Energica sets new bar for electric motorcyle touring with long range Experia

If you are interested in two-wheeled electric mobility and haven’t heard of Energica, you need to pay attention.

Energica Motor Company manufactures electric motorcycles from its headquarters in Modena, Italy – the heartland exotica and home to the likes of Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati.

Now more than ten years old, Energica was created as a subsidiary of CRP Group, who are world-renowned suppliers to Formula 1 racing and specialists in computer-aided design and materials engineering. In 2022, Energica was privatized and delisted by Ideanomics, Inc. who took a 72.42% stake in the company.

The CEO of Energica is Livia Cevolini, whose family retained 17.62% ownership and recently provided a fascinating insight into electric motorcycle technology and the unique challenges she has overcome as a female CEO in this fascinating podcast interview.

Today, the company has a highly successful three-year history as the sole maker of race motorcycles for the premier Moto E class and is one of the worlds most successful manufacturers of beautiful, performance electric motorcycles for the street.

A new bar for electric motorcycles

This week, Energica once again set a new bar for the segment with the release of arguably the world’s most capable and purpose-made electric motorcycle aimed for the sports touring segment, the Energica Experia.

Touring is the ultimate test for electric motorcycles for obvious reasons. Long distances, a large frontal area, extra weight, and a wide variety of conditions are directly proportional to reduced range on any electric vehicle and most particularly electric motorcycles.

But the spirit of freedom that is intrinsic to all motorcyclists is no different with electric riders, and we all dream about being able to ride into the sunset, seeking out new experiences and connecting with the world from behind the handlebars of a bike on a big fat adventure.

The motorcycling world really needed this bike – hats off to Energica.

Given it was just released, there are no real-world ride reviews available yet and as hard as I’ve tried, I haven’t got a reply from their CEO asking for an interview or test ride!

However, based on the experiences from Energica owners around the world and the specifications of the Experia, we can get a good sense of how the bike is likely to stack up as the world’s first purpose-built electric sports touring motorcycle.

Sublime smooth riding experience

From a power perspective, the Experia has a peak of 75kW/102Hp which is just about spot on for the application and based on my Harley Davidson Livewire with 100Hp, it’s plenty of beans.

Similarly, the torque is rated well at 115 Nm / 85 ft lb (900 Nm / 664 ft lb. at wheel) and more than enough stonk to comfortably fulfil its role. I can already imagine the sensation of loping up long and winding mountain roads with that smooth silky torque effortlessly pushing me along.

Like all electric motorcycles, the digitally programmable, linear power delivery will beat any ICE bike hands down for a sublimely smooth riding experience and is perfectly suited to slightly more sedate touring duties.

In this latest release, Energica have also tweaked their class-leading liquid-cooled Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance motor so that it has less mass and is lower in the (newly designed) chassis which will no doubt help the bike feel nimbler than its 260kg weight would imply.

At the heart of the touring challenge is the largest capacity you can get in an electric motorcycle today, featuring a 22.5kWh (19.6kWh nom) lithium polymer battery.  On paper this is good for 208km of Extra Urban range (222km WMTC range) which at around 2 hours of riding time is pretty damn good I reckon.

What we can safely assume is that under a wide range of conditions and fully laden this range will be less, especially if you leave a little in reserve and recharge to 80-90% using DCFC.  The Energica also features a beefy 3kW onboard AC charger.

Personally, I’m perfectly OK with that based on my own electric touring experience although let’s be honest, it won’t replace your Gold Wing yet. But damn, we’re getting close.

The city range is predictably outstanding at up to 420km, and quite honestly if I didn’t love my Livewire so much this bike would be right up there for me as a commuter and weekend sports bike with its comfort, protection and advanced everything.

Lavished with high standard specs

You can dive into the other specifications here, but as we have come to expect from Energica the bike is lavished with a high standard of brakes, suspension and digital controls such as ABS, cruise control, seven mode throttle management and a reverse drive for parking duties. The launch model comes complete with 112L side and top cases, a special colour scheme and a generous sports touring style fairing.

Predictably, owning the world’s first true electric touring motorcycle, glistening with Italian style and the absolute best race-derived technology doesn’t come cheap. I contacted the guys at Australian Electric Motorcycle Co. who have been bringing in Energica’s to Australia and they suggested it will be available for around $A49,000 excluding on-road costs – around the same sticker price as my Harley Livewire.

More details will be up on their website soon for locals interested in electrifying their touring dreams and notwithstanding the challenges of building and shipping anything right now, the aim is for the first Experia to be available around October.

If the real-world tests prove out the specifications and Energica have done as a good a job as we have come to expect from them, they may well have just built one of the most desirable performance electric motorcycles in the world.

Bellissima, congratulazioni Energica!