Evoke

I've been interested in e-motorcycles for a few years, I've heard of Evoke on these forums before as an idea start-up, but it seems they are actually taking pre-orders on their first bike the Urban S.

Attachment 19094Attachment 19095

PERFORMANCE

Top Speed 130 km/h (81 mph)
Acceleration0 to 50km/h in 2.5 seconds
Max Power 19 kW
Max Torque 86 lb-ft
Motor Type Direct-drive high-efficiency, zero-maintenance hub motor
​Controller High-efficiency, 400A DC wave controller with regenerative braking
GearingMaintenance free direct drive

​RANGE & BATTERY

City Range 200 km (124 miles)
Highway Range 120 km (74 miles)
Battery type Lithium NMC
Capacity 9.0kWh
Battery Life 500,000 km (Over 310,000 miles)
Standard Charge 10 hours
Level 2 Charging 4 hours to 80%

​CHASSIS, BRAKES & SUSPENSION

Front Brakes Dual disc, 4 disc hydraulic 300x4 mm
Rear Brakes Single disc, 2 piston hydraulic 220x4 mm
Front Suspension 42 mm inverted fork, dual shock
Back Suspension Single shock rear
Front Wheel 3.00x17 cast aluminium
Rear Wheel 3.00x16 Built-in hub motor w/ cast aluminium wheel
Front Tire 110/70-17
Rear Tire 120/80-16

​STORAGE, WEIGHT & DIMENSIONS

Curb Weight 180 kg (396 lbs)
Carrying Capacity 150 kg (330 lbs)
Wheelbase 1360 mm (54.4 inches)
Length 2030 mm (81.2 inches)
Width 710 mm (28.4 inches)
Seat Height 780 mm (31.2 inches)
Ground Clearance 130 mm (5.2 inches)


They are also planning a 'Kruzer' for September 2017.

Performance

30kW peak power, 100+ lbs/ft Torque, 0-60: Sub 5.0s

Range

230+ km per charge, 2 hour charge to 80%, 10kwh+

Tech

Evoke ARC, mobile phone connectivity, 7" TFT panel, Aerospace CNC Aluminum frame

I emailed the CEO Nathan, I hope he can answer some questions:

- Chinese law seems a minefield. I am fairly certain that an ebike can have a maximum power of 200-300 watts under Chinese law. Therefore the bike would surely need registration, insurance and you'd need a motorcycle license to operate it legally? Is there even provision under Chinese law for e-motorcycles? Can it be registered, or would you be forced to risk police seizure and an insurance minefield every time you rode it on a public road?

-What are the prices?

-Would you consider selling the bike, but leasing the batteries and direct drive and upgrade as the technology improves?

-What other models are you thinking of coming out with? Will we see a street bike with the same power specs as the Kruzer? Or even a dual sport or hybrid bike?

-What power equivalents do the bikes have? Being torque heavy and much less power-loss than a conventional bike is the Urban S similar to a 250 or 400cc bike or is it more like a 600 up to 50km/h dropping back to a 125cc at the higher end?

Hey Lewis,

Thanks for starting the thread here and for the opportunity to share stuff that we've been doing in the e-motorcycle industry in China.

From what I understand, local jurisdiction trumps any national regulations, so we'd have to look at each city or region individually.
In Beijing, maximum speed for electric powered vehicle is 48km/h, which requires no license or registration. Riding on an Evoke or any electric powered vehicle under this speed is legal here. Riding over the speed limit in any vehicle is high prohibited in any country and on any vehicle.

Over this speed and the vehicle is actually a 机动车, and currently would fall into the same regulations as gas powered motorcycles with a required 京A or B plate.

Our riders from all over China have not mentioned any issues in smaller cities around Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangxi. Shanghai is become more challenging, and Shenzhen is off limits.

List price on the Evoke Urban S is 44,999 RMB.
We have a pre-orders going on right now in China and the US. A 600 RMB reservation fee locks in a pre-order price as low as 30k RMB for quantity orders or group buys.

We have brainstormed some alternative business models similar to leasing the batteries, but we feel that people want to own the vehicles outright in China. Perhaps in the future, we will roll something out like that in the US, but in the long run, leasing or financing always ends up being more.

