CSC RX1E, America’s next low-cost highway-ready electric motorcycle, begins shipping
When it was unveiled last year, the CSC RX1E joined a select group of electric motorcycles that could reach highway-capable speeds yet at an affordable price. Now the bike is joining an even more limited category: those bikes that are actually shipping.
There are plenty of low-cost electric motorcycles and scooters out there, but most are designed for city use and thus can’t reach highway speeds. Then there are high-performance, high-speed electric motorcycles designed for racing or sport riding yet that cost well over $20,000. The RX1E became one of only a few electric motorcycles debuted in the US that could reach highway speeds while maintaining a budget price.
Reservation holders that got in line late last year for the sub-$8,000 motorcycle are finally seeing their motorcycles ship this week. Even after the promotional pre-order price ended, the bike’s new $8,495 price tag puts it well below the cost of most other highway-capable electric motorcycles in the US.
CSC Motorcycles, the Azusa, California-based motorcycle dealer that brought the bike to the US, launched the CSC RX1E as a similar-looking bike to the company’s gas-powered RX4 and RX3 adventure bikes. The RX1E may look adventure ready, but it’s really more of an urban bike with adventure flavoring.
That means the bike gets a tall riding stance, long travel suspension, included cargo boxes, and crash bars from the off-road world, but comes with street-ready tires designed to turn your car commute into a fun, more adventurous ride to work.
But commuting isn’t the bike’s only use, as I discovered during some fun canyon carving just outside of LA.
With multiple power levels and a maximum speed of 80 mph (130 km/h), the CSC RX1E is equal parts peppy and comfortable, helping it live with one wheel in the commuter space and the other wheel in the Sunday riding world.
The max range of over 100 miles (160 km) certainly won’t allow anyone to go touring on a cross country ride, but it should be plenty for navigating any city with some highway riding thrown in as well.
The bike gets its power from a mid-mounted electric motor that puts out 8 kW of continuous-rated power and 18 kW at its peak. That’s a max of 24 horsepower but with a torque profile that will likely have you thinking it is significantly higher. The liquid-cooled motor is able to run at higher power levels for longer than air-cooled motors.
The CSC RX1E can hit a maximum speed of around 80 mph (130 km/h) with a 0-60 mph acceleration time of under nine seconds. Again, that’s not going to leave a rubber tire snake on the road, but it will still feel like plenty of power for recreational rides or slicing through traffic on the way to work.
Supplying that motor is a 6.16 kWh lithium-ion battery that is rated for 112 miles (180 km) on the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle), though faster riding with more time spent on the highway will drain the battery more quickly.
Charging is performed from a typical 110V home wall outlet. A full recharge is said to take six hours, but it will usually be faster in real-world conditions when you’re starting from a partially charged battery.
A Continental belt drive connects the motor to the 17″ rear wheel, which wears a 120/80-17 tire to match the front’s 100/80-17 tire.
The CSC RX1E sports Bosch’s dual ABS brakes and a combined braking system for safety. While many bikes in this new wave of mid-power electric motorcycles use the left-hand lever for the rear brake, the RX1E sticks with convention by activating the rear brake with the right foot pedal.
Another nod to convention is the speedometer, which has an actual physical needle. I haven’t seen needle gauges on an electric motorcycle in years, but I much prefer them. They’re easier to read at a quick glance because the physical location of a bright orange needle will always be more legible than small digital numbers.
There’s still a digital readout on the display as well for the rest of the important information, but lovers of tradition will surely enjoy the return of a needle gauge speedometer.
The CSC RX1E’s inverted front fork offers 4.7 inches of suspension travel, while the rear mono-shock with adjustable preload and rebound damping is nearly there at 4.3 inches of travel.
The RX1E has a curb weight of 436.5 pounds (198 kg), though the included crash bars and luggage cases add another 32 pounds (14.5 kg) to the bike.
The bike’s trio of luggage cases increases the storage already found in the faux tank, which looks like a gas tank but is actually a glove box.
The 30.9-inch seat height is fairly low and easy to manage, though throwing your leg over that top box may take some practice.
The SONDORS Metacycle became the first highway-capable budget e-moto to begin shipping when deliveries began late last year. But the promised 80 mph (130 km/h) top speed turned out to be more like a sustained 60 mph (96 km/h), with a turbo button that allowed brief sprints up to 80 mph. The range of the Metacycle also turned out to be significantly less than the promised 80 miles (130 km).
The CSC RX1E, on the other hand, can sustain its 80 mph top speed and offers over 50% more range than the Metacycle thanks to an over 50% larger battery.
The RX1E will have to compete against similarly priced models like those from Kollter, and other rivals like the Ryvid Anthem and SUPER73 C1X are expected to hit the market in the next year.
