Savic readies for 2021 release

Australia’s first high performance electric motorcycle, Savic, is set to roll off the production line in 2021.

Dennis Savic has created the first prototype of an electric motorbike in Australia.

Australia’s first high performance electric motorcycle, Savic, is set to roll off the production line in 2021.

The Savic brand is named after the 28-year-old CEO, designer, entrepreneur and dreamer Dennis Savic.

As a 10-year-old boy in Perth he wanted to build a motorcycle. At 14 it became an obsession. Not renowned as an A grade student, Mr Savic’s metalwork teacher scoffed at his plans, advising the rowdy teen he needed an engineering degree.

In his final year at the University of Western Australia, Mr Savic designed an electric motorbike chassis. Like most of his class, his career began in the oil and gas industry. Eventually he secured his dream job as an engineer at Ford.

The fresh-faced lad with the Elvis like quiff, packed a bag and headed east to Melbourne. “I was brought into Ford because of my interest in generative design and optimisation”, says Mr Savic. “By the time I left in June this year, my supervisor and I convinced management to buy into the new process.”

During his Ford tenure, Mr Savic says he spent his nights and weekends building his brand, team and a handful of prototypes. “I was asked to set up a team in India,” he says.

Pre-COVID corporate funding and new suppliers drove a significant but positive redesign of the powertrain unit which Mr Savic believed would be the key to the EV’s success. Then COVID setbacks started to compound. Companies and funds were conserving cash to weather the financial storm.

“Our biggest hit was a delay in investment as some of our investors removed their initial commitments as a result of the virus. Getting any kind of funding is challenging as a lot of risk capital dried up,” he said.

Mr Savic believes the federal government should offer incentives for the electric vehicle industry. In the wake of Holden’s Australian exit announcement, the demise of domestic vehicle manufacturing, issues surrounding global import reliance in pandemic times, it certainly makes sense.

“The process of accessing a government investment grant or low-interest loan was so arduous that I would lose far too much time to make it worthwhile but I understand why their process is significant,” he says.

He wants to see tax and other government incentives for electric vehicles manufacturers. “I’m not experienced about government capability and legislation but an accelerating commercialisation grant on a dollar-for-dollar basis or rent support and additions to R & D are some options.

“In some countries, incentives to riders consist of tax rebates, free tolls and exemption from CBD bans.”

Determined to keep his 2020 plans on track, Mr Savic has turned to his online supporters and opened a round of seed funding.

“We’re an Australian electric motorcycle business. We developed our own technology and we’re kicking off production this year. We need all the help we can get, but we’re lucky to have really supportive investors and first customers.”

Denis Savic. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

The company closed its seed round of funding in June and he gave notice to Ford.

Savic Motorcycles is all about obsession: a young and passionate team, hand-picked for their capabilities to design and build Australia’s first high-performance electric motorbike.

Backed by some of the best brains in the automotive industry globally, the Savic advisory board includes the CEOs of multinational joint ventures, tech entrepreneurs, and engineers who have worked on Formula 1 cars and air-racing teams.

“It’s not just a hi-tech machine, but a very cool piece of art,” says board member Marc Alexander, a tech entrepreneur who created the $50m LIFX lighting business.

“Dennis and his team have the vision and the expertise to make this new company a great success,” he says. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to contribute as they move from this exciting prototype to mass production.”

The prototype Savic Alpha will be celebrated in a special exhibition of the world’s most famous bikes. The exhibition has opened at the Queensland Modern Art Gallery in Brisbane.

The exhibition — The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire — features more than 100 iconic and influential motorbikes and will run until April next year.

Manufacture of Savic’s bespoke vehicle control unit and powertrain has progressed in the company’s west Melbourne HQ against the series of lockdowns. Mr Savic expects the first five C-Series will be delivered to their owners early next year.

“We’re very lucky we’d reached a design freeze by the time stage 4 lockdown began and were able to continue coding and finetuning the other electronic components from our homes,” says Mr Savic.

The C-Series combines the distinctive lines of a 1970s cafe racer with the incredible power and torque of the latest EV technology. It promises to deliver a unique blend of style and power.

At a glance, the C-Series specs are very similar to the Harley Davidson LiveWire but at a much cheaper price point. Half the build slots for 2021 are already sold.

Monique Lisa is a former professional motorcycle rider who has been writing about the rollout of electric motorcycles.