An Australian-made electric cafe racer with genuine performance and genuine risk: 80 hp, more than 200 Nm, and a $27,000 question mark over an unproven service network. Decoded with real physics, true five-year cost, and who it is for. Sources on everything.
A genuinely quick, beautifully finished electric cafe racer that is real engineering, not badge work, wrapped around a startup's promise. Plan for ~124 real miles mixed (not the gentle-throttle ceiling), 80 hp peak with refined delivery, ~$17,700 net to own over 5 years, and yes, it is road registrable in Australia, but the service network is small and unproven.
Assumptions: on-road registered, ~3,000 mi/yr, $0.17/kWh, low maintenance (belt drive), no battery replacement in five years, ~50% resale at year five (uncertain given the startup and thin secondary market). USD figures converted from AUD and approximate. Full table in §10.
Every module behind the headlines: who it is for, claims vs. physics, true cost, reliability, parts, and the standard scorecard. All sourced.
An Australian-made electric cafe racer with real engineering character. A 16.2 kWh pack, Savic's in-house SM1 powertrain making a peak 60 kW (80 hp) and more than 200 Nm, and a chassis tuned by a named ex-racer. Plan for ~124 real miles mixed (around 87 on the highway), ~$17,700 net to own over 5 years, and a road-legal bike whose biggest unknown is not the hardware, it is the startup behind it: a small, unproven service network and a still-maturing feature set. Here is exactly how we get there.
Start here, the right answer depends entirely on who is asking.
Same bike, very different answer depending on the rider. We lead every report with this so nobody buys the wrong machine.
The sweet spot. If you want an Australian-made, genuinely quick electric with real engineering, you can wait on fixes and over-the-air updates, and you value being first, this is a credible, well-finished bike.
80 hp peak, more than 200 Nm, and a claimed 3.5 seconds to 100 km/h. Reviewers describe refined, predictable, fast-off-the-line delivery. The catch noted on test: no live traction control yet.
The hardware is the easy sell. The hard part is service: Savic's own dealer and proprietary-parts network is small and unproven, and at this volume there is no secondary market to lean on.
At roughly $29,990 Australian plus on-roads, you pay premium money partly to help finish the development. The finish justifies a lot of it, but this is not the cheap way into an electric.
Same bike, two stories. The struck-through line is what the listing tells you; the big number is what to actually expect. The "why" is in Part C.
What is genuinely clever, and which "innovations" are really table-stakes. The part the brand's own page never tells you.
Each badge tells you whether a feature is a real engineering edge, normal for 2026, or marketing gloss.
The 16.2 kWh pack lives in a cast-aluminium enclosure that doubles as a structural element of the frame. That is clever packaging that saves weight and tightens the bike, not marketing fluff.
✓ SolidA liquid-cooled three-phase AC motor developed in-house, peak 60 kW (80 hp) and more than 200 Nm. This is real engineering rather than a rebadged off-the-shelf drive unit, which is rare at this volume.
★ Genuine edgeThe chassis was tuned by a named ex-racer (Jed Metcher). A bespoke suspension tune from a real rider is engineering, not a badge, and reviewers single out the ride quality.
✓ SolidBrembo brakes, Bosch ABS, Pirelli rubber. Genuinely good hardware, and because they are off-the-shelf brands, consumables are easy to source. A real ownership plus, but not unique to Savic.
✓ SolidReviewers noted the absence of live traction control on a 200 Nm machine is conspicuous. Savic lists it as a future over-the-air update, with no firm date. That is the startup texture in one feature.
⚠ Not yet shippedMarketing specs vs. the physics. The math is simple, battery capacity and a few formulas, so let us run it.
Peak watts make a great headline; they are not what you cruise on. Savic quotes 60 kW as a peak figure, so convert it to the unit everyone feels.
Savic publishes the peak power and torque; a separate continuous (sustained) rating is not clearly broken out in the public spec. On an electric, peak is a brief burst and the controller settles to a lower continuous ceiling under sustained load, so treat 80 hp as the launch figure, not a number you hold all day. The honest story here is the torque: more than 200 Nm available from low rpm is what reviewers describe as a 250-class-feeling shove off the line.
The honest gap here is small: Savic's own real-world figure is close to its claim. But the highway number is the one to plan around. Here is the arithmetic.
Step 1, real energy in the tank. Range starts with how much energy the battery holds: voltage × amp-hours.
Step 2, how much you spend per mile. Savic's ADR figure is 18.1 kWh/100 km, which is 181 Wh/km or about 291 Wh/mi. Consumption rises with speed because drag rises with the square of speed, so highway running costs much more per mile than mixed roads.
~130 mph claimed by Savic, not independently retested at the time of writing. Whatever the exact ceiling, holding high speed is what destroys the range above.
Held near the top of its speed, the bike draws hard just to maintain pace, so consumption climbs and the usable range falls toward the highway figure. Run the same range formula at sustained 100 km/h:
So the "130 mph" and the "220 km" on the same spec sheet do not co-exist: you get one or the other. That is the most important thing the marketing never says out loud, and it is true of every electric, however quick.
Charge time is just battery size ÷ charger power, so a vague claim means nothing without the wattage. Savic gives real numbers here.
