A French cafe-racer concept built to prove an ultracapacitor-plus-battery hybrid, not to be sold. The city range claim is real for a clever reason; the highway number is roughly half of it. We decode why, with the physics and the sources.
A serious chemistry idea wearing a beautiful concept body. The NAWACap ultracapacitor genuinely grabs 80 to 90 percent of braking energy, which is why the city figure is so high. Plan for ~93 mi on a steady road run (not 186), a claimed ~100 hp and sub-3-second 0 to 62 mph, and remember: it is a prototype with no price and not street-legal as a concept.
Why no cost table: a prototype has no price, warranty, or dealer. Per our factual-only rule we leave the cost figures blank rather than fabricate them. What we can cost honestly is the energy itself, shown in the charging module below.
Every module behind the headlines: what it is, the range claim in context, the NAWACap idea, the physics, and the standard scorecard. All sourced.
The NAWA Racer is a technology demonstrator from Aix-en-Provence nanotech firm NAWA Technologies, shown at CES 2020. Its job is to prove a small NAWACap ultracapacitor paired with a modest 9 kWh battery can transform city range, the ultracapacitor grabs 80 to 90 percent of braking energy almost instantly. Plan for ~93 real highway miles (not 186), and treat the rest of the spec sheet as a design target, because it is a prototype, not a product you can buy.
Start here. The honest answer is that nobody can buy it yet, so the question is who it is relevant to.
A concept is judged differently from a product. We still lead with audience so nobody waits on a showroom that does not exist.
The sweet spot. If you care about where battery technology is heading, the NAWACap ultracapacitor hybrid is a genuinely substantive idea worth following, and the Racer is its showcase.
There is nothing to buy. The Racer is a prototype shown at CES 2020 to demonstrate the chemistry, with no production version, price, or order page.
The carbon-fibre cafe-racer body and hubless wheels are striking. Enjoy them as a concept; just know the hubless wheels are a show-stand flourish, not a validated production solution.
The concept's whole pitch is city riding, where the ultracapacitor shines. But it is a prototype, not street-legal as shown, so it cannot actually be your commuter today.
Same concept, two stories. The struck-through line is the headline NAWA leads with; the big number is the steadier figure NAWA itself also gives. The "why" is in Part C.
What is genuinely clever, and which "innovations" are really show-car flourishes. The part a glossy concept reveal never tells you.
One idea here is genuinely substantive and one is mostly for the show stand. Each badge tells you which is which.
A 0.1 kWh NAWACap ultracapacitor paired with a 9 kWh battery. It can grab 80 to 90 percent of braking energy almost instantly, far more than a battery alone can absorb, and hand it straight back. In stop-and-go riding that recovery is what roughly doubles the usable city range. This is the genuine engineering edge.
★ Genuine edgeA carbon-fibre frame and composite panels bring claimed weight down to about 150 kg (331 lb), which NAWA frames as roughly a quarter lighter than a comparable electric sportbike. A real lever for both range and acceleration, if it survives production.
✓ SolidNAWA cites the ultracapacitor recharging in about two minutes and the battery reaching 80 percent in roughly an hour from a home supply. The ultracapacitor's instant absorb-and-release is the real story; the battery charge figure is a concept claim.
✓ SolidThe hubless wheels look spectacular and do real work for the show stand, but they are an unproven, show-car flourish rather than a validated production solution. Admire them from a distance.
⚠ OversoldConcept specs vs. the physics. The math is simple, battery capacity and a few formulas, so let us run it on the numbers NAWA published.
Concept power figures are design targets, not dyno results. Convert to the unit everyone feels and keep the caveat in mind.
NAWA quotes around 99 hp (about 74 kW) for the Racer, with 0 to 100 km/h pitched comfortably under three seconds and a top speed beyond 100 mph. Convert watts to horsepower:
The headline gap, and the most interesting number on the page. The city claim is not a trick; it depends on a kind of riding the highway cannot provide. Here is the arithmetic.
Step 1, real energy in the tank. NAWA states a 9 kWh battery plus a 0.1 kWh ultracapacitor. The published figures are in kWh, not a V and Ah split, so we use the kWh directly rather than invent a split.
