one of the things i like most about the soco is the rear motor, reducing the complexity of an engine has definite benefits

... but I have been trying to find out what the major performance differences are between mid and rear motor bikes?

anyone got any links?

it seems at the moment, that mid engines are used simply because rear motors at much higher powers don't exist yet, but maybe there is another reason?

Yeah, "Real" electric motorcycles start around a 10 kw motor and up. I would have to agree that the barrier at the moment is likely the motor size. Not just can it physically fit in the wheel, but pound-for-pound, you'd rather the weight be near the middle rather than at the rear wheel, and you'd rather each pound be stationary rather than rotating as power required to spin a mass goes up with increasing radius.

I think 10-40 kw hub motors light enough to make sense are many many years away. Right now, we're still struggling to get a true 300cc - 400cc equiavlent suitable for interstates that doesn't need to have the performance of a Zero but also needs to cost a lot less than a zero. I'd say this NIU bike could hit the sweetspot.

i have seen 11kW hub motors, highest i found so far

the weight distribution is definitely important, but we do have a huge chunk of heavy lithium in the middle - def something i will keep in mind tho

@socomods

A mid motor has about the power added of 3-4x from the hub motor ekvivalent and is based on front to rear cog ratio via the chain.

Motorbikes usually have 3,5 in that ratio. 

The mid motored TC-max has a power of about 7-9kw and is about 3x stronger than a normal hub motor used on the Super Soco TC of 3kw.

The NIU Rqi has a mid motor and even more power than the TC-max so it can sustain normal highway speeds.