Verge Motorcycles: The Finnish Disruptors Rewriting the Rules of Electric Two-Wheelers

Origins: From RMK to Verge

The story of Verge Motorcycles begins not in Silicon Valley, nor in the traditional motorcycle heartlands of Japan or Germany, but in Finland, the Nordic nation also known for saunas, Nokia phones, and Angry Birds. The company was founded in 2018 as RMK Vehicle Corporation, with CEO Tuomo Lehtimäki at the helm from the very start, driven by a stated ambition to challenge the traditional principles of designing and manufacturing motorcycles. 

The company unveiled its prototype in 2019 at the annual EICMA exhibition in Milan, where its all-electric sports cruiser garnered widespread attention thanks to its revolutionary rim motor, a design so unconventional it prompted the question: what if an electric motorcycle was built from a blank sheet of paper, designed specifically for electricity rather than adapted from combustion-era thinking?

 In 2020, the company changed its name to Verge Motorcycles , signalling a broader ambition and a cleaner brand identity. The name itself carries a sense of threshold and possibility, standing on the edge of something new.

After refining its patented technology, the firm began series production of its first TS model in November 2022, christened in honor of Teemu Saukkio, who penned its unique design.  The “TS” naming convention has since become the backbone of the entire product range.

Today, Verge Motorcycles is headquartered in Joelahtme, Estonia , and has grown into a small but formidable force in the electric vehicle world, with around 58 employees and an expanding global retail footprint.

The Architecture That Changed Everything: The Donut Motor

To understand Verge, you must first understand the motor. Every model in the range is built around a single, radical engineering choice: the hubless in-wheel rim motor, nicknamed the “Donut Motor.”

Verge built the TS Pro from the ground up around one central idea: what if an electric motorcycle was actually designed for electricity? The result was the hubless rear-wheel in-wheel motor, a drivetrain that eliminates the chain, lowers the center of gravity, and sheds roughly 120 parts compared to a conventional setup. The motor sits where the rear axle would be, which also frees up room for a larger battery. 

Hub motors, commonly found in e-bikes, are an existing alternative, but Verge’s rim design utilizes an uncommonly large circumference stator, the stationary part of an electric motor housing the electromagnetic copper wiring. This layout imparts significantly more surface area, which improves cooling and efficiency. 

The TS Ultra rolled on a five-spoke wheel on the front and an innovative hollow wheel on the rear that contains the motor, allowing engineers to place the battery pack as low as possible to obtain a low centre of gravity.  The visual result is genuinely arresting; a rear wheel that appears to spin freely, with no visible axle, no chain, no belt, and no gearbox. It looks like something from a near-future film set.

The company integrates a patented hubless rear-wheel motor that delivers instant torque, a large capacity battery system allowing for extended range and fast NACS charging, a modular architecture for easy servicing, and the Starmatter intelligent software platform, which allows over-the-air updates for continuous improvement. 

The bikes

Verge TS (Original, 2021)

The original TS was the proof of concept brought to production reality. Launched into series production in late 2022, it introduced the hub-less motor and the basic architecture that would define all subsequent models. It was offered initially in Europe and established Verge’s core design language: low and wide, with the rear wheel as the centrepiece of the design rather than a functional afterthought.

Verge TS Pro (2023–Present)

In 2023, the company released the Verge TS Pro, the intermediate model in their range with a futuristic design. The bike rolls on a five-spoke front wheel and a hollow wheel on the rear that contains the electric motor, leaving room for a large battery pack. The rear wheel design allowed engineers to maximise the battery pack’s size and place it at the bottom of the body, resulting in a low centre of gravity and a light and elegant riding experience. 

The Verge TS Pro has a maximum output of 136 horsepower (102 kW) and an impressive torque figure of 737 pound-feet (1,000 Newton-metres), which is enough to clock a zero to 60 miles per hour sprint in 3.5 seconds. Weighing just 540 pounds helps on that time too. 

The 2023 Verge TS Pro is sold with an MSRP starting from $29,900 and is available in white, black, red, yellow, and green colour schemes. 

Verge TS Ultra (2023–Present)

In 2023, alongside the TS Pro, the Finnish motorcycle manufacturer launched the Verge TS Ultra, the most powerful motorcycle in their range, following the same principles as the Pro model but pushing all specifications to the extreme. The bike incorporates the company’s latest advancements, including Starmatter Vision, an advanced machine vision system, making the bike a manifestation of cutting-edge smart and connected technology. 

Compared to the Pro model, the 2023 Verge TS Ultra delivers 1,200 Nm (885 lb-ft) of torque and 201 hp (150 kW), launching the motorcycle to a top speed of 200 kph (124 mph). It can hit 0–100 kph (0–60 mph) in only 2.5 seconds. 

