First ride: CSC RX1E $8k and 80 MPH electric motorcycle is a perfect starter bike
When CSC first announced the RX1E, I was super excited about the prospect of an electric motorcycle that could hit highway speeds while priced at a fraction of most big name e-motos today. And so, when I was swinging through LA recently, I made sure to stop by CSC’s Azusa headquarters and give the bike a test. Now I’m even more excited than ever about this new addition to CSC’s lineup.
At just $8,495, the CSC RX1E comes in swinging with a very nice spec sheet at a reasonable price point. For comparison, you’d have to pay 50% more to get an entry level Zero electric motorcycle that has similar performance specs.
There’s a lot going on here. The bike has liquid cooling for the motor and controller, belt drive, ABS braking in the front and rear, included storage cases and bash bars, reverse gear, a windshield, both a center AND a side stand, and a good-sized glove box in the faux tank. Half of these are features you normally find on much higher priced motorcycles, and the other half are features you generally have to pay many hundreds of dollars extra for.
But the unassuming CSC RX1E gives you everything you’d ever need in an around-the-town motorcycle, all for a reasonable price.
Check out my first ride on the new bike in my video below, then keep reading for my complete thoughts on this new entry into the affordable electric motorcycle market.
CSC RX1E video review
CSC RX1E tech specs
- Motor: 8 kW continuous, 18 kW peak-rated swingarm-mounted motor
- Top speed: 80 mph (130 km/h)
- Max range: 112 mi (180 km)
- Battery: 96V 64Ah (6.16 kWh)
- Charge time: 6 hours on Level 1 (110VAC wall plug)
- Curb weight: 465 lb (211 kg)
- Brakes: Hydraulic disc brakes with Bosch ABS
- Extras: liquid-cooled motor and controller, belt drive, three included storage cases, included crash bars, LED and analog gauges, windshield, side and center stands, USB charging port on instrument panel
Adventure look, city utility
So the first thing you notice about the CSC RX1E is the adventure-style setup. It’s got an upright stance, big cargo boxes, a bash guard and a windshield. All of these tend to scream “safari”, not “city.”
But all of those features actually make it a great urban runabout, which is what the bike is primarily designed for. Sure, it’s got adventure styling and matches the look of CSC’s popular ICE-powered RX3 and RX4 adventure bikes. But this baby is more than likely going to be sticking to commuter duty for most riders.
And that’s where it will absolutely excel. The upright seating position and tall bars make it super comfortable. Your legs aren’t tucked up underneath your body, you’re not crouched forward and you aren’t hugging the tank. Instead, you’re sitting up tall with a good view of the road, holding onto reasonably high bars and planted solidly on a comfortable saddle.
The suspension is also great for a city, especially one that doesn’t have the best streets. I pulled into CSC’s showroom on a borrowed LiveWire One, which gave me a unique chance to do some of the same route on both bikes. The LiveWire blows the CSC RX1E out of the water when it comes to power, but the RX1E was much more comfortable to ride, especially on speed bumps and other road irregularities.
Those lockable storage boxes are also just as useful as they seem. I normally ride with a backpack to carry all of my camera and audio gear that I use on rides, plus a few extra pieces of gear (tools, rain poncho, emergency kit, etc). But with the tail box, I could fit everything inside with room to spare. I didn’t even crack open the side boxes, that’s how much room I had in the top box.
But if you’re doing grocery shopping, running errands or picking up a takeout order for the whole office, you could probably fit it all in those three cases. And anything else can be stuffed in the faux “tank”, which has its own glovebox.
For anyone who doesn’t like the look of the boxes, you can pull them off with just a few bolts. But considering that’s an expensive option on other bikes, and with all of that added utility, it’s frankly amazing that they come standard.
Respectable performance
I’d call the performance specs decent, especially for a city bike that can handle freeway jaunts. This isn’t a powerhouse, but Sport mode definitely has good pickup. The bike comes with a rated top speed of 80 mph (130 km/h), but one of the CSC mechanics told me they got it up to a GPS-verified 88 mph (143 km/h) on the freeway in a full tuck.
The 18 kW peak-rated motor has good acceleration, and it pulled me up canyon roads without a thought. Does it compare to an Energica or a LiveWire? Absolutely not. Those bikes will have you holding on for dear life. But again, that’s not the type of ride the CSC RX1E is designed for.
If you’ve ever ridden an Energica, Zero, or LiveWire, you’ll know that when you punch it, those bikes are simply gone. You’re down the road before you know what happened.
The CSC RX1E, on the other hand, has a more muted but actually quite comfortable throttle response. Even if you crank it full throttle from a dead stop, you get that first quarter to half a second of easy throttle ramping up to full power. It doesn’t dump it all at once like an on/off switch, which is quite rare among lower cost electric motorcycles. Low-cost electric motorcycles can sometimes be a bit more jerky, since good throttle ramping requires careful programming – something often overlooked on cheap motorcycles. But the RX1E really nails the throttle response for a comfortable profile that doesn’t leave you feeling lacking. It’s both responsive and comfortable at the same time.
