The Switch eScrambler electric motorcycle might just be the best bike to enter the market in 2022. With a nifty combination of sci-fi tech and retro appeal, the bike is a great herald to an interesting decade. It’s a rugged but aggressive looking bike with a lot of state of the art technology embedded in it.
So what sets it apart from all the other electric scramblers in the industry? Well, most electric scramblers try to follow in the footsteps of traditional scramblers with basic features and the classic mechanical profile. The eScrambler in contrast, features an almost purely digital mode of operation from a keyless wifi-enabled ignition to built-in GPS tracking. Sure these are all awesome features but will the bike’s actual riding performance be just as great? Read on to find out.
Who Is Switch Motorcycles? A Brief History
The idea started off in the mind of one Shanghai-based Kiwi expat, Matthew Waddick, who has had years of experience building street-legal custom electric motorcycles. He worked mainly as a part of Shanghai Customs which also focused on moped builds.
In 2017, Waddick thought that electric vehicles were rapidly evolving and that their novelty was quickly wearing off. “Electric bikes are not new anymore,” he said at the time. “You can’t wow people just by being electric — you need to do better than that.” Waddick quickly launched Switch with the aim of making electric rides great again — through incredibly appealing design.
Waddick developed Switch into a modern high-performance electric motorcycle designer and manufacturer. The company is now on the cusp of launching their first road legal bike, the Switch eScrambler.
Switch eScrambler Electric Motorcycle Overview
The Switch eScrambler design is the product of a collaboration between Matthew Waddick — founder of Switch Motorcycles, and former Danish Flat Track racing champion Michel Riis.
The Switch development team still has a bit more work to do before they are ready to enter the market. Homologation testing is currently underway and some final design details are still in debate.
“Having such a talented designer like Michel on the team, who also has the ‘hands on’ custom and practical skills, meant we could design the bike from the inside out, rather than wasting time on over the top sketches and building down trying to make them work.”
Switch’s development team stated.
“Michel started off with some basic dimensions and proportion layouts which were loosely based on the concept eTRACKER, before sketching and adding in the CAD over the top. It was then a process of back and forth — cad — sketching — cad — sketching on each component until it was ready to prototype.”
Turns out Switch is really doing its best to perfect the eScrambler’s design. They’re aiming to make sure that every curve and every edge is just right. No more, no less.
The Switch eScrambler electric motorcycle will be a mid-sized futuristic looking retro motorcycle with a powerful belt-driven 50kW (67hp) electric motor that can sprint up to 92mph in a short time. It will also draw power from a 13kW/h battery that gives a range of about 93 miles per charge.
The bike will feature GPS tracking, a digital display that looks like a mobile phone, three ride modes, cruise control, brake regen, USB phone charging, and “all the other gadgets that you would expect from a high end electric motorcycle.” The Switch development team is also working on a DC fast charging system, as well.
Switch Motorcycles also aims to outfit the bike with high quality parts like JJuan brakes, Panasonic battery cells, and Bosch ABS among others.
Where Would Switch eScrambler Fit in the Market?
With its classic style and profile, the eScrambler would fit perfectly in the Retro Electric Scrambler space alongside Vintage’s electric motorcycles, Fly Free’s Desert, Classic, and Old-style models, and Pursang’s E-Track.
Perhaps the best thing the eScrambler has to offer is that despite having a classic motorcycle as a concept, it totally embraces the more modern digital side of technology with its mostly digital operating system. The rest of the scramblers mentioned above only focuses on classic aesthetics.
When Will the Switch eScrambler Electric Motorcycle Be Released?
Switch will release the eScrambler electric motorcycle’s road legal and mass production version in 2022. But there is yet no announcement or estimate of its retail price.
“It’s a little early yet for costing, the only thing we can say is that it will be very competitive in pricing with the business model we are going for.”
Says Switch founder Matthew Waddick.
“No way we are going to price this out of the market.”
The eScrambler looks as though it’d fetch an astronomical price, but it’s good that Switch would try to keep it from doing so.
“We are now entering the homologation stage and have begun working with DEKRA on the type approvals. The process and testing is complicated but they have been super supportive and great to work with, it’s much better to be making the changes now rather than later.”
Waddick explained.
“The other big thing is the ABS system which takes a minimum of 9 months and for this we are working with BOSCH who have also been super helpful. You can’t just buy an existing ABS system and hack it on, the whole thing is painstakingly matched and tested under all conditions.”
This amount of testing means that it’s still a little while before anyone can get their hands on the Switch eScrambler. But the way Switch is taking its time and doing its best to put the bike through its paces to ensure its quality makes it well worth the wait.
Mud Bike’s Take on the Switch eScrambler Electric Motorcycle
This segment can be quite the challenge for bike shoppers and quite the headache for more established brands. The Switch eScrambler belongs to a new but gradually growing trend of electric motorcycles, but it’s also a far throw from traditional scramblers which people love for their looks and engine roar — the latter of which the eScrambler doesn’t have.
Even so, the Switch eScrambler electric motorcycle does show a uniqueness in its build that may just get it way ahead of the other fresh entry electric scramblers when the trend gets bigger. It may not get the attention of hardcore scrambler enthusiasts but we have high hopes it’ll survive in the electric motorcycle industry if not reach the top and become an icon.
