On April 18, 2022, two Energica riders at two opposite ends of the U.S. set out on a single mission: To break the current electric cross-country motorcycle Cannonball record. In keeping with the original 1971 Cannonball, the entire 2,906-mile route between New York City’s Red Ball Garage and the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach, California, was the course for both bikes. If all went according to plan, the riders would both cross their respective finish lines on April 22—Earth Day.
It’s called the Charging Across America Challenge 2022. On that chilly April day on the east coast, rider Rob Swartz, who owns Energica of New England and Rob’s Dyno Service, started his run from New York City, heading west on his 2022 Energica EVA EsseEsse9. Simultaneously, rider Steven Day started his journey from Redondo Beach east to New York City on his 2021 Energica EVA Ribelle. (For those unfamiliar, Day already holds a cross-country electric motorcycle record, after riding from Florida to San Diego in 93 hours and becoming the first person to finish a cross-country electric motorbike run in under 100 hours.)
