Ducati has presented its first electric motorcycle prototype for the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup, but their CEO, Jason Chinnock, said Bloomberg Television they need to improve battery range and performance before an e-bike will be ready for sale.
Chinnock thinks it will take several years for battery technology to evolve enough to make it feasible. “Once that is evolved to the point where it makes sense for us to integrate it in, where we can address performance and range and weight, that’s the trifecta. It still needs to be distinctly a Ducati." he added.
Ducati is exploring alternative fuels and technologies to reduce their carbon footprint, and they want to make sure that their electric motorcycle will have good performance, range, and weight before releasing it.
Chinnock's perspective is not only different from Volkswagen's adoption of batteries for their electric cars, but also completely opposite to Harley-Davidson Inc.'s eagerness towards e-bikes. In 2019, they released LiveWire as their first plug-in model and even went on to separate its electric motorcycle section in 2020 through a special purpose acquisition company merger that formed the LiveWire Group Inc.
Compared to passenger cars, the motorcycle segment is struggling more with electrification. Honda Motor Co. recently announced plans to create 10 electric models by 2025 worldwide, but BMW AG has only presented concept bikes thus far.
Source: Bloomberg