As far as range goes, the bike has a claimed 112 mile NEDC range, but CSC will tell you right away that the real-world range is closer to 80 miles with mixed riding. If you’re on the freeway the entire time, you’ll of course get less. But if you’re doing 30 mph around town, you might even get more.
When it comes time to recharge, you unfortunately don’t have a J-1772 charge port. That means you can’t use public charging stations when you’re out and about. Instead, the CSC RX1E comes with a charger not unlike an electric bike or Sur Ron, just a bit bigger. You plug it into a normal wall outlet in your garage and the other end goes into the bike.
With over 6 kWh, the battery is too big to be removable. A removable battery is nice for apartment dwellers that don’t have ground-level outlets for recharging, but they don’t make much sense past 4-5 kWh. At that point you’d be trying to muscle a 60+ pound battery around. But with 50% more battery (and thus 50% more range) than bikes like the SONDORS Metacycle, the lack of a removable battery is simply the price you pay for more range.
So much value
Compared to the competition, the CSC RX1E comes in at around the same ballpark. It’s around $1k more than a Metacycle but goes 50% further. It’s comparable to a Ryvid Anthem but again, goes further (even if it can’t compete with the awesome look of the Anthem). And its about $4k less than a comparable entry-level Zero motorcycle with similar specs, despite coming with several features not found on those bikes.
Just look at what you get. The bike comes with anti-lock brakes in the front and rear, which many low-cost electric motorcycles skip out on. There’s a small radiator to liquid-cool the motor and controller, letting you push the bike harder than air-cooled alternatives. And then, there’s those included accessories like the storage boxes, bash guards, and windshield. Oh yea, and don’t forget the reverse gear. Not even a $22k Energica has that, and the $25k Zero DSR/X I rode recently only JUST added a reverse feature. The CSC RX1E’s reverse is much easier to use though. It’s a single physical button on the bars, unlike Zero’s reverse gear which requires navigating several clicks through the bike’s on-screen menu.
The only downside here that I can reasonably see is the lack of a local dealership network. But even with that, CSC goes pretty far toward negating the issue entirely. I’ve toured their parts warehouse in California and it is absolutely massive. They sell mostly Chinese imported motorcycles, with the RX1E being no different. But they don’t bring in bikes without also bringing in a huge supply of spare parts for everything. If you ever have a problem, they will have a replacement part out to you by Fedex in a day or two.
I even had the chance to test that a few years ago when I got a City Slicker that eventually had an issue with its rear pulley bearing. They sent me a new pulley immediately and the lead mechanic talked me through the replacement process over the phone. I probably could have just taken it to a shop, but doing it myself helped me learn the motorcycle better. Also it helped that the City Slicker was so light that I could just gently lay it on its side instead of needing a motorcycle lift.
Anyway, the point is that CSC has proven that they’re there to take care of issues if they ever arrive, and that helps give me back most of the confidence that I’d normally get from having a local dealer nearby.
Summing it up
Alright, it’s about time to bring this first-ride review to a close. Basically, my takeaway from this test ride is that the RX1E is punching way above its weight class, which is ironic because it’s actually kind of a heavy bike (465 pounds) that feels much lighter than it really is.
I did a mixture of city riding and canyon carving, and the bike excelled at both. In fact, it was so comfortable and easy to ride that I was actually pushing much harder in the canyon turns than I normally do. The bike carries its weight low and feels so responsive that I just had more confidence pushing myself more than usual.
For pleasure riding, it was a blast. For utility riding, it was a dream. It’s fast. It’s peppy. It’s fun. It has the gear I want and the features I need. I wouldn’t mind if it were $1,000 cheaper, but I can’t even say that it isn’t worth it. Dollar for dollar, it comes in at higher value than nearly any other electric motorcycle I know of.
If you’re looking for a starter electric motorcycle that won’t break the bank, this very well could be it.
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Xpeng has officially launched its new G7 electric SUV in China, entering the fiercely competitive electric crossover market with a starting price of just 195,800 yuan ($27,325 USD). The G7 is positioned squarely to compete with the Tesla Model Y and the newly unveiled Xiaomi YU7.
It is priced significantly more aggressively than the YU7, which shook up the industry just last week.
The G7, Xpeng’s seventh model, offers an attractive balance of performance, technology, and value, with an emphasis on the latter.
Like Lei Jun with the launch of the YU7 last week, He Xiaopeng was not shy about positioning the G7 against the best-selling Tesla Model Y.
