Test Ride: Native X Electric Supermoto Prototype

ATGATT, unless you had to travel light and were offered a ride on a prototype ebike.

The Native X electric supermoto is the latest prototype bike in the Electric Motorsport line and is quickly becoming their best known, thanks to its starring role in the TTXGP …um …pits. Its rough-edged looks are borrowed from the SACHS X-Road and an impressive stack of lithium tied to the DC motor inspire the inner hooligan.

At the tail end of my time in San Francisco during TTXGP week, I stopped by Oakland, CA to visit Todd Kollin, Raul Aguilar and Martin Guerra at Electric Motorsport HQ. If you’re looking to build a prototype for an electric vehicle in the powersports segment, Electric Motorsport is the go-to shop. Many big names in electric motorcycle manufacturing have more have worked with EMS for prototyping, to source parts or to buy parts for their electric powersports products.

This puts Electric Motorsport in a unique position of having a solid financial base under their Native brand of eMoto products. It also gives them boat loads of industry knowledge. Need a four wheeler that disassembles to fit down a manhole cover and does not fill tight places with exhaust fumes? EMS can and is doing that for a customer. Check out Urban Moto to find out more about these guys.

Click the break to read more and see a video of the bike.

Native X Electric Supermoto

The Native X’s current state is somewhat of a prototype. The rolling chassis is licensed from Sachs but the “gas tank” will not be included in the final Native design. It might be cool to crowd source the design of the tank, get some enthusiasts engaged and build up some inbound links from disgruntled designers trying muscle cash back into their bank accounts.

Native X Electric Supermoto

The Native X’s current state is somewhat of a prototype. The rolling chassis is licensed from Sachs but the “gas tank” will not be included in the final Native design. It might be cool to crowd source the design of the tank, get some enthusiasts engaged and build up some inbound links from disgruntled designers trying muscle cash back into their bank accounts.

Electrical Trickery

The bike I rode is 64 Volt nominal of 20 Thundersky 40 LiFePO4 cells. The juice runs through an Altrax 7234 controller and to an EMC RT (aka Mars RT meo7099) permanent magnet DC motor. The custom Battery Management System (BMS) will log data captured while monitoring each of the battery pack’s 20 cells.

The “data logging BMS” will record information on battery pack health, capacity, usage and other interesting metrics which can be downloaded to your computer via wifi, Ethernet or with a smartphone like an iPhone. This could give the owner and Electric Motorsport the ability to remotely troubleshoot any issues with the battery pack. The battery pack is wired with a series of LED lights that flash when the bike is activated. Check out the video to see the light show in action.

The Ride

My short spin around the block proved the bike was a blast to ride. Suspension was nice and stiff and about as refined as you would expect on a bike this price. Light throttle application was rewarded with the instant power that electric drive promises.

Sales Model

Todd has a unique sales models in mind for the Native X supermoto. He would like to build a list of 30 or so people interested in purchasing the bike. Electric Motorsport would then source all the parts to build the bike and deliver it as a kit for the customer to put together. The idea would be to keep the cost down and allow more technical riders a way to get into electric drive. Prices are to be determined.