This Fighter Jet-Inspired Electric Motorcycle Costs Just $4,600 And It’s Coming To America

Another awesome electric motorcycle is on its way to America and it blends style with a low price. Indian startup Ultraviolette Automotive has started sales of the Ultraviolette F77, an electric motorcycle with looks inspired by jets. This motorcycle can go up to 94 mph, travel up to 190 miles, and costs as low as $4,600. The best part is that the company plans on selling these to Americans.

There’s perhaps never been a better time to become a motorcyclist than now. Bikers of today have all kinds of high-tech gear to keep them safe and the number of brands to choose from is only increasing. If you want something powered by internal combustion, you can choose anything from Honda’s inexpensive XR150L to the insane Kawasaki Ninja H2. Or, if you have some deep pockets, you could even buy a turbine-powered motorcycle. If you like your steeds electric, there are countless EV motorcycles out there and it seems like every day that there’s a new one coming out. The Ultraviolette F77 is another tantalizing electric machine and it seems promising.

This motorcycle comes from Ultraviolette Automotive, a startup founded in 2016 in India by Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmoha. The company has $15 million backing from an established producer of motorcycles, TVS Motor Company, as well as technology company Zoho Corporation. The company seeks to solve some of the personal transportation issues that will be faced by city dwellers in the future. Ultraviolette has been working on its electric motorcycle since 2015, before its founding. The Ultraviolette F77 was unveiled in late 2019 and was supposed to go on sale soon after, but the pandemic pumped the brakes on the company’s plans.

Ultraviolette has come out of the other side of the pandemic with a motorcycle that has now started selling in its home city of Bengaluru in India. The company will expand sales through the rest of India this year before setting its sights on Japan, Europe, and North America, hopefully in 2024. So, we may have to wait a bit, but Ultraviolette wants to sell its F77 to Americans. What will we be getting?

Inspired By Jets

The first thing that you notice about the Ultraviolette F77 is that the company wants you to think of this as a fighter jet for the road. Not only does the company say that the motorcycle’s design is inspired by jets, but Ultraviolette commits to the idea right down to trim levels.

Starting with the design, I can sort of see the fighter jet influence. The F77 has a sportbike style and it looks like the seating position is also that of a sportbike. Unlike some electric motorcycle designs, the electric bits are hidden under sculpted panels. The production version’s design has a couple of scoops and two fins, but I think they could have leaned into the jet idea a little further. How about afterburner-style taillights or some air force-chic decals?

Really, that’s a small nitpick because this looks like a much more expensive motorcycle than it is.

The Ultraviolette F77 is available in three colorways, each with a name to please your inner Call of Duty player. There’s Airstrike, which is a sort of gunmetal gray and red, Shadow for that blacked-out look, and Laser, a red design for when grey and black are too boring. From there, there are two variants to choose from, Original and Recon.

Decent Specs For The Price

Spec the Ultraviolette F77 in Original form and you get a 7.1 kWh battery pack that also forms a part of the motorcycle’s structure. That feeds an electric motor that outputs 36.2 HP peak and 62.7 lb-ft torque to the rear wheel via a chain drive.

Power output is controlled through “Glide,” “Combat,” and “Ballistic” ride modes. The motorcycle is rated for 128 miles on the Indian Driving Cycle, but when you set it into Ballistic, which unlocks all power, the range goes down to just 73 miles. It should be noted that the higher range numbers assume that you’ll be riding in a city and making use of the motorcycle’s regenerative braking.

In terms of performance, the Original gets up to 60 mph in as fast as 8.3 seconds and tops out at 87 mph. If you step up to the Recon version, you get a 10.3 kWh battery, which gets you up to about 190 miles of range or 106 miles when operating in Ballistic mode. Top speed ratchets up to 91 mph and the sprint to 60 mph is slightly faster at 8.0 seconds.

Finally, there’s also a Limited model, of which only 77 units will be made.

That one is ever so slightly faster than a Recon with its 94 mph top speed and a 7.8-second sprint to 60 mph. All of the other stats of this one are the same as the Recon and the only other major difference is the fact that it comes with a special paint job. If those range numbers seem confusing, here’s how Ultraviolette describes how range testing works in India:

The IDC rates electric vehicle driving range. It uses a dynamic test cycle with each cycle lasting 108s. The cycles are repeated until the vehicle is unable to meet the required acceleration and speed needed to complete the cycle. The test is conducted as per the requirement stated under Annex II of the CMVR notified by the Government of India. Testing is carried out under ideal conditions using a chassis dynamometer, with the aim of making the conditions as close to the real world as possible. Testing is performed at different speeds and includes stops, acceleration and braking.

Continuing the aviation theme, Ultraviolet says that like a plane, this motorcycle’s systems have been extensively tested before they were set loose on the public. The company touts aircraft-like redundancies, too. This sounds really cool but it seems that the company is really just talking about the motorcycle’s dual-channel ABS system, park assist system, and battery management system. The battery has an operating range of 32 degrees to 131 degrees and the battery management system is there to prevent it from getting damaged by too much heat, too much cold, too much discharge, and more.

Speaking of the battery, the motorcycle’s standard charger can be charged up to 80 percent in three hours and 100 percent in five hours through a standard charger. Thankfully, it can be fast charged, and with one the battery reaches 80 percent in 50 minutes and 100 percent in 90 minutes.

All versions are built with a steel trellis frame and feature an inverted front fork with a rear monoshock. Preload adjustment is available only on the Recon and Limited models. Stopping power on all three is handled through a 320mm front disc and a 230mm rear disc, again with dual-channel ABS.

Obviously, this motorcycle isn’t going to blow the doors off of anything. This is slower than a number of the Holy Grails that I’ve written about. Instead, it appears that this motorcycle is about getting style and a lot of technology without going broke. Though, it should be noted that this is apparently India’s fastest electric motorcycle right now.

You even get information on the Ultraviolette F77 using a five-inch LTE and GPS-connected screen and an app on your phone. It even has an inertia measurement system and a service function that can apparently warn the rider before a part breaks in the EV system. The Original model is about $4,600 in India with the Recon jumping up to $5,500 and the Limited setting you back about $6,675. The Limited is already sold out, which isn’t surprising given the small 77-unit production.

Sadly, you will have to wait at least a year to see these in America. Ultraviolette says that it wants to grab a foothold in India first before expanding into the rest of the world. That’s expected to happen at least in 2024 and the company is expecting a $120m investment before spreading its wings. Hopefully, it does come here because more cool motorcycles in America is always a good thing.

(All Photos: Ultraviolette)

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