It'll be a little bit until we re-touch street bikes again. We're building out a wide product line focusing on the electric power train and the internet connectivity of our vehicles. Styles will range from street, cafe racers, cruisers, sport bikes and supermotos. Basically anything that can be ridden on the street. Electric power will be a constant, along with our on-board tech, which we call Evoke OS.
Evoke OS comes with on-screen navigation, full color LCD screen (5 - 7" depending on model), rider selectable power modes and user selectable settings from the app, crash notification alerts, diagnostics and real-time bike information.

Power equivalents are hard to compare accurately. I've ridden ICE bikes for the last 2 decades and personally, I think the Urban S pulls like a 600cc to about 80km/h and has a nice gradual power roll off to our electronic speed limit at 130km/h. We wound the motor and programmed the power band in the controller to maximize torque and throttle response from 30 - 80, right where you need in on the street for passing, and accident avoidance.

Feel free to drop in additional question on this thread, and I'll be happy to check in once in a while and update the community.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZMC888

I emailed the CEO Nathan, I hope he can answer some questions:

- Chinese law seems a minefield. I am fairly certain that an ebike can have a maximum power of 200-300 watts under Chinese law. Therefore the bike would surely need registration, insurance and you'd need a motorcycle license to operate it legally? Is there even provision under Chinese law for e-motorcycles? Can it be registered, or would you be forced to risk police seizure and an insurance minefield every time you rode it on a public road?

-What are the prices?

-Would you consider selling the bike, but leasing the batteries and direct drive and upgrade as the technology improves?

-What other models are you thinking of coming out with? Will we see a street bike with the same power specs as the Kruzer? Or even a dual sport or hybrid bike?

-What power equivalents do the bikes have? Being torque heavy and much less power-loss than a conventional bike is the Urban S similar to a 250 or 400cc bike or is it more like a 600 up to 50km/h dropping back to a 125cc at the higher end?

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I actually stopped in to test ride their bikes and see the shop at the beginning of winter as I have been debating getting one for commuting. Nate above ^ was extremely friendly and personally took me out for a cruise. Actually, the entire staff was really friendly. Seemed like a bunch of friends that work together.

The bikes are insanely light and have a really low center of gravity. I think it would make a fun, low maintenance and super nimble commuter. I am likely going to pull the trigger on one when it gets closer to spring. Sounds like they made some changes since my visit with the LCD displays and maybe re balancing the power. To me it was quick and smooth but felt more like a 250cc bike. I would not be surprised if the Demo bike was down tuned a little though. I didn't ask...

Another thing, be sure to check locally about the law. In Jilin you need a plate if it can go over 20km/h and weighs more then 80kg. They take E-bikes away here by the truck loads daily. I had a cheap Chinese one for a year and just a few days after I sold it the guy who picked it up had it taken by the police because he did not have plate. Took him two months to get it back. I rode it for a year with no plate though.

So, I can't attest to quality from riding them one time but what I can say is it was a quick, nimble commuter and certainly worth looking at if you are interested in a E-motorcycle instead of an E-bike. I personally hope they change the plastic and tank to be more E-motorcycle. It kinda seems like a petrol bike with a makeover. They were willing to customize the bike for a charge of course. Then again, I am a huge fan of E-bikes and you will likely see one of these in my garage this spring and I am sure I will be riding it to work with a smile.

Here is the bike I got to play on.

Attachment 19096

More questions....

The cost is quite high but is this due to the cost of the Lithium batteries? Could there be some guaranteed buy-back at the end of the lifetime of the bike, like if you buy silver, you always can get a basic 'scrap' weight.

Would you ever like to have a user customisable throttle or throttle settings, maybe rain, race and economy modes?

Should we try to build a database of the e-motorcycle rules per province and city?

Actually, the cost of our electric motorcycle is one of the most inexpensive on the market.

Closest competitor is Zero FX which is about the same in range at 130km per charge, same top speed at 130km/h.
$11,000 USD or 70k RMB (Plus all the import tax and stuff)

Other electric motorcycles are way up in the value chain, at $15k - $40k USD.


Our lithium pack is maintenance free for 7 - 10 years, depending on how you ride. At the end of the life cycle, you will still have 80% or your usable life, and 7 to 10 years later, i can almost guarantee there will be a solar farm or server farm that will pay you handsomely for your automotive pack. We're working those deals out right now, but no one is going to see any benefits until we start seeing our first packs come back in 5 to 7 years or so.

