"A great leap for mankind” it may have been, but surely the gnarliest air caught on our lunar cousin - aside from take-off of the lunar lander for its return to earth - was that of John Young piloting the 002 Lunar Rover during the Apollo 15 Mission.

That is of course, if you believe that humans every really landed on the moon ...

Pared down? Open top? Bare bones?

These might be fitting terrestrial terms for the LRV (Lunar Roving Vehicle), and although it does evoke something of the T-bucket hotrod, or even a railtrack service vehicle  or "handcar", the design development for this space buggy took a much more meandering route than the relatively short excursions enjoyed by the vehicle itself once it finally got moon dust between its tyre treads.

Some tyre treads they were, with the LRV wheels sporting a chevron pattern made of ... titanium, of course.

Not always designed for the demands of lunar exploration, tyres remain an important consideration for Electric Vehicles. A firmer compound tyre, although trading something of the 'stickiness' craved by racetrack enthusiasts, results in higher efficiency with a focus on an incremental contribution towards the bike's range - an important metric for most EVs. 

With this in mind Evoke chose the K97 Tubeless Radial model by King Tyre for our Urban S and Classic models.

The Lunar Rover and its Terrestrial Cousins:

A Brief History of EVs in Space

Performance

Essentially a rolling chassis with seats, the raw simplicity of the Apollo Mission era LRV  brings to mind early hotrods, although instead of a gargling V8 engine, perhaps only the pulsing sonar like beeps of its forward based navigational equipment were all that was heard beyond the crunch of titanium tyre on dirt and the gentle whine of four 190W electric motors (one powering each wheel).



With a top speed recorded by Eugene Cernan (Apollo 17 mission) of just 18kph, co-pilot at the time Harrison Schmitt, in the passenger seat may well have screamed a desire to increase the vehicle's speed, but then this was space, so well, go figure. The Lunar Rover achieved a total mileage of approximately 36km on the Apollo 17 mission with a single uninterrupted trip of 20km. This making use of its two 36 volt batteries (non-rechargeable) each with a capacity of 121 Ah for a total of 242 Ah.

Far from the moon's surface, but not forgetting legal speed limits here on planet earth, the Evoke Urban Classic reaches a top speed of 140km/h by way of its 96V rear hub mounted motor.



Unlike being shot into space, don't expect a countdown timer or lengthy launch sequence, as the Evoke Urban delivers all its power from zero rpm and sits ready to go in total silence with zero vibration or vehicle noise. Like all motorcycles, the bike has a kill switch immobilising the engine should someone mistake the bike's silent resting state with that of a gas bike's prior to ignition.

But like G-forces necessary to leave earth's atmosphere, the Evoke Classic has acres of torque evident by a rear end that squats under acceleration as the bike taps into 200 Nm of forward propulsion. All of which is released seamlessly, without the need for a single gear shift.

Shown here in our new for 2023, 'Rogue Red' finish, this year's model builds upon an almost 30% increase in the capacity and output of our new battery pack as part of multiple improvements to its manufacture we made in 2022.

With 2023 upgrades featuring laser welded prismatic cells with highly robust solid plate connections, the bike now boasts a capacity of 10.0 kWh, increasing range and decreasing journey times by offering up more usable power between charges without sacrificing reliability. In short we beefed up our battery and we did it the right way.

Fenders proved to be a serious issue for the lunar rover as they functioned to keep moon dust and debris away from important vehicle components and in truth they represent its only form of bodywork. This in part contributed to a vehicle weight of just 210kg, with the ability to carry an additional payload (or carrying capacity) of 230kg. 



Referred to as a naked bike, the Urban Classic for sake of practicality includes panelling and bodywork that enshrouds key components while bringing a degree of comfort to rider and passenger (although we haven't tried riding it in spacesuits). The Urban Classic has a curb weight of 209kg and can carry a rider and passenger with a combined weight of 200kg.

The Lunar Rover's instrument panel was not dissimilar to a studio mixing desk, such was the array of switches, dials and signal lights. The vehicle's operators underwent countless hours of training to familiarise themselves with its design that despite appearance was intended to be simple and relatively fool-proof.

Being something of a busy design, more commonly in today's era screens place the most important information front and centre with additional data located peripherally. Speed and power output become the two most important data points with secondary information appearing in relation to its perceived rank or importance.

