Tesla may have made the electric car chic, but Ashland, OR-based Brammo is taking the electric vehicle even further—on two wheels.
The electric motorcycle company, founded in 2002, has raised a $12.5 million out of a Series B financing round that could be worth as much as $30 million, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Brammo currently offers two nearly soundless, low emission to emission free electric motorcycles, that run anywhere from 40 to 100 miles per charge. Its first model, the Enertia, costs $7,995, and can travel at a top speed of 60 miles per hour. The company’s latest model, the Empulse, is 100 percent electric, and can reach speeds of 100 miles per hour (it ranges in price from $9,995 to $13,995). Both models plug directly into any regular wall socket, and take about four hours to fully charge.
Brammo’s new financing attracted two new investors, including Oklahoma-based oil and gas company Alpine, joining previous shareholders Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital and Best Buy Capital. The company raised $10 million from Chrysalix and Best Buy in its initial venture round in 2008.
While the eight-year-old company is not yet profitable, chief executive Craig Bramscher told The Wall Street Journal that he expects the company to reach that mark in the next year.
“The inflection point seems to be this new product,” Bramscher told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s a bike on parity with a gas bike. We have more than $6 million in pre-orders for the Empulse and it continues to climb every day.”
Brammo’s electric motorcycles are available in select Best Buy retail stores and authorized dealerships. While the electric bikes may appear to expensive, Bramscher told the journal that many states offer tax incentives that can lower the price of an electric bike by anywhere from 15 to 50 percent.
