Stark Future embarks on road bike project
By Ben Purvis
Stark Future is carving out an enviable niche in the market as a genuine disruptor in the electric motorcycle space. It's impressed with its initial models - the Varg MX0 motorcross and EX enduro machines - and became profitable earlier this year as other EV brands continue to struggle.
Now the company, based in Spain but with Swedish roots, Founder and CEO Anton Wass is embarking on an even more ambitious project to expand into the street bike market with electric bikes that it believes will be better than both their battery-powered rivals and the traditional combustion engine models they're up against.
The first of the new models will be the simplest: a road-registered, Varg-based supermoto, already previewed by the company and due to get its official unveiling imminently. The Varg basis means it can claim up to 80hp, and is likely to use the same 7.2kWh battery pack as the off-roader, while weight should be close to the 120kg of the Varg EX.
But that's just a starter. The company's plans for street bikes then extend to a new adventure model, dubbed Älg (Swedish for Moose), which the company says will compete in the 800cc class - which means it's up against the likes of Suzuki's V-Strom 800, BMW's F800GS and Honda's Transalp. Since the Varg can already make 80 hp - around the same as those combustion engine models - the real challenge will be increasing the range to match the competition. In a video, Wass said the target is to have "50% more power at lower weight, and a charging time as fast as you can drink a cup of coffee" as well as more than enough range between charges. Ambitiously, Wass believes that it can become the best-selling adventure bike in the world, including ICE-powered competitors.
Beyond the Älg, the company intends to launch a sports model using the same powertrain, dubbed Lo (which means Lynx). Previewed in the same video, albeit as a styling model, the Lo appears to have a retro, café racer look, and should have the same performance and range as the Älg.
Later on, the company intends to enter the mass Asian market with a smaller, cheaper model to compete in the 100 cc-500 cc markets, again combining more performance than its rivals with rapid charging abilities to make a compelling argument against traditional powertrains. That will be followed by a push into the leisure end of the market, with a so-called 'freeride' bike and a small, 85cc-equivant kids' model, as well as an ATV using the Älg powertrain.
