I waited for this day for nearly two years, biding my time until I would finally get a chance to throw a leg over the SONDORS Metacycle electric motorcycle and ride off into the sunset with the twist of a wrist.
I never quite got that sunset, but an overcast LA morning was the next best thing I could wrangle up on short notice. The SONDORS team let me take out an early production Metacycle to get a sense of how the bike rides and whether or not it lives up to the long-building hype.
Where did the bike come from?
Just a quick refresher to set the stage: SONDORS is an electric bicycle company that unveiled a sexy-looking $5,000 electric motorcycle set to drastically expand the brand’s market reach. The bike claimed impressive specs including an 80 mph (130 km/h) top speed and an 80 mile (130 km) range to match.
Over that time, the specs and appearance started to change too. The sexy silvery polished aluminum frame turned into a gray painted frame. The bike had less-than-elegant plastic bits added all over, including necessary DOT parts, like a rear fender to hold the license plate, larger (and more legal) lights and signals, etc. The SONDORS Metacycle somehow gained around 100 pounds (45 kg) from its target weight. The quick release battery turned into a slow-release battery that requires a tool. And the price walked up from $5,000 to $6,500.
So yeah, there were a lot of changes along the way: Some were for legal reasons. Some were for comfort reasons (like a plusher padded seat). And some were likely cost savings measures. I can’t imagine how many hours went into polishing that prototype’s shiny aluminum frame. It surely wasn’t cost-effective for mass production.
After all of that, the bikes finally started rolling out to early reservation holders, or at least those folks who were living in Southern California.
And that’s where I come in. I may not live in Southern California, but while passing through, I got to borrow one of these early bikes for the morning, and here I am to tell you about it.
Make sure you check out my video below if you want to see the bike in action.
Love the one you’re with
I’d have loved to ride the original SONDORS Metacycle from all those beautiful product shots we saw in early 2021. But that’s not the bike that is getting delivered these days. That bike now exists only in the thoughts and memories of those who drooled over it many months ago. So all I can do is tell you how the real-world SONDORS Metacycle looks, feels, and rides.
For anyone that laid down a cool five G’s last year and is getting a somewhat different bike than they expected, that’s definitely a bummer, and I feel your pain. But what I can tell you is that the bike you’re getting is still a fun ride. And it’s still an awesome little commuter bike.
With SONDORS’s background in electric bicycles, it’s no surprise that the company’s first electric motorcycle is a commuter-spec bike. It’s not overly powerful, and it’s not overly sporty. But that doesn’t mean it can’t offer a fun ride.
The bike feels much lighter than its reportedly more than 300 pound (136 kg) curb weight. It spits right out in front of traffic when the light turns green, which is exactly what I want in a commuter bike.
I don’t need to beat a Ducati off the line. I just need to beat that distracted SUV driver texting her boyfriend while juggling a latte in the other hand.
With so much of the bike’s weight mounted down south with that low-slung battery and rear hub motor, the bike is quick to lean and quicker to stand back up, making for a nimble ride in traffic. And the SONDORS Metacycle is so easy to ride that it feels like a great starter bike. It’s basically a sexy scooter. Someone who has spent years on electric bicycles but has no motorcycle experience could hop on it and feel at home. In one ride, they’d probably be comfortable with it, though riding at highway speeds for someone only used to going 30 mph (48 km/h) on an electric bicycle can sometimes take a bit longer to get used to.
But for so many e-bike riders that have toyed with the idea of upgrading to an electric motorcycle, the Metacycle is probably one of the best candidates I’ve ridden in terms of easing that transition by blurring the line between e-bike, e-moped, and e-moto.
The 14.5 kW peak rated motor puts out 20 horsepower, which is sufficient for this type of commuter riding but isn’t going to leave you slipping off that narrow seat. Speaking of which, I was expecting the seat to be an issue, but I found it to be surprisingly comfortable. I’m not a big guy myself, and I don’t have an American-sized rear end, so perhaps that’s part of it, but I felt like I could sit on that bike for hours without an issue. The hour or so I spent on it was perfectly comfortable.
