Inventors across the Tasman have launched a new breed of electric vehicle in Australia, as FTN Motion rides on Aussie roads.
Whether you’ve seen it from the backs of cars on the roads or watched it from the news, it’s pretty clear that a change is occurring: electric vehicles are becoming very mainstream.
While petrol vehicles still sit as what most people in Australia drive, the shift is pretty clear. The EV is making a dent in the country, as more people wake up to the idea that a car could run without petrol, and charge on energy from the home. It’s technically better for the environment, helped in part by all the solar homes are getting, and could be more cost effective in the long run.
What’s more, there are a bunch of vehicles coming to market. Not just from car companies, but also motorcycles, as well.
In fact, Australia is seeing one such arrival from across the pond, as New Zealand’s FTN Motion makes the jump across the Tasman to land locally.
The concept is an electric motorbike, rather than one of the e-bikes you might have seen kids riding about the place. Both can be driven on roads, but an electric motorbike needs to be driven on a road because it’s made for roads, and potentially longer distances. There are no pedals or rotating crankshafts, with a motor and electric drivetrain used instead. It’s more like a motorbike, but battery operated.
Designed by two engineers, Luke Sinclair and Kendall Bristol, the idea came about from Sinclair’s motorbike experiences in South East Asia, and eventually evolved into a project and prototypes in 2017.
“We’ve always loved motorcycles and have had some great experiences riding, but over time we also became really aware of how poor urban mobility is for most people. For many, the daily commute is dull, and involves a lot of sitting around and wasting time,” said Luke Sinclair, CEO of FTN Motion.
“At its core, we wanted to reshape how people feel about getting from A to B,” he said. “Not just to reduce emissions or avoid traffic, but to inject a sense of joy into everyday travel.”
“The challenge was creating something that delivered those moments of freedom while still respecting motorcycling heritage, something modern, but soulful,” said Sinclair.
The concept became the “Streetdog”, a made-to-order motorbike with a retro design and a maximum speed difference.
In the Streetdog 80, there’s a maximum speed of 80km/h and a range of between 60 and 80km, and a max of 140km when an optional second battery is used. Priced from $12,990 in Australia, the Streetdog 80 is the more expensive of the FTN electric motorbike variants.
Meanwhile the Streetdog 50 starts from $10,990, but maxes the speed at 50km/h, making it more for shorter distances, though can run for a slightly longer range, working to a maximum of 100km on a single battery and up to 180km on the second.
That second battery is optional and will set you back around $2500, fitting inside the onboard storage compartment and able to be swapped when the first runs out.
FTN notes that a full charge takes just under six hours, and the company has intentionally avoided fast-charging, due to long-term battery degradation. However, the batteries can charge from any standard socket, so you can easily recharge the motorbike from home or hotel.
This should translate to a cost-effective motorbike, costing only mere cents to a dollar to top up the EV.
For anyone keen on trying it out, the Streetdog may need a motorbike license depending on your state, but may not need a physical key. Aside for the neat electric parts and slender retro design, the motorbike includes a touchscreen display with a PIN to lock the bike down and start it up, as well as a key fob with Near-Field Communication onboard.
That makes the key technology a little like a phone, though we’re checking to see whether your phone can unlock the bike, just like some other NFC car keys.
It’s also apparently easy to diagnose and repair, with remote diagnostics before the vehicle needs to be brought into a workshop, and fewer moving parts, an aspect of simplicity Sinclair says makes it much easier to service and repair.
“Many people without an engineering background don’t realise just how mechanically complex petrol drivetrains are compared to electric ones,” he told Pickr in an interview.
“That complexity directly translates to higher servicing and repair costs over time, which is something electric vehicles largely avoid.”
“When you factor in savings on fuel and parking, it can make a meaningful difference to daily life,” said Sinclair.
The FTN Streetdog range is priced from just under $11,000 locally, and available at select stockists now.
