Last month, California-based ebike maker Sondors revealed that a budget-friendly electric motorcycle was in development. The company has since taken the Metacycle on a road trip from Irvine to Long Beach, which gives more insight into the real-world range we can expect from the striking e-moto.
At launch, Sondors revealed that the Metacycle's 8-kW rear hub motor could produce up to 130 lb.ft (176 Nm) of peak torque at the wheel and get the electric motorcycle up to 80 mph (128 km/h). The 4-kWh Li-ion battery pack was also reckoned to be good for more than 80 miles (128 km) per charge, and could be removed for charging indoors.
The company has since confirmed that the 80-mile range was determined after real-world testing at an average of 40 mph (64 km/h) in mixed city and suburban traffic, and that a 4-kWh battery was considered a "sweet spot for range, weight and cost." The recent road trip offers a little more on what we can expect from the US$5,000 Metacycle.
The test rider clocked up a total of 48 miles at an average speed of 45 mph (72.4 km/h), though the video below does suggest faster speeds were reached along the way. At the end of the outing, Sondors says that the bike's battery charge stood at 20 percent – which would indicate a mixed city and highway range of just under 60 miles. Though the company does maintain that typical riders should still be able to reach 80 miles per charge.
The trip up the Californian coast is reported to have taken the team 2.5 hours to complete, thanks to "a couple of wrong turns and stopping to answer questions from numerous curious bystanders."
Additional information nuggets include a four-hour recharge time when plugged into a 110-V AC outlet, or one hour via the optional Level 2 charger, the compression and rebound on the upside-down forks and the rear suspension are adjustable, there's front and rear hand-actuated single-disc braking, it rides on Michelin Road 5 tires, and the novel head- and tail-lights with integrated signal lamps are LED.
The Metacycle is expected to be available in Europe and the UK, as well as the US, and has a development cycle of 18 months. It's up for pre-order now in three color options for a deposit of $100, with the final price tag being $5,000 and an estimated shipping window of Q4 2021.
"The Sondors approach to manufacturing and scaling the product is unique to Sondors and to the way Storm Sondors does business," the company told us. "In particular, the Metacycle was engineered for manufacturing, with emphasis on ease of assembly and maintenance. As a result, Sondors is able to produce the Metacycle in an inexpensive manner, while still maintaining a premium look and feel. Much of this is due to the unique cast aluminum exo-frame of the Metacycle. "
Product page: Sondors Metacycle