Step 2, the ultracapacitor changes the math. NAWA cites about 300 km (186 mi) urban and roughly 150 km (93 mi) on a steadier mixed or highway run. The reason the city number is so high is regen: the tiny ultracapacitor can absorb 80 to 90 percent of braking energy almost instantly and return it, where a battery alone manages far less. In stop-and-go riding that recovery roughly doubles the usable range.
~100 mph claimed top speed and a 186 mi city range cannot both describe the same ride. As with any EV, hold a steady high speed and the regen advantage disappears.
The NAWACap's superpower is capturing the energy of braking. A motorway cruise involves almost no braking, so the ultracapacitor has little to harvest, and consumption is driven instead by aerodynamic drag, which rises with the square of speed. That is precisely why NAWA's own highway figure is half the city one.
Charge time is just battery size divided by charger power. NAWA gives a charge claim; we run it against our own formula and flag what is and is not published.
NAWA states the ultracapacitor recharges in about two minutes and the battery reaches 80 percent in roughly an hour from a home supply. The stock charger wattage is not published, so we work backward from the claim to show what it implies.
Nothing yet, because it is a concept. Here is the honest non-answer, plus the one cost we can compute.
A full 5-year cost-to-own breakdown for this model does not exist, because there is no price, dealer, or warranty to itemize.
The NAWA Racer is a demonstrator. NAWA Technologies' actual business is selling the ultracapacitor technology, not the bike. So there is no MSRP and no consumer running costs to total. The one figure we can compute honestly is the cost of the energy itself, below.
| Line item | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | not for sale | Concept; never listed at any price |
| Registration / insurance | not applicable | Prototype, not street-legal as shown |
| Electricity (per full charge) | ~$1.36 | Math below; the only honest cost line |
| Realistic cost to own | no figure | We leave this blank by policy |
You cannot live with a concept. What we can responsibly say about reliability and support.
There is no owner base to survey, so we do not invent owner themes. Here is the honest framing.
A concept has no aftermarket. This section exists for parity with our other reports.
There is no consumer parts supply for the NAWA Racer, because there is no production bike. The valuable, ownable thing here is the NAWACap ultracapacitor technology itself, which NAWA Technologies aims to license into other vehicles, not a catalog of bike spares.
| Part category | Availability | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| OEM consumer parts | none | not sold |
| Battery / ultracapacitor spares | none | no production bike |
| Aftermarket support | none | no platform |
One scorecard, identical axes on every bike, even a concept.
Every model on the site is scored on the same eight axes. The Racer scores low on the ownership axes, because as a concept it does not offer ownership, while the idea behind it is genuinely strong.
Our standing methodology, run identically on every e-moto, including concepts we would otherwise have reason to flatter.
NAWA publishes 9 kWh + 0.1 kWh ultracapacitor, not a V and Ah split, so we use the kWh directly rather than invent one.
You never use 0 to 100%. The BMS holds a reserve and voltage tapers at the bottom. We assume ~88%.
Here regen is the lever: the ultracapacitor's city recovery is exactly why 186 mi urban halves to ~93 mi on the highway.
74 kW ÷ 746 ≈ 99 hp, matching NAWA's figure. On a concept, treat it as a design target.
No stock charger wattage is published, so we work backward from NAWA's "80% in an hour" claim and label it as such.
| Cost assumption | We used | Change it if… |
|---|---|---|
| Annual mileage | 1,500 mi/yr (7,500 / 5 yr) | Not applicable to a non-production concept |
| Electricity rate | $0.17 / kWh (US avg) | Your utility differs |
| Sales tax | ~8% | No sale, no tax |
| Battery life | No replacement in 5 yr | No ownership period exists |
| Resale | ~60% of MSRP at yr 5 | No MSRP and not for sale |
We cite everything and date it. The NAWA Racer is a concept, so all of its specs are manufacturer claims and design targets, not validated production tests. Where a figure does not exist, we say so rather than guess. Spot an error? Our corrections policy means we fix it in public.
Sources retrieved May 2026. All NAWA Racer figures are concept claims and design targets, not independent production tests. There is no consumer price for this prototype, and we decline to invent one.