Triumph TE-1 electric motorcycle project announced, and Williams is helping

Triumph just announced a new program with a couple of heady partners to speed up and aid the development of its future electric motorcycles. The project is called TE-1, which sounds like a decent name for Triumph's first electric bike, but for now that's just a project name.

Partners for the project include Williams Advanced Engineering (yes, the Formula One Williams), Integral Powertrain and the University of Warwick. The plan is to use the knowledge of these partners to develop an electric motorcycle powertrain in just two years — actual model development will follow after this. Williams is tasked with developing the batteries, Integral Powertrain gets the electric motor, and Warwick is responsible for advanced research into the field. Triumph will head the design and development of everything put together and make sure the research gels into what will ultimately be a line of electric motorcycles.

Seeing Triumph put this much effort into backing the development shows that it's serious about bringing the technology to market. That said, it's clear the manufacturer is still entirely in love with giant internal combustion engines — the Rocket 3 TFC was released earlier this month with a 2.5-liter(!) three-cylinder engine. Yes, that is an enormous engine to sit upon when rumbling about.

There still are not many electric motorcycles out or even announced to come out at this point. Harley-Davidson has the Livewire on the way. There's a promising-looking sport bike called the Lightning Strike that's supposed to be coming. And Buell is reportedly trying to make one work, among others.