The Origin has a 8.9 kilowatt-hour liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
I can think of no other vehicle on the road today less intimidating than the Can-Am Origin motorcycle. Nothing else comes to mind that’s more wholesome and less worrisome.
The made-in-Mexico, Canadian bike (Can-Am is headquartered in Valcourt, Que.) is totally electric, for a start. This means it’s completely silent in its running, other than the noise of its tires rolling on the ground. I really enjoyed this when I took the Origin off-road and explored some local trails and unmaintained roads. I felt I could sneak up on wildlife – I never actually did – and left no noise or pollutants in the air. I could have done the same on a bicycle, of course, or just in my hiking boots, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun.
That same silent advantage was sometimes a liability in town, where the zippy Can-Am seems like a much quicker electric scooter or electric bicycle. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a motorcycle in every sense of the term, and should be treated with the proper respect and caution.
The Can-Am Origin really hits its stride when cruising through tight trails as you can feel more connected to nature without all the engine noise.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
I’m clearly not alone. When you turn the key on the Can-Am, you’re encouraged to read a warning on its digital screen, which says, among other things: “Electric vehicles generate low noise levels. Always make sure the surrounding is clear before moving. Bystanders may not be aware of your presence.” Harley-Davidsons don’t have screens that say that.
The warning is easily bypassed by twisting the throttle grip away from you, rather than toward you as you would to accelerate. This allows the bike to start and, when you’re actually whooshing down the road, a similar reverse twist applies regenerative braking to slow the machine.
This is one of the Can-Am’s party tricks – other electric motorcycles don’t do this, though regular motorcycles and cars have engine braking if you select the correct gear. You can adjust the degree of regeneration but after a day or two, I stopped doing this.
A motorcycle is most effectively braked by the front wheel, with a squeeze of the brake lever by your right hand; the Can-Am’s regenerative braking wheel is the driven wheel, however – the one at the back – and it was never consistently smooth. I did appreciate the slow-moving reverse gear, however, whenever I wanted to back up on a trail.
The bike’s biggest constraint is its range. An electric motorcycle is limited in the possible size of its battery – it can’t just stuff more cells under the floor like a car or truck, but must carry them in the compact area where its engine would have been. The Origin’s liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery has a capacity of 8.9 kilowatt-hours, which allows it to claim a “city range” of 145 kilometres. This drops to a claimed 115 kilometres in combined city and highway driving.
That battery size is about half of many plug-in-hybrid SUVs.
When I collected the Origin test bike in Toronto, it showed a full charge and 88 kilometres of range. “The last person must have been riding crazy,” said the Can-Am rep. I rode home to Cobourg, a distance of about 130 kilometres, and had to stop twice to recharge, spending 90 minutes at Level 2 chargers and pulling in with 24 kilometres to spare. I didn’t exceed 100 kilometres an hour – in fact, I couldn’t against the wind – and there was little regenerative braking on the highway. Fortunately, the weather was good and I was in no hurry.
The Origin has a claimed city range of 145 kilometres, but that drops significantly when driving on the highway.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Mark Richardson usually only saw about 90 kilometres of range from a full battery.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
In the rest of my time with the Origin, I was never able to improve on a consumption of 8.6 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres, which gave a practical range of about 95 kilometres. This wasn’t a problem for tootling around town and gliding through the local woods, which became my limits. It meant, however, that I always recharged the bike to 100 per cent, while technicians will tell you a car, or even your phone, should not be routinely charged past 80 or 90 per cent in order to preserve the life of the battery.
Such concerns should not be a part of motorcycle ownership. A bike is supposed to offer freedom and limitless potential; every time I start my Harley or my Kawasaki, it’s an event, but in town, the electric Can-Am was just transport. Sure, I could accelerate from zero to 100 kilometres an hour in less than five seconds, but it was in the woods that it excelled, with nimble handling, a single gear and always maximum torque.
The Can-Am Origin was originally priced at $18,999, which is before preparation fees of $700 and also before taxes. This was a tough sell, and in August Can-Am dropped the price drastically to $14,999. People who had already bought one were sent a refund for the difference (take note, Tesla). Harley-Davidson’s Livewire brand also recently dropped the prices on its electric motorcycles by several thousand dollars, to reflect more realistic market values.
The tougher challenge is that riders need a full motorcycle licence because – as it’s easy to forget – this is a real motorcycle. If you just want to tootle around town, electric bicycles are a fraction of the cost, require no insurance and are much more lightly regulated.
There’s a less expensive option: the Can-Am Pulse uses the same technology but is designed as a street bike, without the taller suspension and stance. It also had its price dropped in August and costs $700 less, but it won’t let you ride the wooded trails where the Origin is most fun. So maybe the Pulse is actually the least intimidating, most wholesome vehicle on the road.
With a lack of demand, the price of the Origin has been reduced by $4,000 to $14,999.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
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