The only uncomfortable part of the bike to me was how my ankles tended to rub on the wide battery case. By changing my stance a bit, I could mostly get away from it, but I think if the battery had stayed as slim as it looked in the original prototype photos, then that issue would have been avoided entirely.
Other than that though, the bike felt quite comfortable and confidence inspiring. In fact, the SONDORS Metacycle largely feels like a scaled up electric bicycle, which makes sense based on the company’s roots. You’re in a more upright riding position that gives you a better view of the road and the cars around you. It’s not a little City Slicker electric motorcycle, but it’s also not a big Energica either.
The bike even had some cool features that I’ve never seen anywhere else. That glove box with the wireless charger is a really cool feature that likely came out of SONDORS never having designed a motorcycle before and not being limited by what people think of as conventional motorcycle features. It’s easier to think outside of the box when you’ve never seen the box before.
I did notice that occasionally I’d hit a big bump and my phone would jump around a bit, stopping and then starting the wireless charging if it didn’t quite land back in the correct spot. But as long as I stayed away from major potholes, it wasn’t too much of an issue.
And speaking of those potholes, the bike’s suspension was also decent. It’s not super plush, and you do have a pile of unsprung weight in the rear wheel, but then again, this isn’t a performance bike. For cruising around town and hitting the freeway, the suspension was more than adequate.
What are the disadvantages of the SONDORS Metacycle?
As much as I enjoyed the ride, there were several areas that seemed a bit limiting to me.
First was the range. With just a 4,000 Wh battery, you’re not going to be going too terribly far. They claim a maximum range of 80 miles (130 km), but that’s likely only possible at electric bicycle speeds.
Here’s a little tip for you and a quick way you can suss out whether or not e-bike or e-motorcycle ranges are BS. Use these two numbers: 25 Wh/mile and 50 Wh/mile. The former is the efficiency of an average e-bike on throttle only at around 20-25 mph. The latter is the same figure for a light electric motorcycle or seated electric scooter (think Vespa-style) at around 30 mph.
So if you’re sticking to absolute city speeds, you can take an e-scooter or light e-moto’s battery capacity in watt-hours and divide it by 50 Wh/mile. In this case, that’s 4,000 Wh divided by 50 Wh/mi, giving us 80 miles. Bam. There you go. So if you’re super gentle on the throttle and you don’t exceed 30 mph, you might be able to just eke out that 80 miles of range from the SONDORS Metacycle. But good luck staying at those speeds.
During my riding, I had an extrapolated range of around 40-45 miles (64-72 km), though that was with plenty of highway riding and ample use of the sport mode button (more on that in a moment). As a commuter bike, that’s probably fine for most people.
If you need to take a highway and you have a commute of less than 20 miles (32 km), or double that if you can charge at work, then the bike can work for you. But the SONDORS Metacycle is not a long-range motorcycle by any stretch of the imagination.
Oh, and one more thing about the battery. The display uses one of those 10-segment battery bar icons instead of displaying a battery percentage. That may be fine for some people, but my engineering background makes me super uncomfortable with that fuzzy approximation. I’d rather see battery voltage if I could, but if not, then at least give me a battery percentage readout. I don’t need five significant figures, but I’d rather know I have 28% battery charge than just that it’s somewhere between 20-30%. Don’t do the analysis for me with battery bars; just tell me exactly what I have left!
Actually, one more thing about the battery. The fact that you can’t remove the battery using some type of quick release anymore, which was part of the original design, is also a bummer for those that wanted to carry it into their home or apartment for charging each night. That was a huge feature that somehow got left by the wayside. For those that planned to bring the battery inside an apartment to charge, going through a two-minute procedure that includes unbolting several bolts in an aluminum housing each day just isn’t realistic.