User customized throttles are available on Evoke OS.

Sure, DB could be good, but I feel there's going to be a lot of changes happening in the e-motorcycle space over the next 2 years, according to one of our investors at the Ministry of Transportation. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by natesiy

Hey Lewis,

Thanks for starting the thread here and for the opportunity to share stuff that we've been doing in the e-motorcycle industry in China.

From what I understand, local jurisdiction trumps any national regulations, so we'd have to look at each city or region individually.
In Beijing, maximum speed for electric powered vehicle is 48km/h, which requires no license or registration. Riding on an Evoke or any electric powered vehicle under this speed is legal here. Riding over the speed limit in any vehicle is high prohibited in any country and on any vehicle.

Over this speed and the vehicle is actually a 机动车, and currently would fall into the same regulations as gas powered motorcycles with a required 京A or B plate.

Our riders from all over China have not mentioned any issues in smaller cities around Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangxi. Shanghai is become more challenging, and Shenzhen is off limits.

List price on the Evoke Urban S is 44,999 RMB.
We have a pre-orders going on right now in China and the US. A 600 RMB reservation fee locks in a pre-order price as low as 30k RMB for quantity orders or group buys.

We have brainstormed some alternative business models similar to leasing the batteries, but we feel that people want to own the vehicles outright in China. Perhaps in the future, we will roll something out like that in the US, but in the long run, leasing or financing always ends up being more.

It'll be a little bit until we re-touch street bikes again. We're building out a wide product line focusing on the electric power train and the internet connectivity of our vehicles. Styles will range from street, cafe racers, cruisers, sport bikes and supermotos. Basically anything that can be ridden on the street. Electric power will be a constant, along with our on-board tech, which we call Evoke OS.
Evoke OS comes with on-screen navigation, full color LCD screen (5 - 7" depending on model), rider selectable power modes and user selectable settings from the app, crash notification alerts, diagnostics and real-time bike information.

Power equivalents are hard to compare accurately. I've ridden ICE bikes for the last 2 decades and personally, I think the Urban S pulls like a 600cc to about 80km/h and has a nice gradual power roll off to our electronic speed limit at 130km/h. We wound the motor and programmed the power band in the controller to maximize torque and throttle response from 30 - 80, right where you need in on the street for passing, and accident avoidance.

Feel free to drop in additional question on this thread, and I'll be happy to check in once in a while and update the community.

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It may be best to say that local regulation can expand on federal regulations, the word trump has no related meaning.
Under federal law something can be legal, locally it can be restricted. Like I said before China is a republic, they have federal laws for the nation however they are considered to have a weak constitution, the latter is what are in alliable rights.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by natesiy

Actually, the cost of our electric motorcycle is one of the most inexpensive on the market.

Closest competitor is Zero FX which is about the same in range at 130km per charge, same top speed at 130km/h.
$11,000 USD or 70k RMB (Plus all the import tax and stuff)

Other electric motorcycles are way up in the value chain, at $15k - $40k USD.


Our lithium pack is maintenance free for 7 - 10 years, depending on how you ride. At the end of the life cycle, you will still have 80% or your usable life, and 7 to 10 years later, i can almost guarantee there will be a solar farm or server farm that will pay you handsomely for your automotive pack. We're working those deals out right now, but no one is going to see any benefits until we start seeing our first packs come back in 5 to 7 years or so.

User customized throttles are available on Evoke OS.

Sure, DB could be good, but I feel there's going to be a lot of changes happening in the e-motorcycle space over the next 2 years, according to one of our investors at the Ministry of Transportation. ;)

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Do you have a rough idea of the 2nd hand value of a lithium power-pack for an Urban S? The reason is if I was sitting on 10,000 yuan or more of Lithium batteries the cost would be much more justifiable.

I've read the cost of manufacture for e-cars is about $900 per kilowatt hour which seems to make your bike good value. Do you expect costs to come down further?

I'm looking to replace my 650cc with an e-moto within the next few years. Sadly at the moment the cost too high, range too short and legality uncertain for me now. I'll be looking to see how the market develops over the next few years....