Meet Verge Motorcycles, the Finnish firm quietly disrupting the EV landscape

Verge Motorcycles CEO, Tuomo Lehtimäki, joins EV Powered to reveal the benefits of keeping your mouth shut in the world of EV startups, the advantages of in-wheel motors, and why a societal shift is well underway towards electric motorbikes.

Not dissimilar to your regular tech startup space, the EV startup world can be one of much shouting and hollow promises. If you cast your mind back over the last decade, brands such as Faraday Future, Lordstown Motors, and the Lightning Car Company talked a big game, but yielded very little. Just a quick Google search of the ignominious term ‘failed EV companies’ will throw up these names and several more.

Yet while the likes of Rimac and Tesla have been electrifying headlines with Formula 1 car-shaming top speeds and unhinged political tweets, Verge Motorcycles has quietly been re-defining what an electric motorcycle should be. Actually, Verge has been at it since 2018, but you wouldn’t know because they’re from Finland. And Finns don’t do mouthy.

To discuss what has made this “very Finnish” EV manufacturer the multi-million-dollar success story it is today, EV Powered caught up with its CEO, Tuomo Lehtimäki. Like so many of his compatriots – both in and out of the automotive world – Lehtimäki is far from self-praising about Verge Motorcycles’ achievements to the point of reticence. He is cut from a similar cloth to Maté Rimac rather than Elon Musk.

Verge Motorcycles: Endorsed by Häkkinen and Bottas

Yet Verge’s achievements are plenty. Over the course of its short life, Verge Motorycles has managed to collaborate with two-time F1 champ Mika Häkkinen on a 100-strong limited edition run of ‘Mika Häkkinen x Verge‘ bikes, and bring on board motorsport’s favourite mullet, Valtteri Bottas, as a brand ambassador.

“We’re proud to be a Finnish company, but we Finns never think too highly of ourselves,” Lehtimäki says. “While Mika [Häkkinen] and Valterri [Bottas] definitely have inspired us with their achievement and we’re happy to have them involved, that’s not everything.

“In Finland, we’re definitely an engineering country with an engineering mindset, but we’re always thinking about how the rest of the world sees us,” he continues. “At Verge, we want to be this super focused company dedicated to changing firstly, powertrains on electric motorcycles, and secondly, the EV motorcycle industry as a whole.”

Setting a Guinness World Record

Considering what Verge has already done to disrupt the electric motorcycle world, it would be foolish to question Lehtimäki’s vision. He is an energy systems engineer after all. Earlier this year, the brand rode into the history books. In March, its Verge TS Pro covered 193 miles on a single charge, a new Guinness World Record for an electric motorcycle.

Like other models in the Verge Motorcycles range – the TS Ultra and the California Edition – the somewhat exquisite TS Pro is driven by a distinctive in-wheel motor, producing 138bhp and a staggering 738lb ft of torque. Yet the innovative choice of motor is just one part of the bike’s genius.

“The biggest advantage of an in-wheel motor, is that it has around 120 less moving parts than if you use a conventional unit. Less parts means your production costs are reduced by a few thousand euros or dollars,” explains Lehtimäki. “From a rider’s perspective, an in-wheel motor means you get better control over the bike.

“The valves in the motor let you know exactly where the wheel is positioned on the road. If we’re relying on chains or belts, then you just know the position of the motor. As to where the wheel is? That’s guess work.”

Tuomo Lehtimäki on: The benefits of in-wheel motors

When it comes to proponents of in-wheel technology in the car world, Bedeo is already applying it and the Renault 5 Turbo 3E hyperhatch will adopt this layout. The upcoming Alpine A110 and rumoured Volkswagen ID.2 R are also expected to do so.

As well as looking villainously cool and providing a better riding experience than a regular drivetrain, Lehtimäki reveals that the in-wheel motor lends itself to better battery performance. Another of Verge’s points of pride is what he describes as a “structural battery”. If you don’t speak engineer, this translates to “the battery is part of the bike’s frame”.

In the case of the TS Pro, which costs £20 short of £32,000, it packs an in-house made 20.2kWh battery producing 217 miles of range. While the battery is the same size as the one used in the pioneering VW e-Golf, the two-wheeler will travel around 20 miles further. Meanwhile, Verge’s flagship, the TS Ultra has a single-charge range of 233 miles.

The importance of range or lack of, even…

All Verge motorcycles come with AC and fast-charging DC capabilities courtesy of the Tesla charging port. As Lehtimäki says: “By the time you’ve had a leak and a coffee, you can charge from 0 to 80% in just 35 minutes.” Given the bikes’ compatibility with the Tesla Supercharger network, that’s not wrong.

Does, though, Lehtimäki feel that 217 or 233 miles worth of charge is too much? As well as outdoing the e-Golf, this is more than the likes of other future classic EVs such as Honda e and the Nissan Leaf. It’s even more than some newer cars including the Dacia Spring and the Leapmotor T03.

“Honestly, I think we’ve hit our peak,” he reveals. “100 kilometres isn’t really enough because once you’ve done 40 kilometres, you have to turn back and go home. Some people accept that 200km is good, but we wanted to offer a versatile portfolio of bikes you can use in the city, and on a ride out with your family or friends.

“If we start going beyond a 300km range for crazy travelling and stuff, that’s when it becomes a specialist product. That would also affect the price point of our product.”

The future of electric motorcycles

Despite his passion for the company he founded, Lehtimäki remains the stereotypical Finn in his pragmatic outlook on the electric motorcycle landscape.

Given what Verge Motorcycles has achieved and will likely go on to do, it would be easy for him to indulge himself in self-aggrandising statements about changing the world. But like I said earlier, Finns don’t lend themselves to that sort of thing.

“I think it’s going to be a gradual shift to get everyone onside, but we’ve definitely shaken up some peoples’ way of thinking with how we lay our bikes out and what we’ve done in terms of tech,” he says. “What changed everything for us though, was the charging network. Even in 2019, there was nowhere to charge an electric car or motorbike – now charging ports are everywhere at home or when you are out and about.

“Looking to the future, I think the shift to electric motorbikes will be like smoking – hardly anybody smokes these days, because it’s not a cool thing to do. But that pressure came from authority. Another way of seeing the transition is by looking at it like mobile phones. You see a friend, a public figure, or someone you look up to and they have the new iPhone or whatever, and you’re stuck with your old Motorola. Then you want the same phone as them.

“In electric motorbike terms, that’s my wild guess about what will happen, because you think you’ll be seen as a bit stupid for not riding electric – it all boils down to societal pressure. Then this avalanche starts, and you can’t stop it. In fact, I think it’s already started.”

It’s possible to like both, you know

To wrap-up, Lehtimäki shares the opinion voiced by The Late Brake Show’s Jonny Smith in the recent interview he gave to EV Powered. Indeed, it is possible to enjoy both ICE and electric powertrains.

“I’m very open when I say that nobody should feel bad about riding a gasoline bike,” the Finn concludes. “I love Harley-Davidsons, but I’m not really sure I should buy any more. You can have your electric bike for around town as it’s nice and quiet, and you can have your four-stroke for messing about with at the weekend.

“It’s not a one-size fits all solution and for now there is definitely room for a both… but the world is changing, one bike at a time.”