First Ride: Can-Am Pulse Electric Motorcycle

In the mid-1970s, Can-Am was known for making motorcycles for endurance races and motocross. But by the mid-1980s, financial turmoil had knocked Can-Am off-course, and the brand’s bikes had been eclipsed by those from Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha. The last Can-Am bike rolled off the production line in 1987.

Now it needs to reintroduce itself to urban commuters likely too young to remember the brand. In its favor is Can-Am’s ability to infuse its history of designing the entire widget in-house to produce two solid competitors in the electric motorcycle market.

Feel the Heat

It was extremely hot in Austin, Texas. Can-Am had flown me to this pizza oven masquerading as a state to ride both of its new electric bikes, the dual-sport Origin ($14,999 and up) and the naked Pulse ($13,999 and up). The sun was punishing us, likely for no longer worshiping it as an all-powerful deity. So as I donned my protective gear and slipped my skull into a black helmet, I noticed that the temperatures on our test ride would jump above 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).

Like all electric motorcycles, the bikes ship without a clutch or gear shifter. Launching from a standstill is a twist-and-go affair. Immediately, I was impressed with the even and fluid acceleration mapping of the Pulse’s throttle. Early electric bikes from some manufacturers could catch a rider off guard by delivering too much torque when they twisted the throttle.

Instant access to incredible speed is a great feature for drag racing and sport-bike aficionados, but a commuter who has to deal with all the issues of an urban environment—oil slicks, uneven pavement, early morning wet and cold asphalt, tired drivers—needs a smooth pull-off from the traffic light, plus a quick burst of speed whenever one is needed. The bike’s 47-horsepower and EV torque send it from zero to 60 in 3.8 seconds, which is more than adequate for its intended use on city streets.

The intense Texas heat and sustained speeds should murder the battery and result in thermal derating, which is when the motor’s performance is automatically choked to keep it from overheating. But the Pulse’s liquid-cooled architecture kept the bike from losing any of the acceleration I needed during the ride. At highway speeds, I was able to continually twist the throttle and have the bike deliver the expected power required to overtake another driver.

The bike’s solid construction was another welcome surprise. The silence of an electric bike’s powertrain tends to make loose items and random frame-against-component squeaks more noticeable. The Pulse had none of these audible annoyances. This is likely the benefit of a structural battery pack that is integrated into the frame to increase overall stiffness. The extra rigidity inspired confidence in the bike’s ability to survive the rigors of a daily ride into an urban area.

The ride was further complemented with the KYB front suspension with 5.5 inches of travel that sucked up the potholes and other asphalt issues. The wheels are outfitted with 17-inch Dunlop Sportmax GPR 300 tires, an appropriate choice on a small motorcycle that’s going to have to handle both wet and dry environments.

It’s Not the Size of the Bike (It Sort of Is, Though)

The size of the motorcycle is where things get a bit weird. The Pulse has a seat height of 30.86 inches (78 cm). About an inch to 1.5 inches lower than a typical 600cc motorcycle. Cam-Am calls this design “small but mighty.” I’m 6’3″ and was surprised at how comfortable I was from the waist down. My knee bend was less than I anticipated. Still, the size of the bike can’t be overlooked by taller riders. I was awkwardly towering over the frame and had to tilt my head down more than I liked to see the 10.25-inch display.

Can-Am says that its decisions about the seat height and frame size are a direct result of wanting female riders to feel comfortable on the bike by giving them the ability to place their entire foot on the ground when they come to a stop. If true, this is a laudable objective, with far too few automotive designers thinking beyond male customers.

The small stature makes the Pulse more nimble than larger bikes. I commute in a city, and being nimble is why I continue to enjoy riding my Vespa over larger bikes. By the end of the test ride, I was convinced that I could be comfortable with the Pulse as my daily bike. The thing is, Can-Am has something for the tall people too: the dual-sport Origin.

Quick Aside for the Tall People

I felt more comfortable on the Origin with its increased seat height. Tall riders tend to find themselves on dual-sport bikes out of necessity due to their increased seat height and upright sitting positions. Plus, we get to pretend we’re adventurers always ready for an off-road excursion.

With 10 inches of travel on the KYB front suspension, and a ground clearance of 10.8 inches, the Origin ticks all the appropriate dual-sport boxes that allow it to tackle the off-road world with knobby tires and an upright seating position. Like the Pulse, it benefits from the frame-integrated battery pack. Can-Am gave me the option to ride the bike on a technical trail, and I obliged. The bike handled itself beautifully. I’m very proud to say I hit zero trees and didn’t drop the bike once. The extra $100 price tag for the Origin seems like a screaming deal, but there is a trade-off.

