Efesto 200Novantanove: a hybrid kit for a 300 hp Panigale – News

We had noticed it last year and we were very intrigued: it is the Franco-Turin startup Hephaestus, a company that at EICMA 2018 had presented the interesting prototype of a hybrid propulsion bike based on Ducati Panigale. A year later, a EICMA 2019, we have the pleasure of seeing the bike as almost final, and with a whole series of evolutions that have further enriched the contents.

Let's start by explaining that in the case of Efesto we are already faced with a reality with a solid technical and industrial background: the company is one spin out of Fidia (numerically controlled machines with clients in the automotive and aerospace field, listed on the Stock Exchange), and has the mission of creating hybrid propulsion solutions for the automotive, marine and aerospace world.

His achievements include both electric and hybrid range extender and power train, parallel hybrid systems for light aircraft, hybrid units for the marine sector and a hybrid power train prototype for cars racing on ice. In addition to, of course, the hybrid solution for the motorcycle world Efesto 200 Novantanove Hybrid Kit, of which we speak today: an electric motor from approx 108 horses and 150 Nm who works alongside the Ducati 1299 engine, but which obviously required the redesign of some parts of the Bologna twin to be functionally housed in the Panigale.

The Efesto solution provides that the electric motor can work alone, coupled with the endothermic one, such as boost / Kers or in a way that can be customized by the user. If we think about it, it unites the best of both worlds, and without even too many renunciations in terms of autonomy, because the petrol engine constantly recharges the batteries, allowing to limit the dimensions of the accumulator pack and therefore the total weight of the system, which is only 26 kg including inverter and motor. It remains therefore, on the Ducati Panigale equipped with the Kit Efesto, always below 200 kg, with the possibility of arriving – in boost mode – at 300 hp of total power.

Peculiar also traction and wheelie controls, that do not include a cut in the power of the endothermic engine but the intervention of the electric motor (which always and only acts on the secondary transmission shaft), which applies a propulsive or braking torque depending on the behavior of the motorcycle. All the control electronics are developed by Efesto: the vehicle control unit communicates through the CAN Bus with the engine control unit, with the inverter and with the BMS (battery management system), to guarantee the best performance and recharge the battery pack via regenerative braking or absorbing power to the heat engine with the electric motor, which becomes a generator.

Efesto, and its managing director Luca Morfino, have in their plans both to contact the Houses that intend to "hybridize" their motorcycles with the Efesto kit, and to private individuals who have a Panigale (959, 1199 or 1299), and want to try the thrill of 300 horses and 300 Nm.

To date the project is in the final stages of development, but it seems really interesting and concrete: Luca Morfino has promised us a test for 2020, we can't wait to tell you everything.