ENERGICA EXPERIA (2022 - on) Review

Italian electric motorbike manufacturer Energica aren’t afraid to challenge preconceived perceptions. Having been in the electric game for ten years, the firm not only produces a range of high-end motorcycles but was also the driving force behind, and sole supplier until the end of 2022 to, the MotoE World Cup. And with their new bike, the Energica Experia, they are once again pushing boundaries.

Claimed by the firm to be a ‘green tourer’, the Experia is an adventure-styled bike packing all of the latest battery and electric motor technology that Energica have gained through their MotoE racing and decade of road bike development. Is the time now right for adventure riders to consider making the switch to electric? Yes and no.

If you could take price and range out of the equation, the Experia is a very impressive motorcycle. The electric motor is superb, the level of tech comparable to petrol-powered rivals (aside from a lack of semi-active suspension) and the handling and comfort levels certainly good enough to class it as a sports tourer.

But you can’t ignore the £27,700 launch price tag or the realistic range of 120 miles when ridden in a ‘normal’ way – which is well short of the range claims made by the firm. Interestingly, the 2023 price has dropped a little, to £25,990, but it's still a little rich for us.

I get why Energica have made the Experia, a lot of electric bike owners want a more relaxed upright adventure-style option to the sporty Ego or firm’s Eva naked bikes as to own one you need to be fairly affluent and therefore will generally be a touch older and creakier.

But is it a ‘green tourer’ as they claim? I’d argue not as you can’t really take one touring due to the range issue. Is it a ‘green commuter’ that can be enjoyed at the weekends? Yes – at a price, which is always the issue with this new technology as early adoption never comes cheaply.

With the new motor and battery combination not only lighter than previous incarnations but also sitting lower in the new frame, Energica have focused a lot of development on the Experia’s feeling of balance.

Built purely as an adventure bike and not a one of their existing model repurposed, the 17-inch wheels and tall bars make it feel (and look) like an older Ducati Multistrada and that’s how it handles. Impressive in the bends and with a very strong Brembo braking set-up, you can certainly enjoy the corners and it doesn’t feel its 260kg weight, even at low speed.

There is a slightly odd feeling when you first tip into a bend, maybe due to a lack of centrifugal force from a spinning crank, but it’s nothing to worry about and can be excused as a quirk of electric when compared to petrol power. As is typical for an Italian bike, the suspension is set a bit too firmly for the UK’s roads, resulting in a slightly uncompromising and harsh feel from the forks, but as they are fully adjustable this should be able to be dialled out to a degree. But is it a tourer?

Obviously range is the major limiting factor, however take this out of the equation and the fact you get full luggage as standard as well as cruise control and heated grips certainly helps its case as a tourer and the seat is fairly comfortable and the screen acceptable at deflecting wind.

Annoyingly, despite the fact they remain totally vibration-free, the mirrors are style over function with their tapered ends reducing in size at the exact point you want to look in them and the screen’s adjustment system very stiff and awkward to use.

The ‘frunk’ (tank storage compartment) is also a disappointment as while it looks big, the actual space is restricted to a horseshoe-shaped area as the main bulk of the compartment’s space is taken up by the top of the battery – rendering it pretty much useless aside from storing a phone.

The Experia uses a brand new Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Motor (PMASynRM) which makes a claimed peak power of 100.6bhp with a continuous rating of 78.9bhp.

However with electric, horsepower isn’t the selling point, it’s torque and the Experia makes a monumental 664lb.ft of grunt at its maximum and 85lb.ft at its minimum! An incredibly impressive motor, the roll-on drive is remarkable and makes overtakes an absolute breeze (it has a restricted top speed of 112mph).

Although you get a variety of power modes, so easy is the throttle response you only need to switch to reduce the drain on the battery and extend its range or add ‘engine braking’ through the variable regeneration rather than tame the Experia’s performance. It really is an astounding engine, however this performance comes at a price – both financially and in terms of range.

Energica claim the £27,790 Experia has a city range of 261 miles with an extra-urban worst-case range of 130 miles and a combined average of 160 miles.

As is so often the case, there is a difference between the reality and claimed figures and when ridden briskly you are talking a range of 110-120 miles at best with pottering around at 55mph delivering close to 150 miles – and that’s until completely flat, so realistically you will have to stop 20 miles sooner. That’s a pretty poor range for a tourer, but there is some good news on the charging front.

Unlike some rivals such as Zero, the Experia can be charged using either a Level-2 or a CCS fast charger. Level-2 is your home supply (3kW) and that means around seven hours for a 0-100% AC charge where CCS is DC charging (25kW) and therefore far faster with 20%-80% in just 20 minutes and 0-100% in around 50 minutes.

Batteries charge the first and last 20% slower than the middle 60% to protect the battery’s life so if you keep it within these boundaries, the charge time is impressively low. But that means realistically looking to charge up with 20% showing roughly between 90 and 130 miles, depending on how hard you are riding it.

Energica build nearly all of their components in-house (including the battery) and what they don’t build they outsource from top-quality suppliers. The suspension is Sachs, brakes Brembo and switchgear looks suspiciously like the items used by Aprilia.

In terms of build quality, the Experia we tested was a prototype so it had a few rough edges (the frunk didn’t open very well and a few of the electronics weren’t active) but overall it looked very well put together.

Unlike Zero, Energica only offer a three and not five-year battery warranty but it is for 31,000 miles. The firm claim the battery is good for 100,000 miles with only a drop to 80% capacity.

We don't currently have any Energia Experia owner reviews on the site. However, Ribelle and Ego owners seem happy enough with their purchases so far.

There is no denying the £27,700 purchase price is very high and on a three-year PCP deal, the final payment is only just over £10,000, which is a massive amount of depreciation.

The issue, however, is that the final value is very much a ‘finger in the air’ evaluation and realistically a three-year-old bike should be worth considerably more. In terms of running costs, you are looking at electricity and a basic annual service for a check of parts such as brake fluid, pads, chain and sprockets, etc as the battery and motor require no servicing.

Zero are on the verge of also launching an adventure bike but currently the main rival to the Experia is the fully-faired sports tourer Zero SR/S, which is £22,240 in top spec but lacks the ability to accept CCS charging.

As you would expect, the Experia has a lot of tech. You get a 5-inch TFT dash as standard with connectivity to a dedicated Energica app containing navigation in the pipeline.

The bike itself has 6-stage traction control which alongside the ABS is angle-responsive and there is cruise control, seven profile modes (three customisable), four riding modes (Eco, Urban, Rain, Sport), four levels of regeneration and even a slow speed forward and reverse ‘park assistant.’

While the electronics are hard to fault, the dash isn’t very clear or pleasing on the eye and the numbers a bit small. Alongside the tech you get heated grips as well as a top box and panniers with a combined capacity of 112-litres, an external USB port and a lockable ‘frunk’ with two USB ports inside as standard.