Range and Power

The Pulse is a commuter bike with the range that comes with that designation. In the city, Can-Am says it can cover 100 miles. Take it on the highway for a bit, in addition to city riding, and you’ll get a range of closer to 80 miles. At sustained highway speeds above 55 mph, I experienced approximately 55 to 65 miles of range.

The dual-sport Origin has a city range of 90 miles and a combined range of 70 miles. Riding flat out at average speeds above 55 mph, I saw about 50 miles of range. That’s enough of a difference to notice it in day to day use. The off-road knobby tires probably didn’t help those numbers, either.

Both bikes come with the same 8.9-kWh battery pack. In the city, the Pulse delivers 11.2 miles per kWh. That slightly bests the efficiency of the nearest competitor, the Zero S ($14,995 and up) which delivers 154 miles of city range from a 14.4-kWh capacity battery and has an efficiency rating of 10.7 miles per kWh.

And, if you prefer retro styling, let’s not forget Maeving, which WIRED loves, with its new sportier city EV option, the RM1S, that has a 70 mph top speed and 80 miles max range, but with two important advantages: The batteries are removable and swappable, and it costs under $9,000—considerably less than the Can-Ams.

Both Can-Am bikes are equipped with a Level 2 AC (SAE J1772) charging port. Charging is available up to 6.6 kW. Can-Am says that the motorcycles will charge up from 20 to 80 percent in roughly 50 minutes. When asked about future versions supporting NACS (SAE 3400, aka the Tesla port), Can-Am stated it would adapt in step with the evolution of the market and would offer adaptors if needed.

Active Regen Braking and Backing Up

One particularly interesting feature Can-Am has added to its bikes is active regenerative braking. Passive regenerative braking on electric bikes has been around for years. The rider twists off the accelerator and the bike slows itself using the electric motor. The happy byproduct of this system is that the motor sends the electricity created by this deceleration back into the battery.

But Can-Am has added something else to the mix. On its two bikes, this active regeneration means that, after rolling off the throttle, the rider can twist the throttle beyond its neutral position up to roughly 6 degrees to enable additional regen braking. It’s an interesting solution to the challenge of how to best increase the efficiency of a motorcycle without adding regen to the traditional friction brakes.

I found it best to use this feature at high speeds where each additional degree of the grip’s twists increased the regen braking. At speeds below 30 mph it felt very binary, either on or off. I could see myself using this in certain situations while turning it off when tackling anything off-road. A bumpy trail is not the place to accidentally enable an unexpected stop.

The reverse throttling also introduces another feature: a reverse gear. If you happen to find yourself stuck on an incline with limited shoe grip, the bike propelling itself in reverse with a twist of the throttle can be the extra help a person needs to get out of this pickle.

Bright and Easy

Can-Am’s 10.25-inch screen doesn’t suffer the fate of the digital displays found on some other bikes. The touchscreen was easy to read even while wearing polarized sunglasses in the blazing mid-day sun.

The bike does support CarPlay (but not Android Auto) with a wired connection. Both bikes have a cubby where the traditional gas tank sits with a USB port that connects and charges your device. Navigating through the settings while riding is a simple affair with your left thumb. Two thumb controllers activate settings, while a third selection and active toggle make for easy adjustments to mode, regen, and other settings.

When the bike isn’t in motion, the touchscreen unlocks and you can interact with it. Over-the-air updates will be available for the display, but those updates will not extend to the powertrain or battery system.

Can-Am is Back, in EV Form

The Pulse (and Origin for the tall folks) are Can-Am’s first two-wheeled motorcycles in nearly 40 years. It would have been easy for the brand to return with a gas-powered dual-sport. Instead, the company opted for a more difficult route.

It could have purchased parts from third-party suppliers. But true to its history, Can-Am spent years designing all of its powertrain and battery components. The electric motor was built to its specifications by partner Rotax, the same Austrian company that built the rotary motors for the original Can-Am motorcycles. Both companies are subsidiaries of BRP.

Even the battery pack got the same treatment, although Can-Am would not name the supplier of its cylindrical cells. That internal research and development hard work has paid off with an electric commuter motorcycle that immediately holds its own with competitors. And you can even ride it backward if you want.