Battery Power Cruiser: Evoke Motorcycles’ Electric 6061 Concept

Looks good, goes far, goes fast, charges even faster.

Evoke Motorcycles is a Beijing-based company that produces electric motorcycles. While we weren’t particularly enamored with the Chinese company’s debut model, we’re all kinds of amped for Evoke’s latest proto-offering, the 6061 Electric Power Cruiser concept. This segment has, until now, remained largely untapped, and surprisingly, it wasn’t an American outfit to deliver what very well may be the first production electric power cruiser.

Done It A First Time

Back in early 2017, Evoke introduced a fully electric bike focused on commuting and short-range urban mobility. The model which was a naked electric known as the Urban — think Honda CB600F or Suzuki SV650 but electric and comparable to a 250-300cc machine — was offered in two different specs; the S; and the Classic, the first of which has a modern streetfighter style headlight setup while the latter has a “classic” round headlight unit.

The Evoke Urban S and Urban Classic

Basic specs include a 372.5lb weight, 29.92” seat height, 55” wheelbase, inverted front-end, and a DC brushless motor that generated 25hp and 86ft-lbs of torque. All in all, nothing to really write home about, especially considering the sea of ebike models and startups that’ve sprang up over the last year or two.

Tomorrow's Cruiser, Today

Evoke’s latest offering however is an entirely different story, and though it has yet to reach the production phase, we’re still pretty excited about the upcoming electric runner. Dubbed the 6061, Evoke’s new ebike is a bonafide power cruiser that brings new meaning to the genre.

At the heart of the concept is an all-new proprietary powertrain system that offers some seriously impressive specs. The housing and cases also all have a very clean look that was clearly a purposeful move on Evoke’s behalf. The 120kW (160hp) in-runner motor features multiple power modes, a special proprietary chain drive —despite the renderings showing a belt-driven setup (Editor’s Note: Evoke’s CEO, Nathan Siy, confirmed this for us) — and is reportedly good for a cool 272Nm which translates to an unreal 200ft-lbs of torque, which is objectively too much…if there was such a thing.

That Low & Slow Style

For whatever reason, the vast, vast, majority of electric bikes we’ve seen debut over the last couple years have either been of the sportbike or naked/standard variety (with an odd-ball off-road or café-racer/scrambler tossed in the mix here and there), but very few firms have offered an electric cruiser. While the cruiser market isn’t typically the same demographic attracted to electric vehicles, the popularity of cruisers in the US alone we’d argue easily warrants the creation of far more electric baggers, choppers, bobbers, etc.

The 6061 sports a low seating position between upright and reclined, making putting long hours in the saddle markedly easier than on most other classes of bike. The 6061 resembles an electric version of Ducati’s XDiavel, Harley-Davidson’s FDXR 114, and Yamaha’s V-Max, or a mishmash of the three. A traditional yet modern and angular faux tank gives the EV a lot of normalcy, while the seat, modern headlight, and headlight cowl all combine to result in a sleek cruiser look. It’s also probably not a leap to think the final production version will get a fender or two.

We particularly like the taillight and rear indicators, which are built flush into the tail-section’s under-panel. Fake radiator shrouds flow into vertical sections of bodywork on either side of the concept that cascade down to the bottom of the bike, culminating in a round bellypan of sorts. In total, we think Evoke’s design team did a pretty solid job on the 6061’s appearance, though what will really matter is how the cruiser market feels (plus pricing).

Names & Frames

The 6061 gets its name from the T6061 aluminum billet, which is laser-cut to create the bike’s “Twin-Plate” chassis and battery box. From there, the batteries, motor (and other powertrain parts), and subframe attach directly to the frame, as does the swing-arm which sports a matching Twin-Plate-style design and is also of the CNC’d billet variety.

Evoke has reportedly succeeded in developing its newest batteries (The Gen 2) along with the software and hardware required to accurately control temperature and keep overheating at bay while supposedly refilling some 80% of the 15.4kWh battery (which is comprised of six 18,650-cell modules) in only 15-minutes! That’s right, an 80% charge in just 15-minutes. And as if that wasn’t enough, the batteries are also used as a stressed member of the 6061’s frame.

80-Percent In 15-Minutes

Undoubtedly one of the biggest selling points of the new 6061 is its charging time. According to the company, “when paired with an Evoke charging station, 2.5C – 3.0C charging (15 – 17 min charging) can be safely achieved with little to no life cycle degradation.” And for those who don’t know it, that’s one hell of a feat.

