Founded in 2016, CAKE is a Swedish electric bike company born to rethink the experience on two wheels to encourage mobility with zero emissions. Since launching the first Kalk electric motorcycle in 2018, CAKE has gone from off-road trails to city streets to the rolling workbench.
Following the launch of CAKE’s previous platforms – the high-performance Kalk and the powerful utility machine Ösa – the Swedish company has now introduced its third platform: Makka. Designed in the CAKE visual language, Makka is a family of light and convenient urban shuttles for short-haul commercial transportation and commuting needs. The new lightweight yet robust electric moped models – the Makka Flex and the Makka Range – also debut as CAKE’s lowest-priced bikes yet.
“With cities and urban mobility changing faster than expected with cleaner and more efficient solutions, we have been eager to share the Makka: An urban short-haul vessel, compact in size and price, reaching a wide audience in the process of deciding what their future means of transportation will be. I’m proud to introduce the CAKE urban shuttle, Makka,” says CAKE founder and CEO Stefan Ytterborn.
The Makka Flex is the powerful, most versatile version, with top speeds reaching 45 km/h (28 mph) and a range of up to 50 km (30 miles). Its drivetrain has 3.6 kW of power and a battery capacity of 1.5 kWh, which takes about two hours to charge up to 80%. Charging can be done by removing the battery or plugging the bike in, and it takes three hours to charge the battery to 100%. The 132 lb (60 kg) bike rolls on durable 14 “x3” motorcycle tires with lightweight custom-designed rims and comes with an electronic motorcycle braking system to regenerate the braking power into the battery and increase range.
The second model, Makka Range, has a lower maximum speed of 25 km/h (15.5 mph) but a greater range than Flex – up to 60 km (35 miles). It also weighs only 132 lb (60 kg) and boasts the same accouterments and accessories as the Flex. It is a perfect tool for moving about densely packed urban environments.
Much like the Ösa, the Makka mopeds are designed to accept a wide range of utility accessories such as rear cargo racks, saddlebags, a child seat or even a passenger seat, and other mountable add-ons. The e-moped comes in white or gray and is street legal in both the U.S. and Europe. They can carry a maximum load of up to 245 kg, including the bike, battery, rider, passenger, carry-on items.
Stefan Ytterborn told Inceptive Mind the Makka electric moped does not require a motorcycle license to operate, and “pretty much anyone can ride from 15 years of age in most countries.” Also, like all the company’s previous models, every component of the mopeds has been developed and engineered from scratch – “achieving this is actually mostly energizing and at times time consuming,” explains Stefan.
CAKE’s new electric moped range comes with a touchscreen display that shows information like battery, speedometer, odometer, ride mode, and brake mode selection. Both the models are currently available for pre-orders, with home delivery worldwide. The Makka Flex is priced at $3,800, while the Makka Range costs $3,500.
Speaking about the next plans, Stefan says, “We are in the scaling phase, going from a relatively successful start-up to becoming a vehicle industry, setting up factories in Europe and the U.S., launching another three platforms during 2022, continuing with the success after the first world championships two weeks ago with international racing initiatives, developing specially tuned bikes for commercial use, etc.”
There are also plans to launch a whole new last-mile platform during the fall. With the aim of establishing a new category of electric off-road performance bikes, developed from scratch supporting lightweight, quiet, and clean, the company sees itself selling 50,00 bikes annually by 2025.
