“Al Mugello non si dorme!” (No sleeping at Mugello!”) is the refrain heralding the arrival of the MotoGP in Italy. Every year, in the first week of June, motorsport aficionados meet at the Mugello Circuit, nestled in the Tuscan hills north of Florence, to watch the MotoGP. This year there is an additional reason to stay awake: the circuit is showcasing the innovation and sustainability of Energica MotoE™, the electric bike that will race in the 2019 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup, the first competition dedicated to electric motorcycle racing for which Enel is Title Sponsor.
An electric “Buccaneer”
The schedule of the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley includes a demo lap (show drive and test) of the electric racing motorcycles developed by Energica, the Italian global leader in the industry, wearing the Enel colours that will take place on the GP circuit just before the race itself. Driving the high performance two-wheeler, with almost zero emissions, will be Italian champion Max Biaggi. The four-time winner of Class 250 (from 1994 through 1997) and two-time winner of the world Superbike (2010, 2012), Biaggi gained the nickname of Il Corsaro (The Buccaneer) in 1994, a fitting moniker for the all-black livery of both bike and suit and for his driving style. From 2001 to 2006, he was Valentino Rossi’s greatest challenger, first in the Class 500 and later in the MotoGP. A talented rider who today is ready, at almost 47, to offer his experience to the development of an innovative generation of motorcycles, which are electric, no-gas and whose sound is unique. So il Corsaro returns to the Mugello circuit, the place where he starred in thrilling duels that marked the very top levels of global motorcycle racing, for a new exciting challenge: the eMobility Revolution.
Show and tests
Max Biaggi’s ride at Mugello will mark the sixth of 17 demo laps (one for each stage in the MotoGP 2018 schedule) and the first in Italy and heralds the debut of the first ever FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup in 2019. The presentation has a double objective: first, to introduce the public at large to the innovative and sustainable solutions of electric mobility, so that people can become acquainted with the performance and excitement of electric racing bikes. Secondly, it allows the engineers of Energica, sole supplier of the electric bikes competing for the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup, and Enel engineers and technicians to continue testing the MotoE’s electric engine and their smart charging solutions on the world’s GP circuits.
Besides Max Biaggi and the Energica bikes, the mobile, fast charge system Juice Roll, developed by Enel X - our Group’s company for advanced energy services - will also perform in the Mugello pit lane. This specifically designed technology, connected to our smart e-mobility platform, can fully charge the bikes in less than 30 minutes.
MotoE debuted in the MotoGP circuits in March with the first race in Qatar and following rounds in Argentina, Texas, Spain and France. Riders included some of the best-known stars of recent top class global motorcycle racing, like Colin Edwards (USA), and Randy de Puniet (France), who tested the latest updates of Energica MotoE on the historical Le Mans circuit, highlighting technical qualities such as its fluid and high acceleration in a short time. All those who tested the electric motorbikes greatly appreciated the unique experience of being able to hear the sound of the asphalt and that of their knee sliders (protective pads placed in rider suits allowing drivers to lean into corner turns).
Enel and Dorna, sustainable passion
The FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup was officially announced in Rome in February. Speakers at the presentation included Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna CEO; Vito Ippolito, President of FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme); Francesco Starace, Enel CEO; Francesco Venturini, Enel X CEO and Livia Cevolini, Energica CEO.
Initiatives like this one and like Formula E, with which Enel has recently renewed its partnership for the next five seasons, allow our Group to reach out and engage with millions and millions of people and to demonstrate that electric mobility is the present, not only the future, as emphasised by our CEO Francesco Starace.
Competitions like these have always provided a huge entertainment while acting as a natural “incubator” for the development of new technologies. In fact, our partnership with Dorna includes a full package of services to reduce the carbon footprint of the various stages of the upcoming World Cup: smart energy management and digital monitoring solutions will be installed to provide Dorna and the MotoE teams with the latest generation technology for managing complex electrical systems.
The innovative solutions developed by Enel X will provide the Energica electric motorcycles with “zero impact” renewable energy, generated right there, using mobile photovoltaic systems or available from local distribution networks. Our smart charging systems will provide green electricity in the boxes, through a grid connection, as well as anywhere on the circuit, in battery mode, by using a mobile charger with incorporated accumulation capacity.
Enel X is working on the development of hardware and software to enable the largest diffusion of these technologies, taking them beyond the circuit and onto the roads. Enel is presently engaged in the creation of a widespread network of public recharging infrastructure for EVs, which aims to install 2,700 charging stations in Italy by the end of 2018, reaching 14,000 by 2022.
So: “Nessun dorma!” (None shall sleep) in Mugello, adapting the motor sports fans’ refrain to Puccini’s famous melody from “Turandot”. The MotoGP has gained further appeal from a new model of sustainable mobility, which is electric and as green as the Tuscan hills.
