An Off-Road Electric Motorcycle and a Commuter?
Electric motorcycles provide zero emissions, instant torque, and plenty of opportunities from a design standpoint. Cake’s electric motorcycle is one of the more interesting out there. The bike targets off-road riders, but the CEO of Cake also sees it as the future of commuting.
Stefan Ytterborn, Cake’s CEO sat down with Cycle World to discuss his company and where he’d like it to go. During this conversation, he said he’d like to see his company sell 70,000 models annually. That number is based on a 10-year plan that Ytterborn worked on with his two sons.
“To pursue everything we have planned, we will need to finance the business by about $25 million until 2022,” he told Cycle World. “So far, we’ve raised $7 million.”
Electric Power for the Future
Cake’s electric motorcycle is a unique, dirtbike-looking thing. The company built the bike for light off-road use. It looks to me like a cross between a mountain bike and a real dirtbike. While the business is focused on the off-road portion of the market right now, Ytterborn talked a lot about the bike being used as a commuter vehicle in the future.
“The electric drivetrain suits a light, snappy vehicle,” he said. “The lion’s share of our business is going to be off-road inspired, but every model that we introduce will become a commuter bike as well.”
Going after off-road enthusiasts first is an interesting idea. It’s so vastly different from most other electric motorcycle manufacturers who focus on making a commuter bike first. It’s an interesting approach and one that I hope works for the company.
If they can build up a customer base of people riding these off-road. it makes sense that they’d be able to make the transition to the street.
The Cake Kalk, the production version of the bike, is made in Taiwan and the drivetrain of the motorcycle is made in Europe. The Cake team designed it from the ground up. It has a top speed of about 45 mph and a range of up to about 50 miles. The motor is a range 7-15 kW mid motor and the battery is a 2.6kWh lithium ion. There are three ride modes and adjustable motor braking.
That sounds like it could be a fun toy or a useful commuting machine, depending on how far or fast you need to go. However, I see Cake’s machine needing a little more juice to truly entice most riders.