For 2023 Evoke have upgraded our display screen and added new backlit switches, pairing both with black handlebars to offering a completely revised cockpit. With improvements to usability and performance, it's also a little easier on the eye, but mostly due to the option of day and night modes and increased luminosity.

Our new for 2023 screen shown above with its display in night mode and below in daytime mode.

As a scientific mission, the Lunar Rover's job was to collect both rock and gas samples and make observations in a way that would have left moonwalkers trailing in their dust. As a moon scout, the Rover Vehicle pinged data back to NASA that ensured careful tabs were kept on progress and indeed potential discoveries as they happened. Communication was also maintained to ensure broadcast content for terrestrial TV as millions looked on form the safety of their living rooms.

For 2023, The Urban Classic from Evoke Electric Motorcycles, features the addition of an Android owner app that allows for a more detailed understanding of the bike's core metrics even while out of the saddle. As a proprietary app, we ensure only essential information is displayed and things like location data we avoid out of a respect for rider privacy.

For the time being there's no shortage of parking space on the moon, yet initiatives were taken by the Lunar Rover's designers to ensure the vehicle could manoeuvre freely among craters and rocks bigger than its 14 inch ground clearance allowed. For this the vehicle made use of 4-wheel Ackerman steering to get in and out of even the tightest spots.

To aid riders of the Evoke Urban Classic in not entirely dissimilar situations or at least when space is at a premium, the Urban range from Evoke has a reverse gear, which is engaged only by holding the ride mode selector switch down for 5 seconds and then engaging both the sprung selector lever and engaging the throttle simultaneously (and gently, we would suggest) .

Kill switch in focus on our new backlit controls above the ride mode selector. All mounted on our new for 2023, black handlebars.

The Lunar Rover and its Terrestrial Cousins:

A Brief History of EVs in Space

The Future

The Lunar Rover Vehicle existed as both a manned vehicle and one that made use of wheels to traverse across the moon's surface serving on three space missions with no major reported issues (literally one minor fender bender). Since that time of the Apollo era of spaceflight, vehicles that rove or indeed roam other planets have become unmanned and more recently plans are for aerial exploration vehicles like that designed for the skies above the surface of Mars.

The advantage of Electric Vehicles in such settings was perhaps best alluded to by Elon Musk in a recent appearance on  a popular podcast. To paraphrase the great rocketeer himself, EVs offer a much higher degree of control and deal in nanoseconds in terms of commands sent to their final drive systems and indeed back again as something of a relay signal.

Pilot feedback (that received by way of a pilot's senses or physical contact with a vehicle) is nothing new, but having a readable, digital interface between wheels which serves as something akin to sensors and a central computer processing this information before making necessary adjustments in tenths of a second - making a convincing argument as to why the era of EVs soon gave rise to the birth of the autonomous vehicle.

In such a micro-managed and high stakes environment as an exploration mission to other planets, its exactly this aspect of the electric motor that helps provide the accuracy and assuredness that contribute towards mission success. Although space flight still relies on rocket fuel, once within a planet's orbit and in touching distance the baton is passed to EVs to handle the detailed surveying and collection of samples that help inform our understanding of our planetary neighbours.

While efforts have been made to reduce or supplement the use of combustible fuels to literally throw objects into space, the innovative backdrop of space travel remains a meritocracy between traditional means of propulsion and fresh new approaches.

In mentioning Musk, we might be inclined to acknowledge the Tesla that is currently orbiting the atmosphere of Mars. The question of whether it will ever see service on the planet itself perhaps depends on the realisation of Elon's seemingly boundless ambition. Should that ever be the case, it can't be too long before a two wheeled vehicle joins it. For now development of road going earth vehicles also sees great potential in electric power sources for the ease of use, accuracy and control they offer their users.

While the future of our species may be in space and on planets other than our own, the opportunities for advancement in terrestrial means of transportation continues and we at Evoke relish the opportunity to be part of earth's future EV offerings. The 2023 Urban Classic from Evoke Electric Motorcycles - your next ride awaits.

Although the lunar rover is a museum piece and only four were made, production capacity at Evoke continues to increase as the company approaches its second decade of operations.