FTN Motion launched its New Zealand-made electric motorbike, the Streetdog, in 2021. It has a top speed of 50km/h and can be ridden on a restricted car licence.
The new model, the Streetdog80, will be available later this year and has a top speed of 80km/h, meaning it will require riders to hold a motorcycle licence.
FTN Motion moved to the Tron earlier this year after having been based in the capital.
FTN general manager Michel Roncara said the Streetdog80 has been a long time coming.
“Since the beginning of FTN Motion, people have asked us if a faster Streetdog was on the cards. Over the last 12 months, we’ve been developing the new Streetdog80 to meet customer demand.”
FTN Motion co-founder Luke Sinclair said the Streetdog80 not only marked the first production run from the new purpose-built Hamilton factory, but was also going to be the first model available to Australasian customers.
“We took the Streetdog to Sydney and Melbourne towards the end of 2023 and had an incredible response from our roadshow and test rides. Congestion and parking are massive problems in most main centres. The typical daily commute is around 15km with a single person in a car.”
Like the original moped-class Streetdog, the Streetdog80 has a range of up to 80km and also features 30 litres of lockable storage, an alarm-activated wheel lock, and its battery can be charged on a household power socket.
FTN Motion was founded by Luke Sinclair, Kendall Bristow and Saskia Thornton in 2020 with the mission to reduce congestion and decarbonise daily commutes.
FTN Motion general manager Michel Roncara and founder Luke Sinclair with the Streetdog in Australia. Photo / Aaron Lam
Since then, the start-up has outgrown its premises in Wellington’s Haining Street and opened its new headquarters and manufacturing workshop in Te Rapa’s Brent Greig Lane.
Sinclair, originally from Waiuku, and co-chief executive Kendall Bristow are no strangers to Hamilton - both studied mechanical engineering at the University of Waikato.
“Moving our manufacturing to Hamilton was an essential step in our journey to scale production, particularly as we enter Australia,” Sinclair said.
The Streetdog80 has an estimated price of $14,500 and is built to order. A reservation list has been opened on the FTN Motion website.
There are currently more than 160 Streetdogs on New Zealand streets.
The Streetdog was named after Bristow’s dog Mac, which he adopted from an SPCA shelter.
When asked what FTN stood for in the company’s name, Sinclair was reluctant to answer. “It’s very immature... At uni, Kendall and I used to listen to this song and it was in the lyrics... It stands for f*** the norm.”
