Furion Taran: 326bhp and a Front Wheel That Spins the Wrong Way
A proposed electric hyperbike packing 326bhp and drive to both wheels? Yep, that's got our attention. But there's a bigger story here than another ridiculously powerful motorcycle that may or may not make it to production.
The French company wants to change how electric motorcycles put power down, using a motor built into the front wheel to do more than help the bike accelerate. The thing is, that motor actually spins in reverse! Furion also claims its system can recover 77% of braking energy.
The headline figures grab your attention. The technology behind them is what makes this one worth a closer look.
Furion Wants to Reinvent the Front Wheel
Furion isn't new to ambitious motorcycle concepts. Its earlier M1 promised rotary-powered hybrid performance, while subsequent projects explored electric drive at the front wheel. None became a mainstream production bike, but the development work has continued. The Taran represents a fresh direction: a fully electric machine designed to showcase EVERSOR, with Furion hoping to license the technology to other manufacturers.
Most electric motorcycles follow a familiar formula: battery, controller, motor and drive to the rear wheel. Furion's EVERSOR system uses an axial-flux electric motor integrated into the front wheel, giving the Taran two-wheel drive. Software manages how power is distributed between them, with the aim of making better use of available traction.
That could have benefits when accelerating, particularly when grip is limited. Rather than asking the rear tyre to handle all the driving force, the system can share the work between both ends. Exactly how that translates into rider confidence and control will depend how the system behaves on a wet or greasy run.
Here's where things get unusual. Furion says its front-wheel motor spins in the opposite direction to the wheel itself, using counter-rotation to influence the bike's gyroscopic behaviour. The company claims an 11% improvement in agility. It's an intriguing idea.
The front motor also gives EVERSOR a different approach to regenerative braking. Any experienced rider knows that braking shifts weight towards the front wheel. Furion's argument is that a motor placed there can recover more of that energy. That part makes sense to us, at least in principle.
All this adds up to some impressive claims. Furion claims its system can recover 77% of braking energy, compared with 7% for a conventional rear-wheel-drive electric motorcycle. Furion also claims a 20-30% range improvement with the same battery capacity.
Those figures come with an important caveat: Furion says its simulations have been calibrated against real measurements, but the headline gains aren't independently verified production-bike results. Still, the thinking behind the system is worth a closer look. If the technology can deliver a meaningful improvement in efficiency without compromising handling, it could have applications well beyond one hyperbike.
326bhp Is the Easy Part. Getting It on the Road Is Harder
Furion quotes 240kW (326bhp), a 20kWh battery, a weight of 230kg including the battery, and a claimed 200km (124-mile) real-world range.
But here's the thing: who's actually going to use 240kW on a road bike? Unless you're blasting down the German Autobahn and have quite literally lost your mind, there aren't many places where you can use anything close to 326bhp without risking your licence, your life or both. Basically, that's a colossal amount of power to have sitting under your right wrist, with precious few opportunities to let it off the leash.
As for that claimed 200km range, it works out at around 100Wh per kilometre. It's a useful target, but the range claim needs context. Ride a 326bhp motorcycle hard and the battery is going to be doing a lot of work, reducing range considerably.
There's a bigger hurdle, too. Furion's EVERSOR development platform currently uses a 48V electrical system. Moving to the 400V architecture planned for the Taran is a substantial next step.
Furion's Real Target is Other Manufacturers
Furion isn't just trying to sell the Taran. It wants other manufacturers to adopt EVERSOR and license the technology for use in their own machines. The Taran is intended to demonstrate what the system can do.
That's a bigger business proposition than building a small number of expensive hyperbikes. Developing a new motorcycle from scratch is a huge undertaking. Convincing established manufacturers to integrate a technology into their own products could give Furion a route to a much wider market.
Of course, manufacturers will want evidence. They'll need to know what the system costs, how much weight and complexity it adds, how reliable it is, and whether its claimed benefits survive testing outside a simulation.
But if Furion can prove that a motor in the front wheel improves energy recovery and delivers useful handling benefits, the Taran could be remembered for more than its power figure.
The BCB Take
We're always interested in electric motorcycle technology that tackles a genuine problem, rather than simply adding another zero to the power figures, and EVERSOR challenges a basic assumption about how an electric motorcycle should be built.
This isn't just a crazy concept. Furion has tested EVERSOR on a prototype and is proposing a limited production run. But it hasn't announced a price or confirmed a delivery date. For now, the Taran is a development project with ambitious targets, not a bike you can buy.
The potential efficiency gains get our attention. More effective regeneration could mean more miles, while two-wheel drive could offer useful traction benefits. Those advantages will matter a lot more to riders than 326bhp.
If Furion can make the numbers work on the road, other manufacturers might want a piece of the action. Until then, it's a promising idea with plenty left to prove.
Ride safe, folks.
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