(Potential) Class-Leading Range

While Evoke has been tightlipped on exact figures, the company has brazenly announced that the 6061’s (city) range will be superior to that of Zero’s new SR/F and Lightning’s even newer Strike — both of which boast a range in the ballpark of 200-miles (or 320km). So, needless to say, it doesn’t appear the 6061’s tremendous power comes at the sacrifice of range

This is possible thanks to Evoke’s breakthroughs in what it calls “electronic and thermal management of li-ion cells” which in laymen’s terms; keeps the thing from overheating which has previously been the biggest limitation to charge times (that, and battery-life degradation). Evoke also says the bikes are currently compatible with China’s DC Fast Charging, though it plans on doing the same thing for Europe and America’s CCS in the near future.

Techno Bells & Whistles

Another pretty nifty — and-ever-so-modern — feature on the Sixty-Sixty-One is its haptic feedback system, which, like a Smartphone, alerts the user to notifications via small vibrations through the grips. The 6061 also gets full onboard, real-time diagnostics, telling its rider what, if any, problems pop up, giving the pilot the benefit of peace of mind, knowing the severity of said problem and whether it needs to be addressed ASAP, or if it can wait to be handled later on down the road.

The entire “SMART” system is controlled via a massive, 10” onboard touchscreen (which we hope/assume is glove-friendly). As a point of reference, the gargantuan LCD display (or tablets rather) found in Tesla’s Model S are 17” screens. While Evoke’s ten-incher almost certainly makes viewing the information being displayed substantially easier (especially at speed), at some point screens do become impractically (and almost comically) large, and we’d argue ten-inches is very much that point. Alrhough the fact the screen, in this case, is housed/set into the faux tank does allow it to work.

Plans For Production

Unlike a lot of the startups on today’s landscape, Evoke has been around for a number of years and already has a successful production model range under its belt. It knows how to setup manufacturing, licensing, distribution, and all the other stuff that makes bringing a new bike to market so difficult.

This gives Evoke a pretty major leg up in the game, so when Evoke’s CEO recently said he plans to have the 6061 being tested and prepped for final production as early as June, we don’t doubt the guy. He then went on to state it could be ready-to-go by the end of 2019. If it does go into production, there will be an initial rollout in Evoke’s native China before exporting to other countries would commence.

That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to get a production 6061, and even if we do there’s no guarantee that specs, features, and aesthetics won’t change (maybe even somewhat drastically), after all the 6061 we’re viewing here is nothing more than a digital rendering, and not even a final one.

Speculative Pricing

Evoke’s Urban range sold for $9,500, and, as previously stated, that had only 25hp, 86ft-lbs of torque, plus a top-speed of 81mph (130km/h) and a 0-60mph time of six-seconds. As another point of reference, Honda’s latest CBR300R ABS is powered by a 286cc single that makes 30.5hp and 20ft-lbs of torque, and it sells for $5K, (and it has ABS…as its name implies). The Honda does 0-60mph in only half-a-second less than the Evoke Urban, though it also comes in at about half the price.

So it’s hard to think the 6061 would ever break the five-figure mark, frankly, we’d be impressed if it had an MSRP of double that. Now, add in relatively small scale production, the cost of that massive touchscreen, and all that CNC’d aluminum billet, and we’re willing to wager this thing is going to be priced as a “premium” model.

Made In China

Like the Urban S and Classic, the Evoke 6061, if sent to production, will be a Chinese-made bike. While that may sound like a negative, don’t discount the quality of some of the work being done there. A lot of people might not realize that some of the 6061’s biggest competitors, at least in terms of specs on paper — such as Zero’s SR/F and Lightning’s Strike — are also made in China. And unlike many of the company’s competitors, Evoke is actually based in China themselves, and, according to the EV firm, its geographical location and close proximity to factories allow it to operate faster and more efficiently compared to outfits overseas.

On The Brink

While the 6061 is certainly an attractive two-wheeled offering, both in terms of aesthetics, performance, and range, and while the technology has evolved to the point where ebikes are appealing, they haven’t yet reached a point where they can be produced in a cost effective manner in the same way Yamaha’s FZ-07 can. And while we aren’t there quite yet, we’re damn close to the time when electric powertrains surpass the gas-powered engines we’ve been using for the last century+.

For more info on the 6061 Power Cruiser Concept you can checkout the Evoke Motorcycles website.