Torp Motors (2016) has a vision to produce technology that will change the way you look at electric bicycles and motorcycles. They are an enthusiastic team of professionals, constantly learning through new projects and striving to leave an impact in the world of the electric vehicles.
So, who are these guys from Torp Motors? What’s their vision? You’ll find some answers here below from the owners of the company Teo Žikić and Damir Šarčević.
Damir Šarčević is a co-founder of Torp Company, an avid motosport and technology fan. After creating a successful software company he decided to live out his childhood dreams and together with Teo Žikić started creating an innovative electric dirt bike, with all the components that go with it.
What is so special about electric vehicles?
Damir: I like how they perform: electric vehicles always have all the power at their disposal. There are no switching gears and the drive, in general, is far more comfortable compared to the regular vehicles.
Their maintenance is far simpler and cheaper compared to classic vehicles. They contain less moving parts, so there are fewer opportunities for something to break or wear-out.
There are a lot of myths circling around about electric vehicles. What are in your opinion the most common ones?
Damir: in my opinion, the biggest myth is regarding the life span of the batteries. Since mobile phones and laptops have relatively short battery-life-span, there persists a notion that it is the same with electric cars, which is not true.
The batteries in electric vehicles have sophisticated thermal management, reserve capacity, they are seldom charged up to 100%… there are loads of different tricks that can drastically prolong the life-span of the Li-Ion battery. With the existing technology, some electric vehicles can already cross 500 000 km, without changing the battery once.
In your free time, you are into motocross and enduro. What do you miss about the motorcycles used in the races? How is TORP Bike better?
Damir: to be honest I was riding enduro more often before I started working on the Torp Bike. Before building the first prototype of our e-bike, I was sure there is nothing I really miss in my internal-combustion motorcycles. But working on Torp e-bike was an eye-opener: I realized all the possibilities e-motorcycles have, compared to their classic counterparts. The biggest advantage I see is how fast the bike responds and how it always has all its power at the disposal. When riding a regular dirt-bike I often find myself in a situation when I am in the wrong gear, and thanks to that I can’t cross a certain obstacle. I think that Torp Bike has the potential to start a whole new discipline in biking.
Due to its low weight and how easy it is to control, it is simple to learn new skills with it that can be used on most electric and internal-combustion motorcycles.
The precision of electric motor enabled us to implement a “wheelie control”, a feature that with the help of gyroscope and accelerometer assists with riding on the rear wheel.
The electric motor is also quite silent, so the bike can be ridden in the neighbourhood, without bothering the neighbours.
You are also a co-owner at the software developing company. How come you decided to dedicate your time to a completely different segment?
Damir: at the beginning of my other company, TerminalWorks, I was responsible for the development of software for our core products. As the company grew, I had less to do with software development and more with leading the company. TerminalWorks is now a well-established company with an experienced team, that handles most of the work independently, so it came the time for me to shift my attention to other projects. I have been interested in electronics since I was a little boy, so at Torp, I am fulfilling my childhood dream.
How does the experience from TerminalWorks intertwine with working at Torp?
Damir: at TerminalWorks I gained experience in software development and in company management. As a software developer it was easy for me to enter the world of micro-controllers, but working on electronics turned out to be quite a challenge, that I successfully overcame. Now my main focus at Torp is the development of the electronic components, like BMS and Controller. Working on Torp Bike is really interesting, dynamic and interactive. Every day at our offices exciting: when we manage to tinker all the components and program the software we sit on the bike and try out what we created. It is really a thrill!
How will in your opinion the dirt-bike riders react to the TORP Bike?
Damir: I think they will be surprised by its performance and how easy it is to manage. I don’t think they will switch their dirt-bike for Torp Bike though. Torp Bike will be their additional bike.
Theoretically, there might be some problems with the range, but we at Torp had thought of that and developed a really light, portable battery. So you could bring several batteries to a motocross race and ride all day.
What was the biggest challenge when working on TORP Bike?
Damir: the biggest challenge was to create a bike that is light, sturdy and can perform. The first version of the bike was light, but it didn’t have enough power and overheated easily. At that moment we realized if we wanted to reach our goal, we must develop most of the components ourselves. And so we did.
Our future challenge is to start mass production of our e-bike and by doing so to lower the price of Torp Bike, so it would be accessible to a wider circle of customers.
What makes Torp Bike different from other electric motorcycles?
Damir: Torp Bike stands out for its ratio between weight and power. Our bike weighs only 29 kg, while most other electric motorcycles on the market weigh more than 60 kg, which affects the range and agility of the vehicle. Our team had developed the controller with 18kW of power and efficiency higher than 95%, weighing mare 500 g. This results in a better range. Last but not least, Torp Bike is constantly connected to the Internet, so the user can keep an eye on it through a mobile or desktop App, and change the settings accordingly to their needs.
What is in your opinion the future of electric motorcycles?
Damir: when talking about electric motorcycles for cruising, I think current battery technology is developed enough to compete with internal-combustion motorcycles. Off-road motorcycles are a whole different story. In their case, every gram is important, so I think we need some more time for electric dirt bikes to compete with their classic counterparts in range.
