Verge Motorcycles continue to focus on positioning their brand and Verge TS model in the EU, as they keep their eyes on global expansion in the future.
After picking up on the Verge TS patent being listed in the US, we reached out to the team at Verge motorcycles to discuss the company’s past, present and future, and hear about the nitty gritty engineering aspects of creating a hubless electric motorcycle.
From the early days of Verge Motorcycles, the company set out to be innovative and keep transparent and realistic targets. Even when creating a futuristic and creative design, the company was focused on their product. We spoke to Spencer Cutlan, Marketing Manager at Verge Motorcycles, to hear about the past, present and future of the company.
In 2018, in the early days of Verge motorcycles, when the company was still named RMK Vehicle, CEO Tuomo Lehtimäki, Ville Piippo and the rest of the team at Verge had begun working on the first electric hubless wheel motor.
The company is based out of Finland, and plans to base the product in the EU first, followed by a more global expansion in the years to come.
With a small team, the company had the agility required to bring their dream into reality, not facing the The goals in mind, Spencer tells us, were creating a motorbike that is not just electric and beautiful, but also reliable and serviceable.
The astonishing result of their passionate work was a patented motor design that started on a drawing board and came into life. The motor reaches 80kW (107HP) and presents, for the first time, a design that is movie material. It’s no wonder that their design won the Red Dot Design Award earlier this year.
When discussing some of the engineering obstacles the team faced, Spencer commented that turning the concept into a running model took a whirlwind of loops. Taking something conceptual and making it into something real, and making it as efficient and reliable as they wanted to, took a lot of effort and hard work.
This was one of aspects where Verge Motorcycles enjoyed being smaller and more agile, compared to traditional corporate structure, loaded with bureaucracy. The company quickly took on engineering challenges together with their CEO that was ‘hands-on’ with the project.
The team tweaked everything from weight, power and efficiency and cooling improvements, perfecting their motor and overall design into the Verge TS that we see today.
The result of this hard work was evident in the great engineering of the hubless Verge TS model. The bike beautifully packs a powerful motor that was also later tuned down (yes, down!) from 1500 Nm to 1000 Nm of torque.
We also got to discuss the engineering benefits of the hubless wheel motor, where unsprung weight was a factor that intrigued me as a point that contributes to stability and cornering. Spencer agreed and revealed they have a lean angle of 42 degrees, which is great, but considering the application of the Verge TS is a cruiser motorcycle, unsprung mass is less of a concern.
Other benefits of the wheel design are low rational mass, increased stability through mass distribution and increased traction from the wheel mass.
As the hubless Verge TS motorcycle came to life and the company opened pre-orders, Covid-19 has hit. The immediate impact had affected sales, but Verge had a constant number of people enquiring about the bike and also committed to pre-ordering. With supply chains stuck, and no part rolling into their workshop, the team went back to working on anything they could.
From design improvements, App and connectivity development and performance tweaks. They performed another reiteration of the motor, to limit the torque, lose weight in the wheel and fine tune the bike. The team also developed the connectivity screen we now see at the center of the motorcycle’s faux gas tank.
“The TS is the first iteration for this product. It would be easy to say you can expect more versions to come in the future . We wouldn’t be progressing if we wouldn’t be doing that.“
Spencer Cutlan, Marketing Manager, Verge Motorcycles
Even though covid impacts were felt across the globe, be it in shutdowns and supply chain issues, Spencer shared that Verge was continuously (yet at a lower pace) receiving interest from more customers, and an increasing number of commitments through pre-orders.
Verge now intends to reach their first milestone of 150 units made and sold in the EU, proving their ability to sell, in a market that holds over 1 million unit sales annually. Spencer hinted that the company is “touching distance” from that goal, and plans to press forward to OEM partnerships after establishing their brand in the EU.
“We want to establish ourselves… we are going to use the EU as it’s easiest for us to distribute”
Spencer Cutlan, Marketing Manager, Verge Motorcycles
The future for Verge Motorcycles:
We specifically touched on the patents by Verge, showing the application of the motorized wheel for any vehicle, from motorcycle trough cars to tractors. On this topic, Spencer explains that Verge will remain agile and utilize the resources they have and will achieve, to continue their expansion through partnerships that may also lead the path to their next vehicles.
“It’s every company’s dream to be involved in everything…”
The company, Spencer tells us, sees potential in other two wheeler markets, and that Verge does in fact have the ability to step into those markets, when the time is right and as they feel their brand is well based in the EU.
Further discussing the options in other motorcycle spaced, I asked Spencer where he sees the company’s future growth coming from, to which he commented:
“Light vehicles are exploding, are we going to address those markets? It would be easier to say that we have models for each [market]….” “If any area looks attractive… it would be right to pursue it.”
Spencer Cutlan, Marketing Manager, Verge Motorcycles
The team at Verge continue to focus on their goals of creating a well based brand across Europe, and further expand their brand to future opportunities.
If you want to check out the Verge TS in real life, the company will be taking part in the upcoming EICMA in November, as well as E-Mobility World in Nice, France during October.
After an interesting discussion with Spencer, he concluded with a word to the fans and supporters of Verge motorcycles, thanking supporters, and reminding us that the best is still to come.
“Thank you for your support… and patience”
“Be Excited!”
Spencer Cutlan, Marketing Manager, Verge Motorcycles
We will continue to deliver more news on the Verge TS, so stay tuned.
Source: Spencer Cutlan, Marketing Manager, Verge Motorcycles