TU Delft | Dream Team Nova Electric Racing
Bodywork Electric Racing Motorcycle - NovaBike09
NovaBike 08 (Left) vs NovaBike 09 (Right)
The bodywork consisted of a nose, two side panels, a bottom plate, foot protectors, a back fender, a front fender and a seat. My team redesigned and produced all of these parts, except for the last two. The most important design drivers were: graphic design, aerodynamics, ergonomics and cooling efficiency.
Nova Electric Racing
Nova Electric Racing is a TU Delft | Dream Team that consists of 15 to 20 interdisciplinary and international, part-time and full-time students. This team specializes in designing, producing, testing and racing an electric racing motorcycle. Every year, a new team takes over and iterates on the previous motorcycle. During my years in the team, we were located in the TU Delft | Dream Hall where more student teams like ours and all kinds of production were located.
Chief Bodywork
In 2017, I started full-time as the chief of the department that designed and produced the carbon fibre bodywork and cooling system of the motorcycle. This provided me with a wide range of experiences. From the design of the paint job to the CAD models of the carbon fibre parts to the production of the moulds. The management of my team and the acquisition of materials from sponsors were also part of my resonsibility.
Production Process
Sketching
3D Scanning Rider
CAD Modelling
CNC Programming
CNC Milling
Prepping Moulds
Vacuum Infusing Carbon Fibre
Postprocessing
Instructing Professional Painter
Sponsor Logo Stickering
Graphic Design Evolution
The new graphic design came to be from various rounds of iterations and colour studies. At the basis of the design was a number of identified requirements based on identified problems:
TU Delft Team
It had to be more obvious that we were from the TU Delft, as we were racing against other universities. I incorporated the TU Delft flame, more blue and a bigger high-contrast logo.
Sponsors Representation
On the previous bike, the sponsor logos were only visible from up close. That’s why more space was created for the logos and the main sponsors were positioned in special locations.
Lightning Bolt
Quite often the motorcycle had to be presented at events to attract sponsor and media attention. As people were often unaware of it being electric, which made it unique, I tried to make it a little more obvious.
Number 3
This motorcycle would be the third electric version for Nova Electric Racing (before the team drove on bio-ethanol). Therefore, as an easter egg, the design features are mostly present in threefold.
More Colour
The predecessor, NovaBike 08, was difficult to recognize on the race track, because of the black. That’s why there’s more blue and white in this design. Also, as a nod to the yellow 7th bike, I added a small yellow stripe.