The Verge TS Ultra pushes every specification and design element to its absolute limit. It’s a machine born from the pursuit of ultimate performance, yet crafted with everyday comfort in mind. With air intakes and outflows optimized for airflow, every element of the TS Ultra’s design is a testament to the company’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of performance and aesthetics. 

The 2026 TS Pro Gen 2: The Solid-State Breakthrough

If the Donut Motor was Verge’s first revolution, the 2026 TS Pro Generation 2 is its second and arguably the more consequential of the two for the wider EV industry.

In January, Verge unveiled its first solid-state battery-powered bike at CES 2026, offering 10-minute charging and a 370-mile (595-kilometre) range. Solid-state batteries replace liquid or gel electrolytes with solid materials, improving safety, energy density, and lifespan. While major automakers have tested the technology for years, most efforts have remained at the prototype stage. 

The company has become the first in the world to introduce solid-state battery technology into production motorcycles, marking a significant milestone not only for two-wheeled transport, but for electric vehicles more broadly. 

The company released the next evolution of the Verge TS Pro at the beginning of last November at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan.  The battery technology was developed in partnership with Donut Lab, a spinoff that has grown into a critical technology partner.

The Donut Lab Partnership and Solid-State Technology

The updated TS Pro can now be had with an enormous 33.3-kWh solid-state battery pack, making for a whopping 373 miles (600 km) of range. That pack was developed at Verge’s spinoff Donut Lab, which calls it the world’s first production-ready all-solid-state battery. 

These batteries use dry solid electrolytes and flat plate cells, reducing fire risk and targeting 100,000 cycles, far exceeding typical lithium-ion’s 5,000.  That is a twenty-fold improvement in cycle life, which has profound implications for long-term ownership costs and environmental impact.

By replacing a liquid or gel electrolyte found in the traditional lithium-ion batteries used across the EV landscape, Donut Lab and Verge Motorcycles have been able to drastically increase the energy density to 400 Wh/kg, which in turn leads to those heady range figures. 

The charging performance is equally striking. Donut Lab has published results from its fourth battery test with Verge Motorcycles, demonstrating ultra-fast charging performance in an electric motorcycle battery pack. Engineers integrated the technology into an air-cooled battery pack designed for the latest-generation Verge TS Pro electric motorcycle. The system reached 80 percent charge in roughly 12 minutes, approximately three times faster than Verge’s previous battery system. 

Crucially, the Verge TS Pro is also air-cooled, something Lehtimäki has highlighted as a design achievement: “The world’s fastest charging electric motorcycle, the Verge TS Pro, is also air-cooled.”  This matters because rival manufacturers have had to resort to complex and heavy liquid cooling systems to manage fast-charging heat; systems that add weight and maintenance complexity.

To be fair, building a relative handful of batteries for a low-volume motorcycle is a whole different ball game from Toyota having to validate and stand behind thousands or millions of car batteries under warranty. Nevertheless, Verge Motorcycles and its tech spin-off, Donut Lab, are claiming a checkered flag at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. 

The full specification sheet for the 2026 Verge TS Pro Gen 2 reads as follows:

Full Specifications	2026 Verge TS Pro Gen 2
Motor	Donut Motor 2.0, hub-less in-wheel
Power	136.8 hp (100 kW peak)
Torque	737 lb-ft (999 Nm)
0–60 mph	3.5 seconds
Top Speed	124 mph
Battery (Standard)	20.2 kWh (17 kWh usable), solid-state
Battery (Large)	33.3 kWh (30 kWh usable), solid-state
Range	217 miles (Standard) / 370 miles (Large)
Peak Charging	100 kW (Standard) / 200 kW (Large)
Fast Charge	186 miles added in approximately 10 minutes
Charging Port	NACS
Price	$29,900 (Standard) / $34,900 (Large Battery)

The new generation of the Donut in-wheel motor is 50% lighter than its predecessor while delivering the same 1,000 Nm of torque. 

For the TS Ultra with the solid-state pack, a NACS fast charging port adds over 185 miles of range in under 10 minutes, and the full-body 33.3 kWh all-solid-state battery by Donut Lab delivers 370-plus miles of range. 

The Starmatter Software Platform

Verge has consistently positioned itself as a technology company that makes motorcycles, rather than a motorcycle company that uses technology. Nowhere is this clearer than in the Starmatter platform.

Verge Motorcycles launched its Starmatter software and intelligence platform, which offers automatic over-the-air (OTA) updates, allowing riders to access new functions and improvements for their motorcycle. In addition, the platform uses artificial intelligence and machine learning in the processing of data collected by advanced sensor technology, enabling the motorcycle’s characteristics to be personalised for each user. 

