to sell a motorcycle in the region of five times the price of a fossil-fuelled mass production fossil fuelled machine, you’re going to want to blow the rider’s socks off! Perhaps those compromises were a step too far in the wrong direction for the team. 

Arc Vehicles say they have a ‘very healthy order book’ and are self-funded by working into other companies with their skills and innovations from designing and building the superbike. In the coming weeks, the first riders will get their legs over one and hopefully walk away with the sort of smile on their faces they deserve having parted with £90k!