Now let’s talk about that top speed. Yes, the bike can hit 80 mph (130 km/h), at least assuming the speedometer is accurate. But it can’t sustain it.
I always assumed that 80 mph top speed from the marketing was going to be a constant top speed. But the SONDORS Metacycle actually tops out somewhere between 60-70 mph (96-112 km/h) during normal cruising. There’s a turbo button that engages Sport Mode for about a minute or so and lets you get up to 80 mph. That makes it good for passing or other maneuvers where you’d want all of your power and speed on tap. But once that minute is up, you’ve got to wait a bit before you can use the turbo button again. It’s like a power-up in a video game that has a recharge period.
If you never take roads that require going over 65 mph or so, then this won’t even be an issue to you. But if you were counting on that 80 mph top speed to always be there, then you’re in for a rude awakening.
Lastly, as much as I enjoyed the ride, it felt like there was just something missing. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but the bike didn’t seem to have the same passion that I feel on other electric motorcycles I ride. I know that’s an annoyingly vague sentence, but to be fair, it’s an annoyingly vague feeling. I don’t know quite how to describe what’s missing or why it feels that way. Maybe it’s the muted scooter-style performance. Maybe it’s the lack of a belt drive to give some type of sound feedback. Maybe it’s that its so easy to ride that you almost feel like you’re on an electric bicycle. I’m not quite sure. I’m not saying it’s not fun. It’s absolutely an enjoyable ride! But it just doesn’t have that passion to it that I feel on other bikes.
Part of that feeling may be that I went into this with the wrong frame of mind. I had been on a LiveWire One and an Energica Eva Ribelle in the few days before riding the Metacycle. Those two flagship electric motorcycles have several times the power of the Metacycle and are completely different beasts. When you hop on the Metacycle, you have to remember what it is and what it isn’t. It’s a fun and engaging ride, but you should expect performance more in line with a good, peppy scooter. It’s not a flagship electric motorcycle, and it was never meant to compete with those bikes.
Would I buy the SONDORS Metacycle?
Yes, definitely. Despite the list of disadvantages and even at its now higher $6,500 price, I still think the SONDORS Metacycle is worth it.
There are downsides, sure. Until they release some type of storage box for that center cavity, you can’t really carry anything on it that doesn’t fit in the TI-84 calculator-sized glove box. And even though they talked about releasing pillion pegs at some point, it doesn’t seem like a bike that is going to be comfortable for two riders. And of course, it’s not a long-range bike.
But even despite its shortcomings, it’s great at what it is designed to do. This is a commuter electric motorcycle, through and through, and it has to be judged through that lens. I’d rather ride the Metacycle any day of the week, experiencing the world around me, than be commuting in a car watching the world go by like a rerun on TV.
It feels so light and so easy to ride. I mean it when I say that it’s probably the best electric motorcycle out there right now for easing an e-bike rider looking to enter into the world of e-motorcycles. It’s a transition bike.
It’s got some stiff competition on the horizon though. Bikes like the Ryvid Anthem and the CSC RX1E are a few thousand bucks more expensive but offer their own compelling cases. And with the SONDORS current order books looking like it might take a year or more to fulfill outstanding reservations, those other bikes could be preparing to eat the Metacycle’s lunch sooner rather than later.
But assuming SONDORS can deliver, then I think the Metacycle is definitely going to have its place in the light electric motorcycle market.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Portable power station specialist EcoFlow is kicking off its third annual Member’s Festival this month and is offering a unique new rewards program to those who become EcoFlow members. The 2025 EcoFlow Member’s Festival will offer savings of up to 65% for its participating customers, and a portion of those funds will be allocated toward rescue power solutions for communities around the globe through the company’s “Power for All” fund.
EcoFlow remains one of the industry leaders in portable power solutions and continues to trek forward in its vision to power a new tech-driven, eco-conscious future. Per its website:
Our mission from day one is to provide smart and eco-friendly energy solutions for individuals, families, and society at large. We are, were, and will continue to be a reliable and trusted energy companion for users around the world.
