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[Fred]

This is quite a nice video showing the assembly - including that rear wheel motor - from Verge.

[Richard230]

There sure is a lot of hand labor going into building that wheel motor.  No wonder the bike is so expensive. Not the simplest way to power an electric motorcycle.

[Motoproponent]

This video definitely moves my vaporware detector away from Damon in that it does look the business for being a production line. You're right in that this looks like an awful lot of hand assembly to meet any serious production numbers.

Maybe it's R&D to streamline the production, determine the best spot for automation, and get a few models in the demo fleet.

Maybe after getting some sales they can entice some VC to ramp up production.

While I had no problem buying an Experia without a test ride (I rode a Ribelle for a day and made the decision), I would really need to ride a Verge before paying that kind of money. My brain thinks it knows what riding a bike with a 280 series rear tire and a 60 pound rear wheel feels like, but I wont know if I hate it as much as I think I will until I throw a leg over it.

[Electrobike]

Bike with 20.2 kW battery, it sure participate to the high price
Very nice bike / design (kudos to the orange + black version), but an IOT bike is not for me, connected 24/7 on internet with no control is scary (unless you can take off the SIM card)
Can the IA have some physical control over the bike ? (seems not, but not 100% sure)
There is some camera and sensor to warn about surrounding dangers, not sure very usefull for a bike....the time you watch the screen (instead of the road) and being aware of the warning and reaction time about this warning.... not sure a useful option for a bike (makes more sense for a car)


A "dumber" version of the bike would cost less, and would be less dystopian, so more attractive for me, too bad because very nice bike !

[Stonewolf]

The battery isn't really what's expensive, it's the Economy of Scale.

Energica's Ego platform bikes had exactly the same problem, they're designed to be hand built in small numbers which becomes expensive as you scale. Experia was cheaper because it's designed to be produced in numbers that allow you to use more efficient processes per unit by amortising the up front cost of those processes and is designed to be manufactured using those processes.

Cell prices in the automotive sector are averaging about $150 per kWh atm so a 20kWh battery would be something like $3000 wholesale *if* you were buying a few gigawatt hours worth of cells but if you're only making say 100 bikes a year then you're only buying 2MWh and you don't have the kind of purchasing power that gets you those prices.

EVs are expensive because they don't sell enough of them because they're expensive.