Land Energy Could Make A Capable Lightweight Electric Motorcycle For The Trail

Land Energy Could Make A Capable Lightweight Electric Motorcycle For The Trail

A new EV startup is developing a couple of electric motorcycles which could prove to be trail-worthy, courtesy of their low weight and swappable battery packs. The company, Land Energy, is working on a line of modular two-wheelers that can be ridden as either an e-bicycle or a full-on electric motorcycle, complete with knobby tires.

The startup claims its District bike can swap between ride modes that’ll limit its max speed. The District will go up to 20 miles per hour in e-bike mode, and up to 65 MPH in e-moto mode. There’s a mode between these called e-moped — which seems superfluous to me — that’ll go as fast as 43 km/h. The max power output of the District is just over 17 horsepower and 13 kg-ft of torque.

Land Energy Could Make A Capable Lightweight Electric Motorcycle For The Trail

Land Energy claims the modes can help riders progress along as they gain time in the saddle. Sure, why not? But the District’s standout feature, especially for riders that want to go off-road, is that its modularity extends to the batteries.

The base model will come with a single 1.8 kWh battery pack that will allegedly run 64 km per charge. Riders can either integrate or carry another battery pack for a range of 129 km, and there’s a 5 kWh pack that’ll go up to 100 miles. The so-called “CORE” packs will charge using a standard power outlet at home.

Land Energy claims the bike will weigh from 175-195 pounds all in, depending on model. There’s a District 01, and a District Founders model. They’ll be priced at $US8,000 ($10,944) and $US15,000 ($20,520), respectively. The Founder’s price is way high, and RideApart notes that future models will hopefully cost less to “entice more riders.”

The District will be fully made in the U.S., meaning it may qualify for an EV credit if it ever comes to market. There’s good reason to think it might because Land Energy’s founder, Scott Colosimo, had mild success selling ICE bikes as the co-founder of Cleveland CycleWerks. Now he’s moving onto EVs.

The District 01 is priced in line with EV bikes from startups like Volcon, which will sell its Grunt for about $US8,000 ($10,944). The Grunt also comes with modular batteries, but it’s not street-legal. That gives the District a leg-up, but the market could soon become competitive now that the world’s biggest bike makers have pledged to develop swappable battery tech.

Land Energy Could Make A Capable Lightweight Electric Motorcycle For The Trail

Land Energy Could Make A Capable Lightweight Electric Motorcycle For The Trail

Land Energy Could Make A Capable Lightweight Electric Motorcycle For The Trail


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.