Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler start-up Ultraviolet Automotive made its European debut with a bang, pulling the covers off of its most ambitious project yet – the Ultraviolette F99 race bike – at EICMA 2023. Not to be confused with the motorcycle (bearing the same name) that was unveiled at Auto Expo 2023, the F99 is a fully-faired motorcycle that Ultraviolette co-founder Narayan Subramaniam says is built to deliver “unadulterated and undiluted” performance, and is considerably more powerful, quicker and faster than the firm’s maiden road bike, the F77.
Also Read: EICMA 2023: List Of All Motorcycles And Scooters That Debuted At The Show
The F99 uses a hybrid steel frame and wears carbon fibre bodywork.
The F99, as showcased at EICMA, is clearly meant for track use only, equipped with slick tyres, no mirrors and no provision for a registration plate holder. It looks sharp, deriving inspiration from fighter jets, with large winglets and the signature Ultraviolette light signature built into the headlight housing. The bike wears a three-tone paint job and has a disc-type rear wheel. There’s thin foam padding for the rider’s ‘seat’, the tail-light is a slim, centrally-mounted LED (with stop lights incorporated into the back of the tail winglets) and the rider triangle is in stark contrast to that of the F77’s, with the track-oriented F99 having a more aggressive, tipped-forward riding position. Suspension duties are handled by an upside-down fork and a monoshock.
The F99’s wheelbase, at 1,400 mm, is longer than the F77’s.
Central to the motorcycle is its new, liquid-cooled motor that generates a peak 120 bhp (90 kW), which is a significant step-up from the road-going F77. The F99 can crack 0-100 kmph in a claimed 3 seconds, nearly five full seconds quicker than the F77, and clock a top speed of 265 kmph, making it the fastest electric two-wheeler yet from an Indian manufacturer. This is aided to a great extent by the weight-saving measures employed, with the F99 sporting carbonfibre bodywork, and weighing just 178 kg, nearly 20 kg lighter than the base F77. There’s no word on the battery and cell chemistry used, but it appears to be the SRB10 pack (10.3 kWh) as seen on the F77.
The F99 will crack 0-100 kmph in a claimed 3 seconds.
Another first for Ultraviolette is the inclusion of an active aerodynamics package on the F99. There are two aspects to this package, with the first being an ‘air windshield’ that relies on two front cowl ducts to channel air to a motor that compresses and releases it through vanes. This is said to create a ‘barrier of high-velocity air molecules’ to smoothen airflow over the rider’s helmet and reduce drag. The second element is the ‘Air-Blade’, which is an electronically-actuated side panel section that automatically adapts according to the lean angle achieved in a bid to boost downforce in the corners.
The start-up has said it plans to commercially launch the F99 across the globe by 2025. While it remains to be seen if the F99 will remain a track-only project by the time it is fully ready, there are clear signs that Ultraviolette could well introduce a more friendly, road-going iteration of the F99 as a natural expansion of its product line-up in the time to come. Ultraviolette has also confirmed it will launch the F77 in Europe in the second quarter of 2024.
