“You can’t be the future of anything if you’re not better than the past,” says Jay Giraud, CEO of Damon Motors.
The Vancouver-based electric motorbike company, this week announced its order book has exceeded a $90 million backlog to date, with the potential of exceeding $250 million through international partnerships.
“It was necessary for us to target performance metrics as good or better than anything achieved before, otherwise people aren’t going to go electric in any meaningful numbers,” he says.
The BC company says its EV products boast never-before-seen technology advancements including HyperDrive, Co-Pilot, and Shift—designed to “solve problems experienced across every other motorcycle in the world.”
“This is the fundamental Achilles’ heel in the two-wheel EV industry so far,” explains Giraud. “Nobody will trade in for an electric motorbike if it’s not as good as what they already have—people want to trade up.”
Combined with a combination of 200 hp, 200 mph top speed, and 200 miles of range, Damon motorcycles “represent the first breed of bikes ready to displace combustion two-wheelers and lead the industry into a greener future,” according to a statement.
Motorcycles on average produce 16 times more hydrocarbons than passenger cars. And a report from Ian Savage at Northwestern University finds today’s motorcycle accidents account for 212 deaths per one billion passenger miles, compared with cars at just seven. It was these facts combined with his passion for motorcycling that led Giraud and cofounder Dom Kwong to launch the company.
“By coupling high-volume production with our 5G connected, sensor-enabled, self-learning compute system, we can make it so that every mile ridden on a Damon motorcycle makes all other Damon motorcycles smarter and safer with over-the-air updates,” Giraud says. “We can cause the accident rates to perpetually fall over the coming decade.”
Of course, Damon motorbikes need to sell for that change to occur.
“We have to get to one-million units annually to put a dent in the industry and change it forever,” he believes.
With 3,500 waiting customers, the company is preparing pilot production facility in California, where 25% of Damon’s orders currently reside. To scale manufacturing, Damon has also leased 108,000 square feet in Vancouver.
Earlier this year, Damon Motors received an Edison Best New Product Award for its flagship HyperSport motorcycle. The HyperSport was awarded Gold in the “Consumer Solutions—Sports and Recreation” category, selected as a finalist from hundreds of nominations globally.
“At Damon, we continue to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible on two wheels,” stated Giraud in April.
“HyperSport is proof that a motorcycle can have both style and substance,” added Kwong, chief operating officer. “Our entire team has worked tirelessly to deliver a head-turning superbike that will keep riders safer and not hurt the planet.”
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