Indonesian design firm Katalis has unveiled an electric motorcycle called the EV.1000 that takes it design cues from old aircraft, but throws in some contemporary features and is designed more for cruising than low-flying. The EV.1000 is the follow-up to the original EV.500 Katalis showed off on Instagram in March, and it's a collaboration with high-end transportation store The Arsenale, which is why it mimics the retailer's color scheme of black with orange accents.
Another advantage of the collaboration is that, unlike the concept EV.500, the EV.1000 actually has a price tag. And it's a hefty one. TheArsenale has it listed at $9,999. Considering its specs, that's a lot of money.
Short trips only —
TheArsenale's website copy is a little janky, which would normally get our Spidey vaporware sense tingling, but it may also just be a second-language thing, and we're the last ones to hate on that given our lack of multilingual prowess. Also, there are videos of the EV.1000 in Katalis' Instagram Stories, so we're going to give it the benefit of the doubt. Here's what TheArsenale has to say about the EV.1000:
A motor with a capacity of 1000 watts is installed in the motorcycle, supported by a 48V 45Ah battery. This motorcycle is also supported by a controller with a power of 48-72 Volt. “Basically, this motorcycle can be accelerated up to 70-80 kilometers per hour, and can travel around 90 kilometers with one battery charge.”
That top speed of 50 mph and range of ~55 miles is... fine. But it's nothing to write home about, especially on a $10k bike. In fact, they're the sort of figures we'd mumble when asked, too embarrassed to trumpet considering how much we'd spent.
We also wish there was more information about the battery — is it removable? Is there the option to install a larger one? What's the deal with maintenance? With many of these questions left unanswered, for now, we're just going to focus on the design. And that, at least, we can be confident we like. Well, for the most part.
Love and hate —
We love the Punch Moto-like cylinder-based geometry of the EV.1000, but not the sharp edges flanking the headlight that look ready to slice pedestrians in half. We love the physical switches on the side of the body, but we don't love the wing mirrors that look destined to only give us a look at our kneecaps. We love the physical battery gauge. We hate the lack of a display to give us more comprehensive information on the bike's status or settings.
Finally, we love the overall aesthetic, but we hate that the price tag is double that of the similarly kitted-out BlackTea electric moped. Heck, for $10,000 we could buy a Cake Kalk Ink and have $500 leftover for a helmet. Or two-and-a-half Sur Ron Black Editions. Or one-and-a-half Delfast Top 2.0s. It's a lot to swallow for a ride that's exceedingly light on specifics, even if it's very heavy on style.
