When we last checked in with Sondors in November, 2022, the California company had just begun deliveries of the Metacycle to customers. The company is better known for its e-bikes, and the Metacycle represents its first foray into electric motorcycles. Although it faced some delays, the combination of design and perceived value for money seemed intriguing for many.
Performance claims may seem a little too good to be true—but since most performance claims from OEMs should be taken with a grain of salt (or sometimes a whole block of salt), that’s at least partly to be expected. One important thing to recognize is that if you price a product well enough, customers can forgive more flaws than they might if it’s more expensive than they feel is reasonable.
All of that said, in 2023, the MSRP of the Sondors Metacycle is $6,500. It’s capable of getting on the freeway, unlike a lot of low-speed electric motorbikes—even if you wouldn’t want to do it for miles and miles. While no one has had it long enough to do a long-term review yet (and we have yet to get our hands on one for our own review), the value for money proposition that it offers seems pretty decent (although we’ve heard some serious complaints about seat comfort from those who’ve spent time on one).
On March 1, 2023, Sondors opted to sweeten the Metacycle deal by offering a limited-time deep discount. Between March 1 and 15, 2023, the first 1,000 people to put $500 down on a new Metacycle at the Sondors website will get what the OEM is calling an “EV Credit” off their purchase price. How much is the discount? Try $2,500. That knocks the price of a Sondors Metacycle down to just $4,000 for the 1,000 customers that grab it in time.
To be clear, in the U.S. in March, 2023, there are currently no federal EV tax credits that apply to electric motorcycles. Some states may have individual incentives available, so you may want to check if your state is one of them. Still, $2,500 is a nice chunk of change to knock off what already seems like a reasonably-priced electric bike, for what it’s offering. Sondors currently expects deliveries of the Metacycle to roll out in earnest in Q4 of 2023, barring supply chain or other mitigating circumstances.