To achieve such goals, EcoFlow has continued to expand its portfolio of sustainable energy solutions to its community members, including portable power stations, solar generators, and mountable solar panels. While EcoFlow is doing plenty to support its growing customer base, it has expanded its reach by giving back to disaster-affected communities by helping bolster global disaster response efforts the best way it knows how– with portable power solutions.
Source: EcoFlow
EcoFlow and its members look to provide “Power for All”
Since 2023, EcoFlow has collaborated with organizations worldwide as part of its “Power for All” mission. This initiative aims to ensure access to reliable and timely power to disaster-affected communities across the globe, including rescue agencies, affected hospitals, and shelters, to support rescue and recovery efforts.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
This fund most recently provided aid for communities affected by the recent Los Angeles wildfires, assistance to the Special Forces Charitable Trust (SFCT) in North Carolina following severe hurricanes, and support for non-profits engaged in hurricane preparedness in Florida and the Gulf Coast. Per Jodi Burns, CEO of the Special Forces Charitable Trust:
In the wake of devastating storms in Western North Carolina, reliable power was a critical need for the families we serve. Thanks to EcoFlow’s generous donation of generators, we were able to provide immediate relief, ensuring these families and their communities had access to power when they needed it most. We are so impressed with EcoFlow’s commitment to disaster response through their ‘Power for All’ program. It has made a tangible impact, and we are deeply grateful for their support and partnership in helping these families recover and rebuild.
In 2024, the US experienced 27 weather and climate events, each causing losses exceeding $1 billion, marking the second-highest annual total on record, according to National Centers for Environmental Information. The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters underscore the critical need for reliable and timely power solutions during emergencies, much like EcoFlow and its members are helping provide through the “Power For All” initiative.
To support new and existing EcoFlow members, the company is celebrating its third annual Member’s Festival throughout April to offer a do-not-miss discount on its products and donate a portion of all sales to the “Power for All” fund to provide rescue power to those in need in the future. Learn how it all works below.
Source: EcoFlow
Save big and give back during the 2025 Member’s Festival
As of April 1st, you can now sign up to become an EcoFlow member to participate in the company’s exclusive 2025 Member Festival.
As a member, you can earn “EcoFlow Power Points” by completing tasks like registration, referrals, and product purchases and tracking your individual efforts toward disaster preparedness and recovery.
Beginning April 4, EcoFlow members will also be able to take advantage of exclusive discounts of up to 65% off select portable power stations, including the DELTA Pro Ultra, DELTA Pro 3, DELTA 2 Max, DELTA 3 Plus, RIVER 3 Plus, and more. However, these sale prices only last through April 25, so you’ll want to move quickly!
Click here to learn more about EcoFlow’s “Power for All” campaign. To register for EcoFlow’s 2025 Member Festival in the US, visit the EcoFlow website. To register as a member in Canada, visit here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Tesla is losing another top talent: its long-time head of software, David Lau, has reportedly told co-workers that he is exiting the automaker.
Tesla changed how the entire auto industry looks at software.
Before Tesla, it was an afterthought; user interfaces were rudimentary, and you had to go to a dealership to get a software update on your systems.
When Tesla launched the Model S in 2012, it all changed. Your car would get better through software updates like your phone, the large center display was responsive with a UI that actually made sense and was closer to an iPad experience than a car.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
Tesla also integrated its software into its retail experience, service, and manufacturing.
David Lau deserves a lot of the credit for that.
He joined Tesla in 2012 as a senior manager of firmware engineering and quickly rose through the ranks. By 2014, he was promoted to director of firmware engineering and system integration, and in 2017, he became Vice President of software.
