Project:ARES electric motorbike: sci-fi style, analogue feel

This is the first production prototype of Project : ARES, an all-electric motorbike from Real Motors. Eighteen months ago, the American company revealed the ARES concept to the world and now this high-performance iteration of electric mobility is nearing production.

Showcased at the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas, Project: ARES, says the company, is an ‘electric motorcycle from an alternate future’. The fact that the bike shares a name with Disney’s recent (and mostly reviled) Tron movie is probably best ignored, but the science-fiction aesthetic of the original concept has been carried through to production.

From the outset, Real Motors has been explicit about its desire to fuse the advantages of electric mobility – speed, silence, acceleration – with the analogue delights of visible, high-quality engineering and emotive forms.

Project : ARES has always been described as an ‘Electric Analogue’ experience, and to that end, the SEMA display takes a cinematic nod from Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, with maybe a splash of early Damien Hirst thrown in. Anything to get away from Tron, perhaps.

According to the company’s co-founder, Trent Dingman, ‘Real Motors believes the future belongs to machines with soul – where human instinct, craftsmanship, and electric technology co-exist. Our SEMA installation aims to jolt the industry awake – it’s a signal of the beginning of a new era.’

Building Project : ARES will require a new partnership with an Italian engineering consultancy specialising in electric motorcycles along with what it describes as a ‘Cap-Lite’ manufacturing method, with an emphasis on flexibility rather than making a huge investment in factories and equipment. ‘It allows Real Motors to move quickly, refine designs continuously, and build in smaller, smarter volumes,’ says Dingman.

Order books will be opened soon, with first deliveries expected in 2026.