-November 24, 2021 at 10:53 AM Pacific Time

The booking window for the SONDORS Metacycle electric motorcycle has been closed to accept new bookings. But today the company reopened reservations while maintaining the original promotional price of $5,000.

Prior to this, SONDORS had previously stated that at the end of the booking period last month, the price would rise to around US$6,000 or more.

The current booking offer indicates that delivery will take place in 2022. Customers who originally booked Metacycle were told that the delivery would take place in the fourth quarter of 2021 (that is, now).

Early in the development process, SONDORS notified reservation holders that Metacycle production actually proceeded ahead of schedule, and the company moved forward its estimated delivery date to the third quarter of 2021.

However, the company seems to have said too early, because when the third quarter arrives, the company had to issue a new statement to postpone the delivery time to the fourth quarter of this year.

Although we saw a hand-made production-verified prototype at the Los Angeles Auto Show a few days ago, it seems increasingly likely that the first bicycle will not be able to enter the customer's garage before the end of this year.

This means that 2022 should be the year of the metacycle, and SONDORS seems to have enough confidence in this estimate to provide new reservation holders with a delivery estimate for 2022, although there is no specific quarter to look forward to.

However, the price of US$5,000 is not expected to remain stable in the long term. As SONDORS explained in a recent statement:

"An additional Metacycle order opportunity has appeared. Don’t hesitate-the quantity is very limited. We will ship on a first-come, first-served basis. This is your last chance to get Metacycle and lock in an exclusive price of $5,000. Act now and ensure your Metacycle is expected to ship in 2022. After that, you can expect prices to increase by 20% or more."

When Metacycle debuted at the beginning of this year, it caused a sensation in the industry with its low price and relatively high performance specifications.

Although it is not comparable to Zero or Energica electric motorcycles, an 80 mph (130 km/h) bike should at least allow commuters to take the highway instead of just taking the city roads.

With a 4 kWh battery that can provide 80 miles (130 kilometers) of cruising range at city speeds, it should also provide enough capacity for most commuters.

Perhaps most importantly, Metacycle's $5,000 price makes it far lower than the sky-high prices usually seen in flagship electric motorcycles.

The biggest question now is "When will we see it?" About a year ago, Metacycle's specifications and pricing were unique in the industry. But now there are new competitors who can try to beat Metacycle to market.

Just today, NIU demonstrated its RQi Sport electric motorcycle. Although slightly slower than Metacycle at a speed of 110 km/h (68 mph), RQi comes from an experienced electric scooter manufacturer with more than 2 million cars on the road. And the company's new MQi GT EVO can use its similar speed to open up the Metacycle market. RQi is expected to be available in July 2022, and MQi GT EVO will be available earlier in March 2022.

Then there is the Kollter ES1, which is almost as fast as the Metacycle, at about 70 mph (112 km/h).

Kollter ES1 is already on the market in the United States, priced at 5,999 US dollars, only a little more expensive than Metacycle. I recently drove the Kollter ES1 and found it to be an excellent commuter-grade electric motorcycle. Please see my test drive video below.

SONDORS may still win because of its futuristic design, but since then the market has become more crowded.

Metacycle's clock is ticking, and many newcomers on the market are happy to have the opportunity to snap up a piece of pie.

What do you think of the SONDORS Metacycle electric motorcycle? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Micah Toll is a personal electric car enthusiast, battery fan, and the author of Amazon’s top best-selling books "DIY Lithium Battery", "DIY Solar" and "The Ultimate DIY Electric Bike Guide."

You can send him a reminder via Micah@electrek.co

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