All Aboard for this week’s feature highlighting the entrepreneurs and innovators who drive The Platform at Greer. This week, we’re getting on board with Real Motors, a Bootcamp company that’s on track for success.
The co-founders of Real Motors have a passion for vehicle design and anything that moves fast. They unveiled the design for their fully electric motorcycle earlier this year, but they’ve been sparking excitement in South Carolina’s innovation ecosystem for more than a year. Real Motors is currently raising a seed round of $3.5 million to bring Project: ARES to market by the end of 2025. The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) has provided financial fuel for the EV company’s development – awarding Real Motors a total of $75,000 in grant funding so far.
Photo provided by Real Motors
Real Motors joined The Platform at Greer Bootcamp Cohort 9 in May 2023. Their coach, Vickie Johnson, quickly put her passion behind the project. Vickie, an innovation strategy and growth specialist who works with our partners at BlueInc Strategies, hooked Real Motors up with her former employer, Michelin, where she worked for nearly 23 years.
Photo provided by Real Motors
As they created a working prototype of their EV motorcycle, the Real Motors team knew they would face a marketing challenge: Most people don’t associate fast or freedom with sustainability. Real Motors would have to reframe sustainability into desirability and focus on creating an entirely new desire for their creation.
Real Motors says the design of its “Electric Thrill Machine” is inspired by science fiction. In initial testing, the Project: ARES prototype can reach speeds of up to 90 to 100 miles per hour and can travel about 100 miles before the battery has to be recharged.
Photo provided by Real Motors
Earlier this year, Real Motors created quite a splash when it unveiled the design of Project: ARES. The announcement got coverage from 20 media outlets around the world. Uncrate wrote the model has “sci-fi aesthetics with a de-emphasis on obtrusive technology.” The review said ARES “leans heavily into a smooth, anime look that abruptly ends in exposed mechanicals as it moves rearward.”
Pipeburn said the designers’ backgrounds in automotive, consumer electronics, and vehicle design are
“mirrored in the creation of Project: ARES, which stands not just as a vehicle, but as a statement, a testament to the company’s philosophy that a motorcycle should be an icon that reflects one’s persona and to be an extension of one’s body.”
Real Motors has opened a new design studio at Monaghan Mill in Greenville. The company hopes to raise enough money to be able to bring Project: ARES to market in late 2025 at a consumer cost of about $20,000 each.