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KYMCO, a leading Taiwanese scooter maker, has just announced the next step in its growing partnership with US-based electric motorcycle company LiveWire. The long-awaited KYMCO RevoNEX electric motorcycle will now be built on the Arrow S2 platform developed by LiveWire.
The pair of companies showed off the latest design for the RevoNEX electric motorcycle in a joint announcement at the 2024 EICMA Milan Motorcycle Show, with KYMCO Chairman Allen Ko riding the motorcycle out to the center stage in a dramatic unveiling.
The RevoNEX has been years in the making and undergone several key design updates on its circuitous path from concept to hopeful production. While previous versions have skewed much further in the direction of concept bikes, KYMCO’s partnership with LiveWire has allowed the RevoNEX to be reworked on top of an existing motorcycle platform already in serial production.
LiveWire uses the S2 Arrow platform for its Del Mar and Mulholland electric motorcycles, with the platform specifically designed as a versatile foundation that would allow a multitude of options for various motorbikes. Now one of those options will be under the KYMCO badge with a unique styling unlike anything we likely would have seen from LiveWire.
“Every detail of the new RevoNEX has been meticulously crafted to bring riders the most unique electric riding experience,” said KYMCO Chairman Allen Ko. “And we are determined to bring the new RevoNEX to consumers in the shortest time.”
When I pressed Mr. Ko on that timeframe, he explained that their target is to follow shortly behind LiveWire’s intended launch of its upcoming Arrow S2-based electric maxi-scooter built in collaboration with KYMCO, which is slated for the first half of 2026. Ko added that he hopes the RevoNEX will be ready to launch by the second half of 2026.
This marks the best chance for KYMCO’s RevoNEX to land on a path to production and further underscores the growing relationship between the Taiwanese scooter giant and the American electric motorcycle maker.
While there’s still plenty of time to wait before a potential RevoNEX production version unveiling and eventual commencement of manufacturing, the future certainly appears bright now that KYMCO has selected an advanced platform that could help realize RevoNEX’s long-awaited vision in a realistic timeline.
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Former President Donald Trump arrives for his campaign rally at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in Doral, Florida, on July 9, 2024.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images
As Donald Trump celebrated his prospective victory on Election Night at Mar-a-Lago, he was joined by a roster of high-profile supporters. Among them were Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick.
One thing those three people have in common: crypto.
It’s an industry that Trump talked little about until recently but has counted on for large amounts of cash for his campaign and related PACs. Getting that money required him to make big promises pertaining to the crypto industry.
Digital asset markets surged on Election Night, with bitcoin hitting a record of over $75,000, as his victory began looking likely. Crypto-linked stocks like Coinbase and MicroStrategy moved higher as well in after-hours trading Tuesday.
With a Republican-controlled Senate on the horizon, Trump has few roadblocks to putting in place a more pro-crypto platform. Here are some of the things he’s pledged to do:
Strategic national crypto stockpile
In Nashville in July, Trump headlined the biggest bitcoin conference of the year. In his keynote address, the former president said that if he returned to the White House, he would ensure the federal government never sells off its bitcoin holdings. However, he stopped short of proposing a formal federal reserve of digital currency.
“For too long our government has violated the cardinal rule that every bitcoiner knows by heart: Never sell your bitcoin,” Trump said during his keynote speech.
Trump pledged to maintain the current level of bitcoin holdings that the U.S. has amassed from seizing assets from financial criminals.
“If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future,” he said.
Currently, the U.S. Marshals Service regularly auctions off bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies held in the country’s coffers such as ether and litecoin. These sales can sometimes trigger drops in crypto prices, like earlier this year when Germany began to liquidate hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin it had seized.
‘On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler’
In public remarks for months, Trump has promised to unseat U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.
“On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler,” Trump said, referencing the Joe Biden-appointed SEC chairman who has taken an aggressive approach to crypto regulation.
The president does not have the power to fire the SEC chair. Even if Trump were to appoint a new chairman, Gensler would remain a commissioner on the independent agency.
Gensler has brought more than 100 actions against crypto firms during his tenure at the helm of the commission. In multiple interviews, the SEC chair has said he believes much of the industry already belongs under its jurisdiction, and its lawsuits are simply bringing the sector under compliance.
Crypto firms argue that the recent legal battles haven’t given the regulatory clarity the industry has been seeking, and they instead reflect a gross overreach by the commission.
Trump also vowed to create a “bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council.”
“The rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry,” he said.
Trump has expressly spoken out about his qualms with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is widely viewed by the crypto community as an existential threat.
