French startup Newron Motors has teased first images of a high-end, high-performance, all-electric motorbike with a distinctive and unique difference – sleek, curved wooden body.
Oozing bucketloads of cool factor, this love child of motorcycle enthusiast Sébastien Mahut and engineer Michel Serafin is set to be produced in France starting 2020 – but only in very limited numbers.
Only twelve will be made of the exclusive electric bike, which the makers say will have a 75kW motor and be able to drive up to 300km on a single charge from the barrel-shaped battery pack that site in front of the rider’s very aerodynamically-shaped seat.
With the ability to deliver 240Nm of torque, Newron Motors (the origin of the name derives of course from newtons, referencing torque) says the limited edition electric motorbike will cost €60,000 (nearly $A100,000 at today’s rates).
For that, you get not only an unforgettable and very desirable unique vehicle, the wooden curves of which have an origami-like lightness reminiscent of Japanese cranes, as well as connectivity, keyless ignition, and an intelligent power meter to guide driving style in order to achieve range.
Coming up with a design this unique doesn’t just happen – the two founders have been playing with electric propulsion and producing prototypes for some years now, including electrifying an Aprilia AF1 Futura 125 in 2009 before tackling a Honda CBR 1000 in 2016, to shape a prototype.
“We wanted to address a market that was not at all addressed by the competition because today the electric bike has been around for almost 10 years but it is mostly the equivalent 125cc motorcycle, rather small size,” Mahut told French motorbike site emoto in an interview in 2018 regarding their journey (translated from French).
“We wanted to make a product that will tickle the biker’s tastes by proposing something powerful, something imposing, that’s how the brand was born.”
So far, the project has been funded with €150,000 ($A248,000) out of the founder’s own pockets plus an additional €50,000 ($A82,000) from investors, and partnerships formed with strategic companies including 3D modelling tech firm Dassault Systems, bankers BPI France, and electronics and software company Advans Group.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.