Eight months ago, we told you about a special project that Alta Motors (formerly named BRD Motorcycles) was working on with Logos Technologies.
The project was a hybrid-electric two-wheel drive motorcycle that US special forces would use. Now called the SilentHawk, Logos Technologies has received a second DARPA award to continue development of this unique motorcycle with Alta Motors.
The Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from DARPA means that Logos and Alta motors can begin actually building the silent, yet easily refuelable, motorcycle to the weapons cache of the US military, which they proved in concept during Phase I.
The design of the SilentHawk uses an Alta Motors RedShift MX electric dirt bike as its base, but incorporates Logos’ multi-fuel hybrid electric power system to charge and provide electricity for the bike’s electric motors, similar to how a Chevy Volt uses a gasoline generator to power its electric drivetrain.
No information has been given about the two-wheel drive system that Alta and Logos will be using, and the concept render given provides no insight on the matter. We would imagine a hub-motor design, though something like Christini’s two-wheel drive system could also be used.
Logos and Alta hope to begin physically testing an actual SilentHawk unit within 18 months. And while the project is for the military, the benefits of the technology in the civilin world are fairly obvious.
With all the limits on battery and charging technology, a hybrid-electric design could package the pros of each powertrain system into one vehicle. Stay tuned.
Source: Logos Technologies
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