He compared the specs and pricing with the leading premium crossover. Like Jun, he brought up Tesla’s comparison challenge against the new Model Y:
The G7 is powered by a single rear-wheel-drive electric motor producing 292 horsepower (218 kW), it achieves a 0-100 km/h acceleration in 6.5 seconds. Impressively, the G7 can cover between 602 km and 702 km (374-436 miles) based on China’s generous CLTC standard, depending on the battery option and wheel size.
Two battery options are available, both using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology: a 68.5 kWh and a larger 80.8 kWh pack. With Xpeng’s advanced 5C charging technology, drivers can recharge up to 436 km (271 miles) of range in just 10 minutes.
Additionally, the G7 supports Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality, providing up to 6 kW of external power, like the YU7 announced last week.
On the design front, the Xpeng G7 adopts the company’s second-generation “X Face” styling, featuring sleek running lights connected by a continuous LED strip, a closed front end for aerodynamic efficiency, and a distinctive “Star Ring” rear taillight design. Xpeng emphasizes the vehicle’s aerodynamics with a drag coefficient of just 0.238 Cd, slightly higher than the Model Y’s 0.230 Cd.
Inside, the G7 embraces minimalism, replacing conventional buttons with a large 15.6-inch central touchscreen powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8295 chipset. A standout interior feature is the expansive 87-inch augmented reality head-up display (AR-HUD), developed in collaboration with Huawei, that significantly enhances navigation and driving assistance.
Practicality is emphasized with ample cargo space: an 819-liter trunk that expands to 2,277 liters with the seats folded, plus an additional 120-liter compartment beneath the trunk floor and a modest 42-liter front trunk (frunk).
Xpeng is touting an adaptive AI-driven suspension system that actively adjusts to road conditions within milliseconds, allegedly surpassing comfort benchmarks set by the Mercedes-Benz GLE and Tesla Model Y. Cabin quietness also ranks high on Xpeng’s list of priorities.
Luxury and convenience features include dual 50W wireless phone chargers, a 20-speaker premium audio system, and a panoramic sunroof. Passengers in the second row enjoy premium touches like an 8-inch control screen, individual climate settings, a foldable table, and wireless charging.
The top-tier “Ultra” variant employs two proprietary Turing AI chips capable of delivering a massive 2,250 TOPS of computing power, enabling advanced Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities set to become active via an OTA update by December 2025, pending regulatory approval. Standard versions use dual Nvidia Orin-X chips with 508 TOPS.
The Xpeng G7 starts at 195,800 yuan ($27,325 USD) for the base “Max” variant with 602 km of range, stepping up to 205,800 yuan ($28,720 USD) for the longer-range “Max” (702 km) and topping out at 225,800 yuan ($31,510 USD) for the high-end “Ultra” trim.
Customers ordering the G7 Ultra before July 31 will receive complimentary upgrades including Nappa leather and power door handles.
G7 quickly demonstrated its popularity by securing 10,000 pre-orders in just 46 minutes.
Electrek’s Take
It’s not 200,000 orders within 3 minutes like the YU7, but Xpeng doesn’t have the brand power that Xiaomi has.
Nonetheless, it is pretty impressive.
The price is insane. The specs are competitive with the Model Y, which starts at 263,500 yuan and ranges up to 313,500 yuan ($36,770 – 43,750 USD), but the price starts at about $10,000 USD less.
Between this, the YU7 last week, and a few more models launching this month, the premium crossover segment is about to get crowded in China.
I think the Model Y is in serious trouble in China. We are about to see how it fares with real competition.
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Tesla’s humanoid robot program, Optimus, is reportedly in disarray amid the departure of the senior vice president in charge, Milan Kovac.
Production has been delayed due to a new redesign, as the robot has yet to prove useful in Tesla’s factories.
Elon Musk has previously set a goal for Tesla to produce 5,000 to 10,000 Optimus humanoid robots this year.
The goal has reportedly been delayed as sources within the Chinese supply chain report Tesla informed suppliers of a 2-month halt on orders.
AI Invest first reported the news, and The Information later corroborated the report:
Two supplier sources said Tesla has not explicitly stated it will reduce robot parts orders but will wait until the Optimus design adjustments are completed before finalizing a new mass production plan and resuming procurement. The adjustments may take two months. Musk recently stated on social media that the new version of Optimus has seen significant improvements over the second-generation Optimus unveiled in 2023 and now includes voice interaction powered by Grok.
The news came after we learned that Milan Kovac, the head of the Optimus program left Tesla last month, just months after being promoted to senior vice-president by Musk.
The new reports confirm that Ashok Elluswamy, who was elevated to senior vice-president in charge of self-driving at the same time as Kovac, is taking over responsabilities.