What does the future hold for Torp Company?
Damir: at the moment we are collecting pre-orders for our new e-bike and are planning to ship the first 50 bikes to the customers in a year. 2020 is a big year for us since we are also going to release our Battery Management System and Motor Controller. In the future, we wish to create components for an even wider selection of electric vehicles. We are proud to be working on different projects, developing innovative components for electric vehicles for our partners. Through these projects, our whole team grows in experience and knowledge. Really soon we are also moving to new offices, where we will have more room for new team members that will help us to reach our ultimate goal: to be a go-to-company in the world of powertrains for electric vehicles.
Interview | TEO ŽIKIĆ, co-founder of TORP Company
How did you get an idea to start a company that deals with electric vehicles?
Teo: it seemed interesting to me. Years ago I got an opportunity to try to ride an electric motorcycle. It was a fun experience, but I had noticed there is a lot of room for improvement. I had some knowledge of electronics so I decided to make my own electric bike. At first, it was all just a hobby. I simply loved driving bikes and motorcycles. But since I could not make money from racing, I decided to do the next best thing-developing my own e-bike.
What is so special about electric vehicles?
Teo: they are so simple in every way possible: they are simple to build and even more simple to use. You can adjust your vehicles to your needs simply with a push of a button. You are the beginner? No problem, set it into the beginner mode, and the speed of it is limited. The vehicle is the one who adapts to you and not vice-versa. There is also the performance part: electric drive is so much more efficient compared to the internal-combustion motors. If you ask me, all vehicles used for racing should be powered by electricity. My life goal is to develop an electric dirt bike, that will be faster and more powerful and more enduring than all motocross motorcycles so far. I think that internal-combustion motors used in motocross had already reached their maximum and there is not much space to grow. With electricity, only the sky is the limit.
There are a lot of myths circling around about electric vehicles. What are in your opinion the most common ones?
Teo: the most common myths are that electric vehicles are completely silent and that they are boring. Well, they have a sound and they certainly are not boring. How can they be boring with an instant torque? I think it is way more tiring when you twist the throttle and then wait for that sweet spot in the power curve, or using the clutch and gears to hold the optimal torque. At TORP we had also decided that our bikes will always have a sound. It is just more comfortable to ride when your bike gives you some kind of acoustic feedback. And last but not least, there is a persistent myth regarding electric motorcycles that says you will run out of battery in the middle of the ride. It is true, a lot of electric motorcycles have inefficient range indicators on them that often say you have more power left than you actually have. With TORP Bike we had solved this. Our indicator shows the actual range, depending on the driving style and the terrain. We left no room for the unpleasant surprises!
When deciding on buying an electric motorcycle, what should you be looking for?
Teo: the weight is the key. The lighter the bike, the more you will enjoy riding it. If looking at two motorcycles with the same specifications, but one of them is lighter than the other, you should take the lighter one. A lighter bike means you will get more out of your battery. Your rides will last longer, they will be faster and more exciting.
You were into motocross. What did you miss about the motorcycles used in the races? How is TORP Bike better?
Teo: I really missed the instant torque. With TORP Bike you accelerate immediately. With classic bikes, you have to constantly plan ahead and change gears accordingly. There is no shifting with an e-bike. You sit on it, twist the throttle and enjoy the ride.
What was the biggest challenge when working on TORP Bike? What wasn’t?
Teo: the more I got into the details, the more possibilities for improvement I had noticed. At the beginning I was planning to build a bike with the components I would order from different manufacturers. I thought I would just have to find a perfect combination of the components and that would be it. Well, it turned out that it was impossible to combine these parts in the way I would get the maximum out of them. So I scratched the idea of building my e-bike from these different components. I formed a team of engineers and we started to develop each component ourselves. We managed to develop BMS and Controller that are perfectly compatible with each other and that can get the best out of the battery. The TORP Bike was built around this technology.
What do you think, how will the dirt-bike riders react to the TORP Bike?
Teo: the moment they’ll try it, they`ll be hooked. Anything else is just prejudicing.
The electric bike market is growing. What makes TORP Bike stand out?
It is simply better. The numbers say it all. It is half the weight of its counterparts, with the same amount of power. Each electronic component and the battery were developed and built in our offices especially for this bike. Everything is in sync, making sure you get the most out of your ride.
What is in your opinion the future of electric motorcycles?
Teo: I think that the only thing that holds back the expansion of electric motorcycles is the battery. Everything else is already on the same level or even a level above compared to the internal combustion motorcycles. When the battery is perfected, electric motorcycles will surely take over the motorcycle market. In my opinion, this will happen in 10 years.
What about the TORP Company? What does the future hold for it?
Teo: we had started with our TORP Bike, which is a mix between the electric dirt-bike and a bicycle. The next step is to develop an electric motocross motorcycle, with the custom high-power powertrain. The only thing missing is a battery powerful enough to withstand the high speed and the long races. Regardless, we are going to develop our powertrain for this high-power motorcycle, using the batteries that exist on the market at the moment. This way, when the new battery is ready we`re already going to have the technology to go with it. At TORP we are striving to be a step ahead.