Electric Motorcycles and Road Safety – eMC2

The increased risk for powered two-wheelers (PTW) drivers is still very high: the risk of being killed for a PTW driver is 22 times higher than that of a car driver. The motorcyclists die on curves in 49% of cases.

When taking a curve, riders alternate between taking short-term information to control their trajectory and anticipating hazards in the road environment. Because of the complex dynamics of the PTWs, motorcycle crashes are frequently caused by loss of control.

The transition of riders to electric PTWs (ePTWs) raises road safety issues related to the change in the sound signature and vehicle dynamics. The lack of noise makes it more difficult to judge the speed when approaching a bend or induces more distraction to look at the speedometer, both of which make it more difficult to control the trajectory. The dynamics of electric drives, which differ from internal combustion engines with very high torques at low engine speeds, are problematic during re-acceleration out of bends and during low-speed maneuvers, such as starting at a traffic light and performing a right-turn maneuver. In both these cases, there is a risk of losing adherence and, therefore, the trajectory. These elements are unfavorable for road safety.

The eMC2 project proposes to fill in the gaps in knowledge about the difficulties encountered by ePTWs riders by comparing them to those encountered by users of thermal PTWs. Based on the results obtained, the project proposes a set of accompanying measures for a "safe" transition of riders from thermal PTWs to electric PTWs.