In recent years, electric motorcycle projects have sprung up all over the world. Unsurprisingly, the first to adopt/adapt the latest iterations of electric motorcycle technology have been the startups. Some have certainly been better than others at producing real, usable models; think Zero and Energica, for example.
While combustion motorcycle manufacturers seem to have hesitated, many others, sometimes with more passion than resources, have been more than eager to enter the market.
There was Alta and Brammo; then Cake, Curtiss and Ola Electric; and now Dust.Moto, Stark Future and Ultraviolette. Some of them have done better than others at the time of writing. What’s more, we know that this very incomplete list doesn’t even begin to include all the existing companies.
So let’s add one more, this time from France. It’s called J2R Dynamics and it’s the brainchild of a former business and data analyst in the video games industry. Very appropriately, it’s called Smol. And honestly, if we were to look at this design without any context, wouldn’t the first thing that would come to mind quite possibly be a video game?
It’s simple, it’s elegant, it’s modern and it’s organized. The concept and design description uses an 8 kW engine and is comparable to a 125 cc combustion motorcycle in terms of power, while it should offer a top speed of 110 km/h.
It is powered by one or two 4 kWh batteries; if the two-battery option is fitted, the J2R aims to have a range of around 150 kilometers. As with all electric vehicles, range is extremely subjective, as it can be affected by factors such as crosswinds, uphill and downhill stretches, driving pace and so on. What’s more, manufacturers can and often are too optimistic.
But basically, this is a small, simple electric motorcycle with a narrow, flat seat design reminiscent of an all-terrain bike.