'Project Electrom' is a Honda Grom with a 50 horsepower electric motor

5 years, 4 months ago - 8 August 2019, Autoblog
'Project Electrom' is a Honda Grom with a 50 horsepower electric motor
Powertrain from an Alta Motors dirt bike

With the onset of the electric vehicle revolution, aftermarket conversions that replace internal combustion engines have skyrocketed in popularity. The ambitious projects aren't limited to old rides either. Some wild individuals are converting brand-new vehicles into torquey green funmobiles. The latest example is a 2019 Honda Grom with a 50-horsepower electric motor from an Alta Motors motorcycle.

Highlighted on Asphalt & Rubber, the men behind this project met each other on an Alta forum. The founder of ElectroBraap, a motorcycle-focused enthusiast brand, was looking to electrify the Grom minibike, and he called upon Mark Christman, a retired aerospace engineer, avid motorcyclist, and owner of custom design and fabrication company MSC Performance, who had all the tools and craftsmanship to make Project Electrom a reality.

ElectroBraap stripped the bike down to its frame and drove to L.A. to meet Christman, who helped lay out exactly what needed to happen. The video explains the full extent of the changes made to the Grom equipment, but some of the major alterations include a new bulkhead design, a chopped gas tank-turned-electronics-housing, custom brackets, and plenty of custom spacers. The chassis and body were not modified at all.

The powertrain was sourced from an Alta Motors Redshift MXR dirt bike (R.I.P., Alta). It has a 350-volt battery that powers an electric motor that makes roughly 50 horsepower and 42 lb-ft of torque in stock form. That can be bumped up to 60 horsepower when properly finessed. Considering the Grom comes standard with a 9.7 hp, 125cc engine, that is an absolutely absurd amount of power for such a tiny bike.