New Zealand electric motorcycle company Switch is seeking funding to homologate its stylish go-anywhere eSCRAMBLER and bring it to market in 2022.
Founder Matthew Waddick has already produced an electric conversion kit for a Honda Cub as part of his Shanghai Customs company and is now working on the eSCRAMBLER through Switch.
“We are going to be looking for partners and investors over the next few months for both projects Shanghai Customs and Switch,” says Matthew who says he had to “flee China” last month due to the coronavirus.
“It’s a little early yet for costing, the only thing we can say is that it will be very competitive in the pricing with the business model we are going for.
“No way we are going to price this out of the market.”
eSCRAMBLER
The minimalistic eSCRAMBLER is based on a conventional polished-aluminium, double-cradle frame with upside-down forks, monoshock and 18-inch wheels with knobby tyres for all-terrain use.
It will also feature GPS tracking, three speed modes, USB charger, cruise control, regenerative braking to recharge the battery and Spanish JJuan brakes with Bosch ABS.
eSCRAMBLER includes some tasty parts such as CNC-machine triple clamps and footpegs, leather seat, LED lighting and a digital display that looks like a mobile phone.
One of the design features is how the 50kW motor and swingarm are coaxially mounted, allowing the Gates carbonfibre belt drive to maintain proper tension.
Matthew has partnered with ex-Yamaha Advanced Labs industrial designer and former Danish Flat Track racing champion Michel Riis to design and develop the eSCRAMBLER.
They are targeting up to 150km of range, 150km/h top speed and 0–100km/h in 3.2 seconds.
Switch also plan to have a fast charging system.
Wow factor
Matthew says electric motorcycles are not new anymore.
“You can’t wow people by just being electric; you need to do better than that,” he says.
“We want people to understand this bike, see how it is all put together – to demystify electrics and especially not hide that we have a box full with cells.
“However, the design was not as easy as it looks – in fact it was incredibly difficult. Generally, making a complex product look simple is one of the hardest things to do and this is especially true with electric bikes.”
While the road-legal version will be released in 2022, they will put the bike through its paces this year on the Scandinavian flat tracking circuit.
Matthew says they already have some world champions “lining up to have a thrash”.