This crowd-funded ‘Super Soco’ electric bike project has just got off the ground in China having blown past its funding goals. And on appearance it’s a giant leap forward for Chinese-made electric machines.
The bike will be available in two forms, both visually identical. The cheaper model is the TS800R, which sells for around £750 (€900, $1000), while the TS1200R costs around £900 (€1075, $1200). Those are low prices, so don’t expect performance that matches machines like the Zero or Victory’s electric bikes. But the claims from the firm are still impressive.
The TS800R uses a 20Ah, 60V lithium battery powering a JYX motor, while the TS1200R gets a 26Ah, 60V lithium pack and a Bosch motor. The bike’s numbers reflect the rated power of the motors in Watts (800 or 1200 depending on the model), but as with all electric bikes their peak power is significantly higher. The TS800R peaks at 1670W, the TS1200R at 1950W. Translated to horsepower, that’s 2.24hp for the TS800R and 2.61hp for the TS1200R.
No, it’s not a lot, but it’s enough for moped levels of performance, as befits the bikes’ low prices. The bikes are claimed to be able to do 100km on a charge, and have swappable batteries to instantly revive them if buyers opt to pay for extra packs.
As usual with electric bikes, the torque is incredibly high – 98Nm for the 800, 120Nm for the 1200.
At the moment, Super Soco is understandably concentrating on fulfilling the orders from the Chinese crowd-funding that supported its development. However, there are indications that the company eventually intends to offer the machines all around the world.
UPDATE: A year on from this original story, the Super Soco is on sale in the UK. See our latest story on the bike, and how to get one, here