It’s tough to stand out in the motorcycle world, and even tougher to make headway in the more specialized segment of pure electric motorcycles. Estonia-based Verge has the first point covered with its unusual design, and the company has now added a high-tech safety suite and teamed with a video game company to punch up other aspects of its technology package and interface with riders.
The three Verge “TS” electric motorcycle model variants, available in Europe at this time with an American market introduction planned for this year, are based around a “hubless” rear wheel that incorporates the drive motor and rear brake into the wheel’s rim. The front wheel is a more typical design with dual disc brakes. Technically, the rear wheel does use a “hub,” it’s just very large and incorporates the elements of an electric motor in a different way than the “hub motors” common on electric bicycles or some lower-powered electric motorcycles like the now-defunct Sondors MetaCycle.
Besides the unusual physical appearance that sets it apart, Verge says the hubless rear wheel design maximizes efficiency since the direct drive configuration does not require a belt, chain or any kind of motive power transfer link to a frame-based motor. As with most electric motorcycles, there is no clutch or gears, but eliminating even a simple drive belt or chain adds a touch more efficiency to the system, reduces complexity and also requires fewer parts, although the hubless design can have technical and handling challenges of its own.
Relocating the motor into the rear wheel also frees up precious real estate within the frame, allowing Verge to slot in a larger battery for more range. The nominal battery is just over 20kWh pack with the top-spec TS Ultra topping out at 21.7kWh. For comparison, the largest battery available from market leader Zero on their SR/S model is 17.3kWh. Zero uses a motor located in the frame of their motorcycles and a traditional rear hub. Verge calculates the maximum range of the TS Ultra as up to 233 miles but so far there are no official range estimates by Euro or U.S. regulators.
Verge TS motorbikes are very powerful, with the $44,900USD TS Ultra able to produce over 200 horsepower and an enormous 885 pound-feet of torque, a figure that surpasses the torque output of many gas-powered pickup trucks on the market. Top speed is internally regulated to 125mph and Verge says the enormous torque is made usable by a riding dynamics system that includes traction and wheelie control. The Verge TS bikes also include anti-lock braking and other safety systems.
Verge has also added a new high-tech safety suite to the top-spec TS Ultra, consisting of six cameras, front and rear active radar and a risk-assessment system. CTO and Verge co-founder Marko Lehtimäki said the new system, called Starmatter Vision, works with “the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning.” The Starmatter Vision software and hardware update make it the “world’s first motorcycle equipped with the sense of sight, advising the rider and acting as a ‘whisperer’ while riding,” according to Lehtimäki.
Verge says the system will analyze the area around the TS and alert riders to possible hazards, such as a car approaching from behind. However, they do not say exactly how the system will alert riders. While similar warning systems, cameras and proximity sensors are now commonplace on new cars and trucks, they also include automated corrective measures such as lane keeping and emergency braking. Those systems will not work with motorcycles due to the physics involved in riding a motorbike. Essentially, any technology that “takes over” the steering and braking from the rider on a motorcycle could lead to a crash due to the inherent instability of a single-tracked vehicle (a motorbike). Instead, warning lights, sounds and haptics (vibration) are more viable elements for a motorcycle safety system. Other motorcycle companies, including BMW, Yamaha and Ducati, have begun to include radar and smart cruise control on some upper-tier models, but not safety systems on the level of Starmatter Vision, although it’s clear that research into such systems is ongoing with several motorcycle makers.
Back in 2019, I rode the first prototypes of a similar safety system designed by electric motorcycle startup Damon, which used handlebar vibrations, video camera feeds and a series of LEDs to give riders more situational awareness while riding. It was interesting to say the least, especially coming from decades of riding with no such technology.
With the continued development of wireless helmet comms systems from companies like Cardo and Sena, it will also be possible to add audio alerts to a warning system as it matures. Verge has not said if they are working on incorporating helmet comms into the Starmatter Vision system. Verge will have an updated TS Ultra with all of the new tech on display at its booth at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which begins January 9.
Another unusual aspect of the Verge TS bikes is the large center stack console in the middle of where the “gas tank” would be on a gas-powered motorcycle. Instead, Verge has worked with Epic Games to utilize their Unreal Engine graphics suite to upgrade the video capabilities and display on a larger center screen on the Ultra.
“The Unreal Engine by Epic Games fulfills our ambitious goals and makes our user interface as impressive as our bike,” Mark Laukkanen, Vice President of User Experience at Verge Motorcycles, said in a press release sent to Forbes.com. The display can show a feed from the rear camera in the Starmatter Vision system when the rider activates a turn signal, for example.
Lehtimäki told Forbes.com that delivery of production TS models has begun in Europe, but decline to specify how many. He said the newly updated TS Ultra models will be the same price – $44,900USD – as the previous version, and hopes to begin deliveries to the U.S. this summer. Meanwhile, Verge is also continuing to build out dealerships and service points in Europe and the U.S.