Honda is going hard on electric vehicles after a period of "wait and see" defined its last decade as the technology progressed. But now that that is over, the company is fast-tracking a host of EVs set to debut in the coming years. Nowhere is that more prevalent than in its powersports arm, which the company is targeting to be the go-to for all electric powersport vehicles sold in the world.
And Honda has the history to back that aim up, given it's the number one seller of powersport vehicles globally by a factor of a heck of a lot.
But in all of its presentations, its future-forward stances, and its teases of what's coming to the electric powersports space, and more specifically to the EV motorcycle space it dominates, there's been no mention of an all-electric superbike. Granted, that's a hard nut to crack. Just look at the shit-show that is Damon Motorcycles for proof.
Yet, that isn't stopping a group of students from not only building their own all-electric Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, but they're set to take it to the grueling Le Mans 24 Hours in just a few short years. And they already have a working prototype. Wow, that's already one more than Damon.
According to Sigma Clermont's engineering school in France, "Supervised by two alumni of the school and highly involved teachers, engineering students work in project mode and benefit from all the technological equipment of the SIGMA Clermont (Technology Transfer Center) mechanical platform. The objective? Develop an electric motorcycle equipped with an innovative energy regeneration system, all as part of a high-level sports competition and with technical constraints of several kinds."
They are, however, already passed the development stage, though multiple other factors still need to be addressed before they can take it racing.
The students already have a running, driving prototype, which has been on track. The most recent development of the all-electric Fireblade occurred late last month where the demonstrator took to the Le Mans track after an initial outing at the Issorie circuit, with the school's newsletter stating, "On April 19 and 20, the SIGMA Regen Superbike team - composed of former school students, teachers and passionate students - had an appointment that lived up to its ambitions: a demonstration at the opening of the 24 Heures Motos in Le Mans. The members of the project worked hard to meet this deadline given in January by Warner Bros Discovery Sports during their visit to SIGMA Clermont. After several tests, especially on the Issoire circuit in early March, the bike behaved extremely well on the Le Mans circuit. Challenge taken up!"
As for where it goes from here, the students and teachers will have to continue to validate their creation, figure out a host of problems—chief among them charging and or battery technology to last 24 hours—and get it all solved to continue the project's timeline. Thankfully, they aren't aiming for next year or even the following two years. As they hope to have a proper superbike ready for the 2028 to 2029 Le Mans motos race.
Maybe Honda can help these students out and gain a little insight on how to do it themselves?
