NUS students create electric engine for motorcycles

SINGAPORE - Students at the National University of Singapore have discovered a way to convert petrol engines in motorcycles to fully electric ones, which may potentially extend the lives of motorcycles here while reducing costs.

The project - a collaboration between the University Scholars Programme and the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre at NUS - paves the way for the possibility of large-scale conversion of motorcycle engines with the world’s increasing focus on green technology and movement away from fossil fuels.

The team of six - Mr Brian Teo, 22, Mr Shreyas Rao, 20, Ms Pek Yang Xuan, 20, Mr Aloysius Seah, 22, and their supervising professors Associate Professor Martin Henz and Dr Joerg Weigl – started working on the project in May last year.

They estimated that costs for the average motorcycle rider using the converted electric engine would drop from about S$121.11 to S$29.79 per month.

Currently it would take about a day with two mechanics and cost about S$3,500 to adapt a motorcycle, according to the team’s estimates.