After the e-bike and e-motorcycle company SONDORSβs CEO spoke with Electrek on the Wheel-E Podcast last week, the company made several big announcements about the love-it-or-hate-it Metacycle electric motorcycle.
The SONDORS Metacycle has become the most divisive e-motorcycle launch of the past several years. Fans praise its innovative design and ultra-low price, while critics pan its delayed rollout and lower performance specs than originally advertised at its unveiling.
But despite the rocky road to production and the even rockier start of deliveries, the highway-capable Metacycle electric motorcycle appears to be ramping things up.
SONDORS founder and CEO Storm Sondors joined us for the latest episode of our biweekly Wheel-E Podcast, which you can see below (Stormβs section is the first 20 minutes).
During the podcast, Sondors shared the news that the company has reached a production rate of around 60 Metacycles per day.
And itβs not just production that is ramping up. Deliveries also seem to be following suit. Sondors added that the company has now βshipped almost 2,000 units.β
With the first Hawaii delivery of a Metacycle occurring the night before our interview, Sondors added that the company has now delivered at least one Metacycle to all 50 states in the US.
The news comes barely a week after SONDORS launched a massive discount on the Metacycle in the form of a company-provided βcreditβ of $2,500 to the first 1,000 customers to put down a $500 deposit. That dropped the effective price of the motorcycle from US $6,500 to US $4,000.
When we asked Storm about the nearly 40% price drop and whether it was a move to raise some quick funds after the cash-strapped company postponed its upcoming IPO, he explained that it was actually due to increased volume production that has allowed the company to negotiate better pricing.
The massive discount led to a quick run on Metacycles, with the company exhausting the 1,000 credits in just one week.
In response to the demand, SONDORS decided to extend the $2,500 discount through the original March 15 deadline, removing the cap of just 1,000 credits. The bikes ordered during this period are slated for a delivery window of Q4 2023.
With SONDORSβs history of slipping a few months past most of their previously stated timelines, an actual delivery date of early 2024 wouldnβt be surprising.
In addition to extending the $2,500 discount, the company also announced seven new colorways for the bike, including black and gold rims. Previously the bike was available in just white, black, or silver colorways.
Electrekβs Take
The company is obviously pushing hard to drive sales of Metacycles, and it appears to be working.
Taken at face value, Stormβs updated production and delivery figures are promising and could be critical to the companyβs ability to stay cash-flow positive in the coming months.
The production rate is certainly impressive and will likely be music to the ears of any customers still out there who ordered a bike over two years ago and have yet to receive it. But keep in mind that a 60 unit/day production rate doesnβt necessarily mean 1,800 bikes per month or 20,000 per year. SONDORS uses contract manufacturing, which typically results in production occurring in batches. So SONDORS could be making 60 bikes per day yet the number of total production days in any given quarter may vary.
Even so, if SONDORS can keep up production and find a way to ramp up deliveries, especially to those still waiting a year or more since their initial deposits, then the Metacycle might be on a path to smoother roads.
