A business plan presentation, performance and acceleration tests, and a race are just some of the challenges to be faced by the participants of the international cross motorcycle event SmartMoto Challenge

The three-day event, organised by students of WUST, is going to be held in Wrocław and start as soon as on Friday, August 24.   The ceremonial opening is scheduled for 11.00 am in the lobby of building D-21 ( Grunwaldzki Square 11). The brief ceremony will be followed by the spectacular acceleration tests.

It’s going to be the first event of this kind to be held in Poland, as previously SmartMoto Challenge took place only in Barcelona and Moscow. The event will see teams comprising young constructors, whose main task is to design and build an electric motorbike on their own. 

Before the competition, the organisers inform the entrants of their vehicle’s expected function. Two years ago, the participants were supposed to prepare an electric motorbike for the police, while this time the event’s theme is cross motorcycles. When designing their vehicle, students have to take into account elements such as the frame, plating, suspension, brake system, control, and power supply.  

The key goal of the competition is to use the knowledge acquired when studying by doing a real industrial project. Aspects of the projects appreciated in the competition are not only related to the motorbikes’ performance but also the teams’ business skills.  

In Wrocław, our team is going to present their LEM Thunder motorbike, which reached the fourth place at July’s SmartMoto Challenge held in Barcelona. Acting as hosts, the members of the Scientific Circle of Vehicles and Mobile Robots (KN PIRM) certainly hope to improve that result. 

Their vehicle weighs 120 kg, featuring a power of 30 kW (which is around 40 HP). The capacity of the battery fitted in the motorcycle, entirely designed by our students, allows a 90 km ride at the speed of 120 km/h. Thanks to a special system, a dead battery can be replaced in just a few seconds.

The Wrocław edition of the challenge starts on August 24. You’ll be able to see students’ vehicles first in the area of the campus of Wrocław University of Science and Technology (August 24-25) and then at the off-road racing track near Wrocław’s Kilimanjaro Hill (August 26, starting 10 am).  7 motorcycles built by teams from Poland and Russia have qualified for the competition. 

The event will be accompanied by a two-day Electromobility Festival, during which companies hailing from the automotive sector will showcase their services and products. Visitors will have an opportunity to try driving a Tesla or other electric vehicles and learn about many interesting solutions related to charging stations for electric cars, among other things.

The event is held under the honorary patronage of the minister of energy, minister of infrastructure, minister of science and higher education, minister of environment, as well as the marshal of the Lower Silesian voivodship and the president of Wrocław.  The undertaking was subsidised with the resources of the Lower Silesian Voivodship Self-Government thanks to its winning the “Active Lower Silesia” programme. 

For more information, please visit the competition’s website and Facebook profile.