Aussie launches electric Savic Motorcycles

Australia’s first electric motorcycle company, Savic Motorcycles, will launch their electric Cafe Racer prototype at the Melbourne Moto Expo on Friday (November 23, 2018).

Melbourne rider Dennis Savic, 26, spent more than 650 hours designing and building the prototype.

The three Cafe Racer production versions will be made in Melbourne and Taiwan. They will be available in 2020.

• Alpha 60kW, from $20,000;
• Delta 40kW, from $15,000; and
• Omega 20kW, from $12,000.

Each model comes with several battery pack options. The largest offered in the Alpha will provide range of up to 250km, while the smallest option in the Omega will have 50km range. 

Like all electric vehicles, peak torque is instantaneous and Dennis says his bike will accelerate from 0-100km in four seconds.

Customers will be able choose a range of options in brakes, suspension, wheels, tyres and three colours – Spectre, Stealth, and Rustic.

Aftermarket upgrades will also be offered. 

Savic says it’s a ‘dream come true’

This is a bit of a dream come true.

When I was 14, I decided I wanted to design and build my own vehicles one day. So I did my engineering degree and when I graduated about three years ago I got stuck into it. It’s been a long time coming.

These motorcycles are a unique offering with the most advanced features and functionality that the materials, engineering, electronic controls, electrical technology and 3D printing can offer today. 

We have created a unique design featuring a perfectly rolled (not bent) backbone frame and developed our own powertrain package.  

Our 5-10 production prototypes will start manufacture in the coming months. They feature a fully integrated, stressed, liquid-cooled, motor and energy storage system.

Depending on the model and battery pack a customer selects, a single charge can provide up to 11kWh. That costs only $3 as opposed to $15 for a petrol bike to travel 250km.

We will focus on sales and production first in Australia, then take the offering to international markets.

Our aim is to close our second round of private equity funding by February 2019.

We are accepting inquiries for our 10 C-FE (founder edition) models for 2019 and I already have a number of inquiries about the production run of about 50-100 for 2020.

Tough market

Every week we hear of a new electric motorcycle or company from traditional motorcycle companies and newcomers like Savic Motorcycles.

We wish Dennis the best of luck, but he is up against some tough hurdles in Australia:

• Aussie riders seem aggressively negative toward electric motorcycles and ignorant of the advantages;
• The motorcycle industry is cautiously pessimistic (Harley is waiting an extra year to release the LiveWire. BMW and Yamaha haven’t yet released their electric bikes and scooters here. And Zero Motorcycles pulled out of Australia last year);
• Our governments at all levels are slack about matching overseas incentives to buy electrics (rebates, free tolls, free parking, etc); and
• Our charging infrastructure is still in its embryonic stages.

However, it’s great to see a young Aussie engineer getting in early and developing a homegrown product.

Dennis has promised to stay in touch with Motorbike Writer during the process toward production.