At the heart of the Starmatter platform is Verge’s redesigned Human-Machine Interface (HMI), for which the motorcycle manufacturer has begun working with Epic Games, developer of the Unreal Engine.  This is the same engine that powers leading-edge video games and cinematic visual effects — applied here to a motorcycle dashboard.

With the Starmatter platform, all new Verge motorcycles come with a sensor package that comprises GPS positioning, an accelerometer, and Bluetooth, 4G, and WiFi connections. OTA updates can optimise, for example, the performance of the bike, its charging characteristics, or the operation of the rim motor inside the rear wheel. 

The TS Ultra takes this further with Starmatter Vision. Verge announced an update to its flagship model with Starmatter Vision features, including multiple cameras and high-resolution radar, making the Verge TS Ultra the first motorcycle equipped with the sense of sight. 

Retail Expansion and the Apple/Tesla Playbook

Verge’s approach to selling motorcycles is as unconventional as the motorcycles themselves. Rather than working through traditional dealership networks, the company has opted for a direct-to-consumer model modelled explicitly on Apple and Tesla.

George Blankenship, who contributed to the success of Apple and Tesla retail stores, developed Verge’s store strategy. Verge opened its first US retail location at Westfield Century City Shopping Center in Los Angeles on June 1, 2024, and a second store opened at Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose on June 6, 2024. 

Blankenship himself drew the parallel directly: “I see the same potential in Verge as I did at Apple two decades ago and Tesla one decade ago when those companies set out to completely redefine their industries.” 

Verge has three stores in Europe and two in the United States.  The European presence includes locations in key markets and, notably, a pop-up at Westfield London, helping establish the brand’s premium positioning with a lifestyle-brand aesthetic rather than a traditional powersports feel.

NACS charging compatibility has been central to the US strategy. Verge’s electric motorcycles don’t require proprietary infrastructure to charge. Instead, they make use of Tesla’s NACS charging connector, which means all bikes from day one are able to utilise the expansive Tesla Supercharger network. 

How Verge Compares to Its Rivals

The electric motorcycle market is turbulent and Verge’s rivals are struggling while the Finnish company advances.

Range and Charging: The updated TS Pro offers way more range than anything in production from the likes of Zero, Livewire, or Energica.  The solid-state battery’s 370-mile ceiling is genuinely in a different class. A LiveWire One, which is Harley-Davidson’s electric spinoff, takes 40 minutes to reach 80% on a fast charger , compared to Verge’s approximately 12 minutes to the same state of charge, a dramatic difference for long-distance riders.

The Competition’s Troubles: LiveWire, Harley-Davidson’s EV endeavour, is on death’s door, the group has a new CEO, sales are abysmal, and the motorcycles have been plagued by recalls.  Meanwhile, Zero, long thought to be the bright spot in the electric motorcycle industry, has seen its sales collapse, its CEO ousted, loads of workers laid off, and the whole company moved to Europe.  And Energica died and has been somewhat resurrected, but to a much smaller degree, and it remains unclear whether it will continue in any real way. 

Battery Technology Gap: The solid-state batteries are rated for 100,000 cycles, far exceeding typical lithium-ion’s 5,000, plus a lighter hub-less motor and NACS compatibility unmatched in the segment. 

The Honest Caveat: Even admirers note the broader challenge. While Verge and Donut’s new solid-state battery is cool, they face a public that’s just not buying on-road electric motorcycles, even from the mainstays that have been around for decades.  The company must convert riders who remain emotionally attached to the sound and feel of combustion engines, a cultural barrier that specifications alone cannot overcome.

Historic Milestone

If the delivery timeline holds, Verge will have beaten far larger automakers to market with a technology that the broader EV industry has chased for more than a decade. The history of missed solid-state targets is long, Fisker once touted solid-state ambitions before pivoting back to conventional cells and eventually filing for bankruptcy, and Dyson explored solid-state batteries for a planned EV before scrapping the entire car project. 

Verge’s CEO Tuomo Lehtimäki described it plainly: “The use of solid-state battery technology in motorcycles in production is a historic breakthrough shaking up the entire automotive industry.” 

From a small startup born in Finland in 2018, originally named after no one and nothing famous, to the company that arguably delivered the EV industry’s most elusive technology before Toyota, BMW, or Tesla, Verge Motorcycles has earned its place in the history of electric transport. Whether it can translate technical brilliance into commercial scale remains the open question, but on the metrics of innovation alone, few companies anywhere in the automotive world have a story quite like it.