Greenville, South Carolina startup Real Motors is taking pre-orders for its $20,000 Project Ares all-electric motorcycle ahead of limited deliveries in early 2027, and a Tuesday first-ride review by The Verge reporter Tim Stevens shows the futuristic prototype handles more like a muscular cruiser than a razor-sharp sportbike.
The initial Lot 01 production run is capped at 250 units worldwide, according to Real Motors’ specification page. North American buyers are scheduled to receive their motorcycles in early 2027 following an Alpha Build and Founder’s Edition, while European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council deliveries are set for the first quarter of 2027 after regulatory homologation.
For riders putting down $20,000, the test ride of Prototype 04, nicknamed “Ghost,” offers the first look at how the machine performs on the road. Up close, the glossy black fairing is translucent, exposing the internal charger’s cooling vanes where a gas tank would normally sit and bright orange high-voltage lines snaking around the battery pack.
Battery, power and charging specs
Project Ares runs on a nickel-cobalt-manganese battery pack of roughly 15 kilowatt-hours, listed by the company at 12 to 15 kilowatt-hours as specifications are finalized. It plugs into a standard SAE J1772 Level 2 charging port mounted on top of the “tank” area and charges at up to 3.3 kilowatts.
The Verge reports the electric motor is rated at 101 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, while Real Motors’ spec sheet lists its permanent magnet synchronous motor at 75 kilowatts (100 horsepower) and 1,000 Newton-meters of torque with a top speed of 120 mph (192 km/h). Stevens noted that the 738 pound-feet figure is measured at the rear wheel after gearing multiplication rather than at the motor output shaft, where most motorcycle makers measure output. At the shaft, Stevens estimated the output is closer to 200 pound-feet, which still ranks among the strongest-pulling motorcycles on the market.
How Prototype 04 handles on the street
Because mass-produced solid-state batteries are still not commercially available, the large battery pack brings total weight to 485 pounds (220 kilograms). That puts Project Ares on par with Zero Motorcycles’ SR/F in both weight and power, though the Ares is nearly 1.5 inches longer. Compared with a conventional gas sportbike like the Ducati Panigale V4, the Ares is nearly 100 pounds heavier with a wheelbase about three-quarters of an inch longer.
Stevens wrote that the riding posture mimics a classic British cafe racer, with low handlebars that pull the rider’s chest toward the translucent tank and high footpegs for cornering clearance, paired with a wide saddle. While that aggressive geometry and 485-pound mass caused a brief wobble at launch, the throttle delivery across all three speed modes proved smooth and predictable without abrupt lurching, even at wide-open throttle in Mode 3.
Cornering required more physical effort than the bike’s Cyberpunk 2077-inspired styling suggested. Instead of dropping into turns with light handlebar pressure like a Ducati Panigale, Prototype 04 needed a firm, sustained push to lean over. The prototype wore unmarked suspension and Brembo brakes, and buyers will be able to order optional Öhlins dampers. As a pre-production test mule, “Ghost” had a minimalist LCD screen and lacked mirrors, traction control, and antilock braking (ABS), which CEO Trent Dingman warned Stevens about before the ride.
From Greenville challenge to 2027 production
Founded in 2022 in Greenville in the region’s EV battery belt, Real Motors began as a challenge between Dingman and co-founder and design engineer Michael Feng to “build the coolest possible thing, the best design, and show people what we can do.” Earlier 2024 versions of the prototype used a smaller white body with an 11-kilowatt-hour battery and targeted a 419-pound curb weight before growing into the 485-pound Prototype 04.
To prepare Project Ares for manufacturing, Real Motors announced in an October Business Wire release that it hired former Harley-Davidson and LiveWire Chief Technology Officer Vance Strader as CTO, ahead of public appearances at the Barber Vintage Festival in Alabama and the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan. Real Motors says it will disclose final street-legal production configurations for Lot 01 before assembly begins for early 2027 deliveries.