British engineering company targets world electric land speed record with revolutionary technology.

The WMC250EV high-speed demonstrator, White’s brainchild, is more than two years in the making and heralds a new chapter in the evolution of motorcycle technical development. It is the result of a determination to turn an inspired vision for vastly reducing aerodynamic drag into reality, having won support and recognition from all corners of Britain’s fertile motorsport engineering industry.

The prototype motorcycle, which is capable of speeds exceeding 250mph, features three market-disruptive technologies including WMC’s ultra-low drag system called V-Air. This innovation features a large duct at the centre of the bike which forces air through the vehicle, rather than around it. Incredibly, V-Air reduces the WMC250EV’s aerodynamic resistance by as much as 70% compared to that of the market-leading high performance road bike according to the results of wind-tunnel testing at MIRA.

 
The duct also increases the axial load on the front of the motorcycle allowing the WMC250EV utilise a D-Drive motor unit that powers the front wheel, which in-turn makes it possible to harness regenerative braking energy – something unachievable with a conventional motorcycle. Finally, the bike carries a unique F-Drive final drive system fitted to boost power and enhance efficiency; a technology that could be retrofitted to improve existing roadgoing bike.

“If you want to demonstrate to the rest of the world that you’ve just invented a new aerodynamic concept that means you can go faster for a given power, the best thing to do is go as fast you can,” says White. “That’s why we created WMC250EV high-speed demonstrator, the most radical version of this concept, to challenge for the world land speed record. It is electric, as that is the pre-eminent zero emissions power source at the moment, but as the aerodynamic concept provides efficiency benefit, it could just as easily be hydrogen or any other future power source.”

But speed is just the beginning, the concept’s more wide-reaching and important implication is the huge impact it can have on vehicular energy efficiency, which combined with the zero-emission agenda, can lead to a large reduction in CO2 emissions globally.

WMC is already working on a real-world application for the innovation and is producing a 300cc three-wheel hybrid scooter – the WMC300FR – that includes V-Air technology and reduces drag by 25%. That equates to 18% improvement in fuel efficiency, from aerodynamic improvements alone and when coupled with a small hybrid system enhances the performance to somewhere near 500cc levels, but with 50% less CO2 emissions.

The land speed record programme meanwhile is fully underway, with shakedowns continuing through the summer and an attempt on the Motorcycle Electric Semi Streamliner British Record planned for later on this year. Then the focus for WMC switches to the world’s largest salt flat, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, where White will attempt to set a new mark for the Electric Semi Streamliner World Record in July 2022.