Newron Motors plans to produce a high-end, high-performance electric motorcycle in France. The founders have teamed up with Advans Group.
Origins of the Newron Motors project
In his late teens, motorcycle enthusiast Sébastien Mahut dreamed of designing an all-electric motorcycle. A reliable, modern-day motorcycle powered by clean, silent energy. Using an existing machine, an Aprilia Futura (!), he designed a first prototype in his garage. After a year's work, he presented the public with a machine capable of accelerating to 110 km/h and with a range of around 60 km. The vehicle is not approved, as it no longer corresponds to the vehicle registration document, but the gamble paid off. Small detail: Sébastien now has to think about getting his motorcycle licence...
Caught up in the realities of life
Sébastien is finishing his studies at Polytech Paris Sud. After completing a work-study program at Safran, he was officially hired by Sagem Défense Sécurité in 2009, as an electronics engineer. In 2014, he met Michel Sérafin. The two engineers began to make "comet plans", and the next stage of the project took shape. They develop the first technical prototype at an incubator called Usine IO, then a second.
" From a project scribbled on scraps of paper during several informal meetings, we built the structure of our nascent project and gave it a first landing place within an incubator, for two and a half years. We left our respective jobs and took up the challenge of giving birth to this project. "says Michel.
The adventure became a full-time project for them.
Newron Motors
Newron Motors was officially founded at the end of 2016. In 2017, they joined the FOCUS by Usine IO hardware program, which enabled them to join the famous Station F start-up campus, where they met the design teams from Dassault Systèmes, among others. With the latter, they establish objectives and workshops to guide the product design. Then, at Dassault's mobility division, they are advised by a team of engineers to develop the technical parts of the bike.
Newron Motors aims to launch a limited series of 12 road-approved models in 2020, before going to market on a larger scale in 2021. At the same time, the team has launched a major dynamic testing campaign. It is in this context that it is beginning its collaboration with Advans Group.
Partnership with ADVANS Group
" We have fully entered the era of electric vehicles, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy dependency, and improving air quality in urban areas. "explains Frédéric Onado, ADVANS Group R&D and Innovation Director. "Newron Motors offers a response to these challenges while maintaining an uncompromising user experience, with a motorcycle that has a strong image and character. It's a great project, and the associated technological challenges (electronics, on-board software, communication interface, AI) excite us at ADVANS Group. "
As part of this partnership, Advans Group has begun work on the design of a test bench at its ELSYS Design technical center in Cachan. In a second phase, it is planned to extend the collaboration to the control and communication interface parts.
Newron: Newton and Neurone
The name Newron is in fact a contraction of Newton, which is used to establish a torque value (the acceleration felt), and neurone, which refers to artificial intelligence. Newron Motors' aim is to design a learning motorcycle that can adapt its fuel consumption and predict the optimal route based on recorded use. What's more, this motorcycle will be connected and accessible to the rider via an iOS and Android smartphone application, enabling predictive maintenance, for example. These are all areas in which AViSTO has considerable expertise.
"As Peter Drucker said, " The best way to predict the future is to create it ", concludes Newron Motors CTO Sébastien Mahut. " To see our adventure through to the end, we want to surround ourselves with top-notch technical and technological partners. After Dassault Systèmes, we are proud to be working with ADVANS Group.
Source : Advans Group