With a capacity of 660 motorcycles a month, Flextronics’ production plant in Sárvár has started making the two most popular models of Brammo's electric motorcycles

Brammo, Inc. announced on Tuesday that it has begun rolling out its Enertia and Enertia Plus models at the Flextronics production plant in Sárvár, Hungary, Mail Tribune reports.

Brammo, the American manufacturer of electric motorcycles, signed an international distribution deal with Flextronics last year. Part of the deal was to have Flextronics manufacture the electric motorcycles for the European market.

Seven new models have been developed for 2012 and, according to Craig Bramscherr, Brammo founder and chief executive, the rush is on to get all of them into production.

Brammo is following Toyota's manufacturing model, Bramscher added, which means building bikes as close to consumption as possible. "Final assembly is a small part of a completed vehicle," Bramscher said. The Sárvár production line's capacity is 660 motorcycles a month for the European market, and even for North America and Asian markets.

The new production line is seen as one of the most advanced electric motorcycle assembly lines in the world.

Brian Wismann, Director of Product Development at Brammo said: "After 8 months of solid, concerted effort on both sides we have reached this milestone, and I couldn't be more proud of the team. We have been extremely impressed with how much Flextronics brings to the table in the way of manufacturing and quality process owing to their vast experience as a Tier 1 automotive supplier and contract manufacturer. This partnership gives Brammo the ability to scale production and access global markets and the benefit of strengthening its reputation as the builder of the world's finest electric motorcycles."

Brammo has a significant number of customer and fleet orders that it will be fulfilling this year. "The number of (finished) units is still in the hundreds, but the back-order volume is greater than what we've shipped," said Bramscher.

The first 100 bikes of every production model will be built in Ashland and tested before turning over mass production to its global manufacturing partner.

Within a few years, Brammo plans to manufacture its motorcycles in Europe, Asia and North America. "We're almost two-thirds there," Bramscher said.

The company will announce its North American manufacturing site next spring.

One of the start-up company's surprises has been the potential growth of its power packs.

"We thought for sure we would not be in the battery business," Bramscher said. "But we found through racing and research and development that we could actually build a better mousetrap around our battery packs. That's one of the reasons why we partnered with Flextronics so we could globally produce Brammo power packs. We're starting to get queries from other companies and it could definitely become a revenue stream."

He said Brammo's initial e-bike, Enertia, attracted experienced riders and neophytes concerned about carbon footprints. Its selection now covers virtually every taste. "We've moved from niche to mainstream mostly through migration of technology around the batteries and gearbox and drivetrain."

The company has more than 30 employees at its Ashland headquarters and has posted openings for additional mechanical, electrical and software engineers. "This is one of those events that looks small, but feels really big to the company," Bramscher said. "The electronic vehicle markets are changing and there is a lot of excitement with (California electric car makers) Tesla and Fisker. We're trying to get rolling as quickly as possible."