Shopping for one of these, you will see the same bike listed with different numbers. They are not all wrong, here is how to read them.
| You will see | What it really is | Trust it? |
|---|---|---|
| 11 kWh vs 16.2 kWh | Older/database baselines list ~11 kWh; Savic's current spec is the 16.2 kWh (144V) pack. Use the larger one. | use 16.2 |
| 60 kW | Peak power of the SM1 motor (80 hp). A separate continuous rating is not clearly published. | peak, real |
| 133 Nm | A conservative baseline listing. Savic and reviewers cite more than 200 Nm. | undersold |
| "220 km range" | ADR combined figure (18.1 kWh/100 km). Highway is closer to 140 km. | do the math |
| "3.5 s to 100 km/h" | Maker acceleration claim; consistent with the power and weight, not independently timed here. | maker claim |
| AUD vs USD price | $29,990 AUD plus on-roads is the home figure; our ~$26,990 USD is an approximate conversion. | approx FX |
The sticker is the start of the story, not the end. Here is the whole bill.
The MSRP is a headline, not a checkout total. Here is what actually leaves your bank account on day one.
| Line item | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bike (MSRP) | $29,990 AUD | Plus on-roads; ~$26,990 USD approx |
| On-road costs (rego, stamp duty) | varies | State-dependent in Australia |
| First-year insurance | ~$400–$700 USD | Road-registered; premium varies |
| Starter gear (helmet, jacket, gloves) | $500–$900 USD | Non-negotiable at 130 mph capability |
| Realistic out-the-door | ≈ $28,000–$29,000 USD | Before a single mile |
The number almost no one shows you. We itemize it, show the assumptions, and convert from AUD so you can adjust it to your own riding.
| Cost over 5 years | Estimate (USD) | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase (MSRP, converted) | $26,990 | ~$29,990 AUD; FX approximate |
| Insurance + registration (5 yr) | $2,000 | Road-registered; varies by state |
| Gear (one-time) | $700 | Helmet, jacket, gloves, armor |
| Electricity (charging) | $230 | Almost nothing, math below |
| Tires, brakes, consumables | $800 | Belt drive; low maintenance |
| Battery (replace / upgrade) | $0 | 5-yr battery warranty; none expected |
| 5-year total (before resale) | ≈ $30,720 | |
| Resale value (yr 5) | – $13,000 | ~50% assumed; uncertain, thin market |
| Net true cost to own | ≈ $17,720 | ≈ $3,544 / year |
What reviewers found, who fixes it, and whether you can get parts.
There is no owner-forum reliability record yet, so we summarize what the launch and first-ride reviews consistently found, framed as themes, not verified durability.
A bike is only as ownable as its parts supply. Here Savic is a mixed picture: great for consumables, unproven for the Savic-specific bits.
The good news is that the brakes, ABS, tyres and suspension are off-the-shelf name brands (Brembo, Bosch, Pirelli), so pads, fluid and rubber are easy to source anywhere. The harder part is everything Savic makes itself: the SM1 powertrain, the structural battery, the bodywork and the electronics. Those depend entirely on Savic's own small, young support network, and at this production volume there is no established aftermarket and no real secondary parts market to fall back on.
| Part category | Availability | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| Brakes, pads, fluid (Brembo/Bosch) | good | $30–$300 |
| Tyres (Pirelli) | good | $120–$400 |
| SM1 powertrain / electronics | via Savic only | varies |
| Battery / structural enclosure | warranty-backed | 5-yr warranty |
One scorecard, identical axes on every bike.
Every e-moto on the site is scored on these same eight axes, by the same rules, so a 7 here means the same thing as a 7 anywhere.
Our standing methodology, run identically on every e-moto, including bikes we would otherwise have reason to flatter.
The only honest way to compare two batteries. 144V × 112.5Ah is the 16.2 kWh pack.
You never use 0 to 100%. The BMS holds a reserve and voltage tapers at the bottom. We assume ~88%.
Consumption is the lever: ADR 18.1 kWh/100 km mixed, more on the highway. Drag rises with speed².
Always ask which number a spec quotes. Peak sells bikes; continuous moves them.
"Fast charging" is meaningless without the charger's wattage. The ×1.1 covers losses and taper.
| Cost assumption | We used | Change it if… |
|---|---|---|
| Annual mileage | 3,000 mi/yr (15,000 / 5 yr) | You ride more → tires & service rise |
| Electricity rate | $0.17 / kWh (US avg) | Your utility differs |
| Insurance + rego | ~$400/yr, road-registered | Your state / premium differs |
| Battery life | No replacement in 5 yr (5-yr warranty) | Very hard use → sooner |
| Resale | ~50% of MSRP at yr 5 (uncertain) | Thin market; could be much lower |
We cite everything and date it, because specs, prices and exchange rates change. Manufacturer figures are labeled as claims; real-world numbers are our estimates from the methodology above. Spot an error? Our corrections policy means we fix it in public.
Sources retrieved May 2026. Manufacturer pages state claimed specs; treat them as marketing figures, not independent tests. USD figures are approximate conversions from AUD. We re-check prices and exchange rates periodically because they move.