Lau listed the responsibilities of his team on his LinkedIn:
Vehicle Software:
Firmware for the powertrain, traction/stability control, HV electronics, battery management, and body control systems
UI software and underlying Embedded Linux platforms
Navigation and routing
iOS and Android Mobile apps
Distributed Systems:
Server-side software and infrastructure that provides telemetry, diagnostics, over-the-air updates, and configuration/lifecycle management
Data engineering and analytics platforms that power technical and business insights for an increasingly diverse set of customers across the company
Diagnostic tools and fleet management, Manufacturing and Automation:
Automation controls (PLC, robot)
Server-side manufacturing execution systems that power all of Tesla’s production operations
Product Security and Red Team for software, services, and systems across Tesla
Bloomberg reported today that Lau told his team he is leaving Tesla. The report didn’t include reasons for his stepping down.
Electrek’s Take
Twelve years at any company is a great run. At Tesla, it’s heroic. Congrats, David, on a great run. You undoubtedly had a significant impact on Tesla and software advancements in the broader auto industry.
He is another significant loss for Tesla, which has been losing a lot of top talent following a big wave of layoffs around this time last year.
I wonder who will take over. Michael Rizkalla, senior director of software engineering and vehicle firmware, is one of the most senior software engineers after Lau. He has been at Tesla for 7 years, and Tesla likes to promote within rather than hire outsiders.
There are also a lot of senior software execs working on AI at Tesla. Musk has been favoring them lately and he could fold Lau’s responsibilities under them.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Kia’s electric SUVs are taking over. The EV3 is the best-selling retail EV in the UK this year, giving Kia its strongest sales start since it arrived 34 years ago. And it’s not just in the UK. Kia just had its best first quarter globally since it started selling cars in 1962.
Kia EV3 is the best-selling EV in the UK through March
In March, Kia sold a record nearly 20,000 vehicles in the UK, making it the fourth best-selling brand. It was also the second top-seller of electrified vehicles (EVs, PHEVs, and HEVs), accounting for over 55% of sales.
The EV3 remained the best-selling retail EV in the UK last month. Including the EV6, three-row EV9, and Niro EV, electric vehicles represented 21% of Kia’s UK sales in March.
Kia said the EV3 “started with a bang” in January, darting out as the UK’s most popular EV in retail sales. Through March, Kia’s electric SUV has held on to the crown. With the EV3 rolling out, Kia sold over 7,000 electric cars through March, nearly 50% more than in Q1 2024.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
The EV3 was the best-selling retail EV in the UK in the first quarter and the fourth best-selling EV overall, including commercial vehicles.
Kia EV3 Air 91.48 kWh in Frost Blue (Source: Kia UK)
Starting at £33,005 ($42,500), Kia said it’s the “brand’s most affordable EV yet.” It’s available with two battery packs, 58.3 kWh or 81.48 kWh, good for 430 km (270 miles) and 599 km (375 miles) of WLTP range, respectively.
From left to right: Kia EV6, EV3, and EV9 (Source: Kia UK)
With new EVs on the way, this could be just the start. Kia is launching several new EVs in the UK this year, including the EV4 sedan (and hatchback) and EV5 SUV. It also confirmed that the first PV5 electric vans will be delivered to customers by the end of the year.
Electrek’s Take
Globally, Kia sold a record 772,351 vehicles in the first quarter, its best since it started selling cars in 1962. With the new EV4, the brand’s first electric sedan and hatchback, launching this year, Kia looks to build on its momentum in 2025.
Kia has also made it very clear that it wants to be a global leader in the electric van market with its new Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) business, starting with the PV5 later this year.
Earlier today, we learned Kia’s midsize electric SUV, the EV5, is the fourth best-selling EV in Australia through March, outselling every BYD vehicle (at least for now). The EV5 is rolling out to new markets this year, including Canada, the UK, South Korea, and Mexico. However, it will not arrive in the US.
For those in the US, there are still a few Kia EVs to look forward to. Kia is launching the EV4 globally, including in the US, later this year. Although no date has been set, Kia confirmed the EV3 is also coming. It’s expected to arrive in mid-2026.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.