Ducati is the last big European brand to get into the lower capacity motorcycle space. That could change when the company eventually makes its first electric two wheelers.
- Company says 11kW and 35kW EVs have market potential
- Will take time as technology not yet in place
- Focusing on learning from Moto E for now
BMW, Triumph, KTM and even MV Agusta have all tied up with partners (most of them Indian) to produce a line up of low capacity, cost-effective motorcycles. Even Harley Davidson, the king of big, bad motorcycles has gone down this route. The last of the large and premium international brands to resist making smaller bikes is Ducati, but that might change in the coming years.
In a recent interview with Marco Biondi, sales and marketing head, Ducati APAC, we learned that the company thinks that there is interest in certain types of EVs. We asked if Ducati might finally go into the lower capacity segment with electric vehicles and Biondi said that this could be the case. He went on to say that Ducati thinks that there will be a market for 35kW (47.5hp) electric bikes and even for 11kW (15hp) EV bikes.
However, he cautions that this probably won’t be anytime soon as it all depends on how quickly battery density levels will get higher. “For now you know we are very much involved in MotoE so we learn a lot about this kind of technology. Because what we produce for the teams racing in MotoE is simply for an end-customer and is not affordable.”
Biondi also made it clear that even if Ducati were to look at these segments, they will want to maintain their premium positioning and the core ethos that comes with their products. “Today, the technology is simply not there. Bikes need to be light and they need to do 250km range, otherwise it doesn’t make sense. We have it in the plans, but if and when this happens is not clear yet.”
Given the beauty and performance seen so far with the Ducati V21L, the company’s brand new MotoE bike, would you be excited about a new low cost Ducati EV? Let us know in the comments.
Ved Janve
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
Dinshaw Magol
