Designer turned entrepreneur invents electric motorbike that 'goes like stink’

Ex-Formula One and aerospace engineer Lawrence Marazzi has spent five years building the ultimate electric motorbike.

It’s been called the “Storm Trooper bike” and been likened to the kind of technology that could be found in science fiction series Red Dwarf. Meet the Saietta R.

Saietta R is made by Agility Global, headquartered in the UK and founded in 2008 by Mr Marazzi with the sole purpose of shaking up the motorcycle market.

It leaves other electric bikes behind, going from 0mph to 60mph in under four seconds, and is safer than traditional engines.

“Petrol bikes feature Victorian plumbing.” Mr Marazzi explained. “You’ve got a highly carcinogenic, massively explosive liquid called petrol inches away from a 900 to 1,000-degree exhaust pipe. If you tried to do that experiment in a lab, people would think you were nuts.”

The Saietta looks nothing like existing electric motorcycles. It’s been called the “Storm Trooper bike” and been likened to the kind of technology that could be found in science fiction series Red Dwarf.

“We’re the only electric bike using Formula One composite technology,” said Mr Marazzi. “This also makes it light, weighing just 200kg, strong and allows the Saietta to run 100 miles with a 12-mile reserve on a single charge.” 

Electric motorcycles are a fast-growing segment of the market. In 2010, the world produced 60m motorbikes that ran on fossil fuel and 32m electric and hybrid ones. With annual growth of 20pc, electric-powered models will close the gap by 2015, with both versions producing 70m units each.
Mr Marazzi considered taking on the electric car market initially but it was too mature, even back in 2007, and the costs were prohibitive.
“The capital costs in creating a significant motorcycle business are much smaller than those for cars,” he said. “But the product price can be just as high. Put it this way, if you’re selling a £15,000 Ford Focus, it’s a shed load more work than selling a £15,000 motorcycle.”
Agility’s founder has invested £1.1m in seed capital following an equity round to fund development. It has also won three generations of Technology Strategy Board investment, which was fund-matched by private investors and totalled £300,000. Mr Marazzi also made a significant investment himself.
This has been a labour of love for the designer turned entrepreneur. Agility Global built seven prototypes before settling on the current model. “Coming from an aerospace background, five years is pretty quick,” Mr Marazzi said.
He is hoping to sell 9,500 units by 2018. “We designed the Saietta in a way that would allow us to scale production very quickly,” he said. 

Its core markets are the EU and US. “These territories have incredibly high early adoption rates. There are also strong incentives in place to go electric. Gas motorcycles are taxed at up to 150pc. Electric ones aren’t taxed at all.” 

It seems that the bike will be available in two packages: R and S. The S has a short range of 50 miles and costs £9,975 ($16,090 U.S). The R has a longer range of 100 miles and ships for £13,975 ($22,540) and already available for sale on the site. There will be a choice of body panels, tamer red version a black one, full white and (not confirmed) a highly reflective chrome .

If the Saietta lives up to its name, market penetration should be very swift. “Saietta means thunderbolt in an Italian dialect,” Mr Marazzi explained. “But it actually comes from a turn of phrase that means, 'That goes like stink!’” 

First published  in www.telegraph.co.uk