Rennie Scaysbrook | November 6, 2024
Honda has stunned the motorcycling world at EICMA in Milan by releasing the first details and information on what would be the first electronically supercharged motor in motorcycling history.
Packaged atop a brand-new 75°, liquid-cooled V3 motor, the concept uses an electric motor to spin a turbine, which increases air density for combustion. Essentially, it functions as a supercharger, though it isn’t powered by the engine’s crankshaft as is typical.
Unlike turbochargers, which use exhaust gases to pressurize incoming air, superchargers draw power from other sources, such as a belt drive or gear drive. Honda has taken the concept a step further by using electrical power to create the forced induction.
The new V3 motor and its electronic supercharger would be a world first in motorcycling should it make it to production.
With the compressor powered by an electric motor, the layout is more flexible than a crankshaft-driven supercharger. Additionally, it doesn’t require an intercooler, contributing to a more compact design.
The electronic supercharger concept is a first for the motorcycle industry but not so in the automotive sector, with Audi the first to use a similar design in their SQ7 TDI SUV back in 2017 when they bolted an electric blower to their four liter diesel V8.
The Audi design used a 48V power source to provide the required spin of the impellor to make the required horsepower, a system that is obviously not going to work on a little V3 motor such as the Honda.
Up close and personal with the electronic blower.
Honda’s answer would likely be then to run a dedicated battery for the supercharger so the primary battery can be used for all normal electrical functions as it traditionally has. This has become possible with the advent of ultra-light lithium-ion batteries over the past decade, negating much of the potential weight gain associated with running two batteries.
Honda has been quick to point out that the electronically-blown V3 motor is a working, running unit, with in-house bench tests proving its viability. While shown to the public in a very-non-Honda-like tubular steel trellis frame (minus basically every component needed to make the bike work except the wheels, brakes and suspension), there’s no word on what bike the new motor would go in.
The blower would need a separate power source to get the required juice to run it.
The advent of the electronic supercharger would thus allow smaller capacity, cleaner burning engines to create torque levels normally reserved for much larger engines while retaining the lightness and reduced inertia of smaller displacement machines. Honda has said they are planning to put this concept into production within the next five years.
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