All bitcoin will be mined in America
In June in Palm Beach, Florida, about a dozen bitcoin mining executives and experts sat down with Trump for an hour and a half in a small tea room at the Mar-a-Lago Club. The closed-door session marked the first time the former president took a meeting with the technologists securing the $1.5 trillion bitcoin network by running large banks of high-powered machines.
The intimate gathering brought together a coalition of some of the biggest private and public American miners in the business, including representatives from Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital Holdings, Terawulf, CleanSpark and Core Scientific.
Less than four hours after Trump’s roundtable wrapped, the former president took to social media to extol the virtues of the bitcoin mining business.
“Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia, and the Radical Communist Left. We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA!!! It will help us be ENERGY DOMINANT!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after his meeting.
Since then, Trump has on multiple occasions reiterated the sentiment.
“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted and made in the USA,” Trump declared in Nashville.
“We will be creating so much electricity that you’ll be saying, ‘Please, please, President, we don’t want any more electricity. We can’t stand it!'” he added.
Fed rate cuts
In August, Trump said that, if elected, he would lower interest rates.
The Federal Reserve, which guides the country’s monetary policy, sets the benchmark rate. It also, by design, operates independently from the White House.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell in September decided to slash rates by a half point in its first easing campaign in four years.
Rate cuts and the easing of monetary policy historically dovetails with a surge in crypto prices since it makes it cheaper to borrow money.
LiveWire, the electric motorcycle company spun out of Harley-Davidson, is flexing the versatility of the company’s S2 Arrow powertrain with the unveiling of an electric maxi scooter.
A maxi-scooter is a type of large, powerful scooter designed for comfortable riding. Unlike traditional urban-oriented scooters, maxi-scooters typically have more powerful motors that make them suitable for highway travel. They tend to feature a more robust frame, larger wheels, and extra storage space, along with more premium amenities such as windshields, comfortable seating, and often more advanced tech features. LiveWire is likely to lean into all of those opportunities by leveraging its existing electric motorcycle S2 Arrow powertrain for the new design.
The S2 Arrow powertrain was first unveiled during the launch of the LiveWire S2 Del Mar. The powertrain includes the structural battery, electric motor, and the associated control hardware. LiveWire demonstrated the platform’s flexibility by quickly launching a second model, the S2 Mulholland, on the platform.
Now LiveWire is making a major leap to fully realize the platform’s broad appeal for designing diverse models, using it as the backbone for its upcoming electric maxi-scooter slated for launch in the first half of 2026.
With the success of electric maxi-scooters like the BMW CE-04, LiveWire has surely been looking closely at how the segment could leverage the performance of its versatile e-motorcycle platform.
LiveWire won’t rely only on its own platform to bring the electric maxi-scooter to market, but also on the expertise of KYMCO, a leading Taiwanese scooter company that has long dominated the market with its wide range of scooters, both gasoline and electric-powered.
“LiveWire is an iconic leader in electric solutions for urban mobility, explained KYMCO Chairman Allen Ko. “We are excited to partner with them as LiveWire embarks on the development of a S2-based electric maxi-scooter.”
KYMCO became an early investor in LiveWire and the two companies are now strengthening their relationship with increased collaboration on multiple electric motorbike models.
“The collaboration has been very smooth,” said LiveWire CEO Karim Donnez in an interview with Electrek. “We’ve found the KYMCO team very easy to work with.”
Donnez explained that the two companies have continued to strengthen their work together, with the hemispheric separation between them allowing the unique opportunity for nearly 24-hour progress. Plans are in the works for a geographic exchange of employees to further integrate the teams and allow more seamless collaboration between the two companies.
And the fruits of that cooperation are already showing with the unveiling of the updated KYMCO RevoNEX electric motorcycle, which has been redesigned based on the S2 Arrow platform. Assuming LiveWire’s electric maxi-scooter makes it to market first, the RevoNEX would become the fourth model launched on LiveWire’s S2 Arrow foundation.
Early responses have been largely positive to LiveWire’s release of concept images of its upcoming electric maxi-scooter on social media.
LiveWire’s branding and marketing has always sought to distinguish itself from the brand’s Harley-Davidson roots, allowing the young motorcycle company to emerge from behind H-D’s shadow and largely do its own thing, focusing on a different type of rider with distinct demands and desires.
The inclusion of a powerful electric maxi-scooter in the lineup is likely to help underscore that independence, with LiveWire continuing to focus on a younger, more urban audience that increasingly sees two-wheelers less as an identity and more as a lifestyle, merging fun riding with utilitarian commuting.
It’s of course far too early to tell how the bikes will ultimately be received. We’ve yet to see LiveWire’s electric maxi-scooter concepts in the flesh, indicating there’s likely still some significant design time left in the development cycle. But one thing is already for certain: LiveWire is increasingly doing its own thing and the company wouldn’t have it any other way.
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