Which world class European brands have electric motorcycles in Australia? Here’s our breakdown of what’s available, and where to get them.
You only need to think of names like Ducati, BMW, Porsche or Jaguar to see the influence European innovation has had on the motoring. While the landscape of vehicle manufacturing is changing from petrol motors to electric vehicles, Europe is still holding the title for producing some of the best electric vehicles available, especially in the case of electric motorcycles.
The rapid push to produce electric and hybrid vehicles is coming a lot faster than you would think. Land Rover Jaguar will stop making internal combustion engines by 2025, Volvo and Ford by 2030, Audi has stopped the development of new diesel engines, Volkswagen wants to take on EV giant Tesla by launching 70 purely electric cars by 2030. Awesome news.
It’s unfortunate that the biggest names in European motorcycling like Ducati, BMW, KTM, and Husqvarna have been slow to the jump with producing electric models. If they don’t start upping their game soon they’ll be left in the dirt. The electric motorcycle manufacturers that have popped up in the last decade have been doing some incredible things. Innovation on a level we haven’t seen in motorcycles, and the best part is, they’re already hitting Australian shores.
Here’s our breakdown of European electric motorcycles that are currently available to Australian riders.
Energica – Italy
It’s no secret that we love the Energica motorbikes. We have been working tooth and nail to get these Italian superbikes approved to ride on Australian roads, and at the writing of this, October 2022, we are so close to getting the approval we can basically feel the wind on our face.
The four models from Energica offer unbeatable technology and performance. The Italian manufacturer made its name by producing motorcycles for the MotoE, the electric MotoGP. So you could imagine the insane power these bikes are packing. The models that were used in the MotoE, the Energica Ego had their top speed capped at 200 km/h for the commercially available bikes, because you know, no one REALLY needs a bike that can get up to 240 km/h in 10 seconds.
Top speed is far from all the Energica’s have to offer, however. The green touring model of the Energica family, the Experia, has an insane 420 km range of city riding, 200 km of highway riding and 280 km combined. The Ego, EsseEsse9 and Eva Ribelle offer somewhere in the range of 160-240 kms. More than enough for your daily commute, a weekend ride or a coastline tour.
One final innovation from Energica that we think makes them top of the line is the DC fast charging. With the use of the combined charging system (CCS), you can turn any publicly available DC charging station into a fast charging station. This will get the Energica to charge from 0-80% in under an hour. By the time you stop for a coffee or have lunch you’re good to go on the next leg of your adventure. If you’re interested in test riding an Energica or want some more info on these Italian superbikes, get in touch with us. We think when it comes to European electric motorcycles, Energica has taken the cake.
Stark VARG – Spain
European vehicle manufacturers have consistently produced the best of the best in motoring, Stark Future went in hard to live up to this legacy. The Spanish electric motorcycle producer has created the most powerful dirt bike in the world. And that’s comparing both ICE and electric motorbikes.
The Stark VARG quickly became one of the most in demand electric motorcycles in the world – with zero CO2 emissions, incredible power, near silent riding and requiring no more maintenance than your standard bicycle.
Packed with unique innovations, this motocross bike is 30% more powerful than a four-stroke 450CC dirt bike – this is coming from their 80hp model. If that much power is a little too intense, Stark also offers a 60hp model. The 80hp model packs an insane 938 Nm of torque to the rear wheel, with a riding range of up to 6 hours of easy trail riding. Similar to the Energica’s, the battery innovations in the Stark VARG mean you can charge the battery in 1-2 hours depending on the outlet.
We are expecting our delivery of our Stark VARG demo models in the coming weeks, so get in touch to put your name down for a test ride. We need to get a dirt bike trail put in next to the AEMC shop soon… for test reasons of course!
Electric Motion – France
Electric Motion have grown a reputation over the last decade for producing trailblazing electric motorcycles. The trail EV manufacturers are based just outside of Montpellier in the south of France and offer four models of off-road excellence – the Escape, Escape R, EPure and EPure Race.
Electric Motion entered the motorbike game back in 2012 with the aim of topping elite off-road trail competitions. Two years after they set out on this mission, they secured first place in the French Trails Championship, a pretty incredible accomplishment for a new company. Two years following this national and international success, Electric Motion launched their first commercially available electric motorcycle, the Escape.
These bikes are a fantastic off-road option for both experienced and beginner riders. They’re light, powerful, fast and fun.
They have a range between 45-75 kms and a top speed of 60 – 75 km/h. You wouldn’t take these bikes on an off-road weekend with your mates, but if you have property and enjoy burning around in your back-yard jumping from hills and making the most of the terrain, or if you’re a competitive rider, Electric Motion would be the bike for you.
CAKE – Sweden
Built on the mantra, ‘quick, clean and quiet’ the Swedish offering of electric motorcycles is definitely the most futuristic looking. You could draw one of the CAKE bikes with just a few lines, like a picasso sketch, which speaks to the simplicity of the designs.
At first glance, some of the CAKE bikes look like bicycles with an electric engine, but jump on and the torque heavy rear wheel and low riding weight quickly makes you realize these bikes were built for racing. Pure fun. The CAKE company was developed by the founders love of gravity sports and all of their models reflect the off-road nature the bikes were built for. In recent years the bikes have stacked up a tonne of awards – from design and brand awards to best in show by a number of outdoor publications.
The off road models, the KALK OR, INK and AP were all built off the same chassis, with very similar specs but all aimed toward slightly different uses. These bikes reach up to 90 km/h, can be ridden for up to 3 hours and were purpose built to do the job of handling off road adventure, and therefore don’t have more than the electric drivetrain, knobby tyres, great suspension and the ride controls.
Even though AEMC doesn’t stock any CAKE models, we recently had a Lismore local get in touch with us because his bike was damaged in the recent floods. We decided to do what we can to help him out because there isn’t much support out there for electric motorcycle riders in Australia right now. We had to work closely with the manufacturer to get this bike that honestly, we thought was done for, back up and running. We were pleasantly surprised how cooperative and helpful CAKE were. We were able to get the bike back up and running and it goes to show the dedication CAKE has to their motorcycles.
We hope to see more innovation from European electric motorcycles over the coming years because what’s already on offer is pretty outstanding. We hope to see the KTM electric bikes come back to Australia now infrastructure has developed a bit more and we’re excited to see the release of an electric Ducati in the coming years.
We want to know which of your favourite European vehicle manufacturers you would like to see an electric motorcycle from? Keep an eye out on the AEMC socials and blog because if it’s coming to Australia, you’ll hear about it through us.