Verge Motorcycles is bringing its take on electric motorcycle design to the U.S. market. At CES 2023 In January, the company announced that it will start sales of its TS range in select U.S. states during 2023. By making a preliminary reservation, enthusiastic customers can indicate their interest and will be contacted when sales of the long-awaited electric motorcycles begin in the U.S.

“We see a lot of potential in the market, and the wait of bike enthusiasts will soon be rewarded with even more powerful and futuristic electric motorcycles,” said Tuomo Lehtimäki, CEO of Verge Motorcycles.

Verge also revealed the highest-performance version of its range, the TS Ultra, at CES. That model marked a historic milestone for the company when it became the first vehicle designed by Finns to be featured at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. It is on display in the Alternating Currents exhibit exploring how electric mobility made its way from humble beginnings into driving us toward the future.

“Petersen Automotive Museum is fairly unique among car museums in that we showcase not just history, but also the present state of affairs and future trajectory of the automotive industry,” said Bryan Stevens, Creative and Exhibitions Director, Petersen Automotive Museum. “The Verge is a forward-thinking bike that introduces unique engineering solutions that we know will fascinate our visitors. The Verge, with its unique hubless rear wheel, is an example of the sort of innovative and disruptive thinking that is currently playing a big role in the evolution of personal transportation.”

 

Changing the industry from Finland

Verge is known for its unique design and innovative integration of the rim motor inside the rear wheel. The groundbreaking technology enables a larger battery, so longer range, and better performance. The center of gravity is lower, which is said to provide a better riding experience compared to other electric motorcycles.

With its patented motor technology and innovative design, Verge challenges conventional ways of thinking with the clear goal of creating the world’s best electric motorcycle from the ground up, which it says feels like the future.

“Verge’s goal is to challenge traditional design conventions and build the world’s best electric motorcycles,” said Lehtimäki. “To bring the world’s most advanced technology and performance to market, we decided to literally reinvent the wheel.

The company was founded in April 2018 as in Seinäjoki, Finland, by Teemu Saukkio, Juha-Pekka Rintamäki, and Ari Viemerö. According to Rintamäki, Saukkio designed the initial prototype of the motorcycle, built it, make it rideable, and invented the rear in-wheel motor. Verge is now led by CEO Lehtimäki, CCO Henri Vahakainu, CTO Marko Lehtimaki, and CPO Ville Piippo.

The inspiration was the freedom of designing an electric motorcycle in a different way, according to Piippo, who Futurride caught up with at CES. While most electric motorcycles are designed “as a sort of a copy based on a petrol bike,” the founders wanted to start from scratch with the motor placed in the rear wheel in a clean-sheet holistic motorcycle design “to completely reinvent the concept of a motorcycle,” said Piippo.

It was his first experience in creating a motorcycle, coming directly from his Masters’ studies to join a “crazy group of people who just wanted to change the industry.”

They started in Finland, where there’s little in the way of a vehicle design industry but some manufacturing. “Basically the same position as Denmark or Croatia initially,” he said of the challenge in building a whole design ecosystem, but the electrification technology transition gave them more freedom to create something better.

 

A deeper dive into the TS

The company’s unique approach of locating the electric motor in the rear wheel means the motor and its driveshaft are not taking up space in the traditional place mid-bike. In Verge competitors, that means that the battery has to take on a “large tower” shape, which brings that weight upwards and then it becomes very top-heavy, according to Piippo.

That choice to move the motor “resulted in greater packaging freedom and enabled the batteries, by far the heaviest component, to be moved downward,” said Piippo.

That means everything heavy is situated low between the axles—with a resulting very low center of gravity and more nimble handling.

The stator-permanent magnet motor drive is designed and built by Verge. So too is the battery, the company purchasing cells and packaging them into modules. Output is by a direct drive to the rear wheel, so the motor spins at the same rate as the wheel/tire.

For the TS range, there are some differences in the batteries, but the biggest differences according to Piipo are in the motors, with a focus on torque, starting with the base TS at 700 N·m, the middle Pro model at 1000 N·m, and the Ultra at 1200 N·m.

With outputs of 1200 N·m and 150 kW, the TS Ultra has a top speed of 124 mph and 0-60 mph acceleration in 2.5 s. It has a range of up to 233 mi and a fast-charging time of 25 min.

The TS Pro has outputs of 1000 N·m and 102 kW. Top speed is the same at 124 mph, but 0-60 mph acceleration takes a longer 3.5 s. The charging time is 35 min and the range is up to 217 mi.

The base TS produces 700 N·m and 80 kW, with a lower top speed of 112 mph and 0-60 mph in a slower 4.5 s. Charging time is 55 min and range is up to 155 mi.

The motorcycle’s body will be an interesting mix of materials. The Ultra prototype at CES had a body of mostly plastic, but some of its parts will become carbon fiber on a sheet-metal monocoque aluminum frame, according to Piippo.

The TS is 2197 mm long on a wheelbase of 1540 mm with a seat height of 780 mm. Excluding its mirrors, it is 895 mm wide and 1128 mm tall. The bike’s base mass is 245 kg and the maximum laden mass is 400 kg. The front 120/70 R17 (58W) and rear 240/45 R17 (82W) tires give a ground clearance of 150 mm.

Suspension travel is 120 mm front and 106 mm rear, with a rake/caster angle of 20.5 degrees. Brakes in front are double Brembo M4.32 calipers with 4 pistons each, double 230-mm Galfer discs, and the rears by Verge calipers with 4 pistons, with Galfer peripherals of 380 mm.

 

Coming to market

In November, Verge announced the TS start of production. With that milestone, the company says it is also the first and only Nordic manufacturer of electric motorcycles to begin series production.

“Our electric motorcycles have attracted interest around the world already in the prototype phase, and we have already received hundreds of pre-orders,” said Lehtimäki, at the time.

The TS is entering an increasingly crowded electric motorcycle market. While there are many new entries in the space, they satisfy different market niches. Piipo says that Energica mostly concentrates on performance and track day bikes, so “it’s a very Italian company. Zero is doing some lower specs, and LiveWire is mostly doing more of a “lifestyle thing,” with lower specs but pricing similar to Verge’s lower end. The market for e-motorcycles is growing rapidly “at the moment, so there’s room for all.” He prefers to look at “petrol” bikes as the main competitors.

Verge e-motorcycles can be ordered online from the company’s website. In the initial phase, the motorcycles were delivered to “The Nordics and Middle Europe.”

Piipo expects large countries like Italy, Spain, Germany, and France to be the biggest markets in Europe. Ultimately, the U.S. may become Verge’s biggest market, starting in some key states like top priority California, because electrification is growing rapidly there, and Florida.

In the U.S., the TS starts at $26,900, the TS Pro from $29,900, and the TS Ultra at $44,900, with estimated deliveries of the first two beginning in October 2023 and Q4 2023 for the range-topper.