It's another storybook sunny day in Malibu, and I'm doing one of the things I love most in life. With the Pacific behind me and the canyons ahead, I'm threading a powerful sportbike through tight corners at speed, flicking from apex to apex. But inside my helmet is a worry I can't shake, and it's got nothing to do with going down. My concern is annoyingly logistical: Do I have enough battery power to get home?

Modern Love

Electric motorcycle technology has leapfrogged itself over the past decade, evolving from glorified mountain bikes with janky suspensions and laughable range to fully viable alternatives to gas-powered bikes. While California's Zero Motorcycles leads the charge with a full lineup of dirtbikes, supermotos, and every sub-genre in between, an ambitious outfit in Modena, Italy has focused its efforts on building a high-end electrified sport bike made for go-fast bon vivants.

Quite possibly the world's easiest-to-ride sportbike; no clutch? No problem. Inventive Italian styling. Won't see another one coming the other way. Piles of torque.

Tired

Porky at 617 pounds. Brakes could use more bite. I dare you to hypermile this thing. Costs as much as a Tesla Model 3.

Buy It Now   |  Energica

Energica Motor Company is run by CEO Livia Cevolini, a colorfully stylish Italian whose grandfather worked with Enzo Ferrari. While Energica officially launched its first electric bike, the Ego, in 2014, its parent company, the CRP Group, has supplied F1 teams and supercar manufacturers with rapid prototyping and advanced materials engineering services since 1970.

In typical tech startup fashion, Energica has faced delays and hiccups along the way. But company reps now says it's in full production, and though they won't disclose how many bikes they've delivered, they say they're "very satisfied" with the results thus far.

My range anxiety struck as I rode Energica's second bike, the Eva, the stripped-down version of the Ego, whose mechanical bits are covered in bodywork. Price of entry: $34,544, approximately double the cost of an off-the-shelf superbike from the usual YamaSuzuHonda suspects.