AI Invest reported some concerns from Tesla about Optimus that reportedly trickled down to Chinese suppliers:
According to Tesla’s feedback to suppliers, Optimus still faces hardware challenges, including overheating in some joint motors, low load capacity in dexterous hands, short lifespan of transmission components, and limited battery life. Tesla is currently evaluating samples from multiple dexterous hand suppliers, testing at least three different technical approaches. On the software side, Tesla may use more synthetic data to train the robot model, improving Optimus’ autonomous operation capabilities and success rate in performing complex tasks.
According to the report, Tesla had secured parts to build over 1,000 Optimus robots earlier this year and built quite a few, but they are currently only used “for moving batteries in Tesla’s battery workshops, with efficiency less than half that of human workers.”
The redesign is expected to delay plans by at least two months and could push many of Tesla’s goals.
However, Tesla is expected to still move ahead with the prgroam and it is likely to unveil the new generation of Optimus robots at its shareholders meeting this year.
Electrek’s Take
As I previously stated, I’m actually quite hyped for humanoid robots, but I don’t think they will be nearly as big as Musk claims and I simply don’t see Tesla having a significant advantage over the competition, which is significant.
Companies like Unitree are already selling robots, Figure has made impressive progress and poached from Tesla, then there’s Boston Dynamics and dozens more.
Kovac leaving just as Tesla is supposed to ramp-up production to 50,000 units next and make this a “multi-trillion-dollar” product is a red flag.The engineer would have certainly received sweet stock option packages when he was elevated to SVP and would have likely made a fortune if he would have been able to deliver on Musk’s goals.
But I think the real product at Tesla now is the stock – hence why they reportedly plan to unveil the next generation of the robot at the shareholders meeting and have it do another shady demostration, like it did at the ‘We, Robot’ event where the robots were remotely controlled by humans.
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Honda is stepping up its electric scooter game with the launch of its second electric model for Europe, the CUV e:. Following Honda’s previous debut of the EM1 e:, a compact, city-focused moped, the CUV e: brings more power, more range, and more real-world usability to riders who want a practical electric alternative to a 125cc scooter.
Now finally ready for the spotlight, the CUV e: is built on an underbone-style frame and powered by a 6 kW side-mounted electric motor producing 22 Nm of torque. That puts it squarely in the 125cc-equivalent category, allowing it to reach a top speed of 83 km/h (52 mph).
It’s not built for the highway, but rather for urban and suburban riders who want to achieve speeds seen on the fastest of urban roads and keep up with just about any traffic in the city. For that role, it looks like a solid performer – more than capable of keeping up with city traffic or carrying a second passenger.
One of the most useful features, especially for urban residents and apartment dwellers, is its use of Honda’s Mobile Power Pack e: swappable battery system. The scooter carries two of these Gogoro-style removable battery units, each rated at 50 V and 1.3 kWh. Combined, they offer over 70 km (43 miles) of WMTC-rated range. Compared to the Honda EM1 e:’s single Mobile Power Pack battery, the dual batteries of the CUV e: give Honda the chance to pull twice as much power or offer twice the range.
Honda’s swappable battery standard is designed for portability and long life, with each pack weighing around 10 kg (22 lb) and rated for 2,500 full charge cycles. Honda has been slowly building a swappable battery ecosystem, and the CUV e: is clearly meant to be part of that larger infrastructure play.
Charging of the batteries is designed to be done easily off-board, either at home or at a battery station (where available). A full charge from 0 to 100% takes about six hours per pack, but Honda says 75% can be reached in just three hours. While fast charging would be nice, the swappable format means riders can keep an extra pair charged and ready if necessary, eliminating downtime altogether.
Honda didn’t skimp on features, either. The CUV e: offers three ride modes (Sport, Standard, and Econ), plus Reverse Assist for easier maneuvering. It includes a fairly spacious flat floorboard, under-seat storage, LED lighting, a USB-C port, and keyless ignition. Buyers can choose between a five-inch color TFT display or an upgraded seven-inch “RoadSync Duo” screen, which supports turn-by-turn navigation, music control, Bluetooth phone integration, and EV-specific ride data.
Positioned as a mid-range electric scooter, the CUV e: fills the space between low-speed mopeds and larger, premium e-motorcycles. It’s a key piece in Honda’s broader electrification strategy, which aims to introduce 10 or more electric motorcycle models globally by 2025 and reach full carbon neutrality in its motorcycle division by the 2040s.
With anticipated pricing starting at around €4,000 (approximately US $4,300), the CUV e: is expected to roll out in Europe first, with other global markets potentially following. Its combination of practical range, moderate speed, high build quality, and swappable batteries could make it an appealing option in cities where electric two-wheelers are on the rise.
If the EM1 e: was Honda dipping a toe into the electric waters, the CUV e: feels like a confident step forward. It’s not flashy, but it’s functional, well-designed, and undeniably useful, which is exactly the kind of machine that could help electric scooters go mainstream.
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