178 kilograms of combat weight, 208 hp power, 1.1-liter internal combustion engine: The award of the title "Best Bike of Show" at the motorcycle trade fair EICMA 2019 was - again - no surprise. Why was the Ducati Streetfighter V4 awarded? That's not clear. Perhaps because the engineers have been able to put a bit more torque on the road in the twelve months since the last show?
Assuming performance leaps as a crucial parameter, actually another vehicle should have been the star of the fair: The Eva Ribelle, the new electric street fighter from the Italian manufacturer Energica. It will be delivered from 2020 with a 21.5 kWh battery pack. So far, only 13.4 kWh fit into the battery.
The increase will allow coverage of 400 km urban, 230 km on the highway and 180 km on the highway. In addition, the new batteries should be loaded in less than 60 minutes to 95 percent. The Ribelle is not only the strongest standard e-bike on the market, it also stands for a generational leap.
BMW wants to wait for the right time
Manufacturers such as Honda or BMW hesitate, however, with the consistent entry into the electrical business, although they have many years of experience in the automotive sector and could cross-subsidize the costs. Although the Munich showed the successful study DC Roadster, the historic BMW ingredients such as a battery pack in the typical form of a boxer engine and an open cardan drive receives.
But the customer can not buy the E-Boxer in the foreseeable years, even another e-scooter as a little sister of the C-evolution can be expected. BMW points out that you have to wait and make the right time to get started in e-mobility. Timo Resch, Head of Sales and Marketing at BMW Motorrad, says: "If electric mobility is gaining momentum in the two-wheel sector, we will also be offering attractive vehicles."
E-drives revive brands
The entry into electromobility does not only inspire famous brands. E-Power has long breathed life again - preferably from Italy - a new life: Malaguti announced for 2021 e-bikes with initially 8 kWh battery capacity. Italjet plans an e-scooter for the model year 2020. The new flagship of the traditional brand Lambretta, a scooter with 325 cc, should be built quickly as an electric version and compete against the E-Vespa. Peugeot also wants to electrify its vehicle range, the City Roller E-Ludix should already be in January 2020 at the dealer.
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Photo gallery: The electro novelties on two wheelsIn addition to the established name Zero - with around 1400 e-registrations in Germany - and Harley-Davidson, new providers are also coming from the USA. One of the startups is called Hadin, founded in 2016 in California. The first model shown at the Milan fair is called Panther and is said to offer a range of 160 kilometers. 1500 pieces of the baroque e-chopper should be assembled in China in 2020.
The most consistent e-bike comes from South Africa
The optically most consistent electric motorcycle on the other hand offers the wheel and carbon specialist BST Blackstone TEK from Johannesburg. Together with the former Ducati designer Pierre Terblanche, the South Africans have launched a motorcycle called Hypertek. It dispenses with the traditional look with "engine block" and "tank". The only 205 kg heavy machine is to come 300 km far, with a loading time of about 40 minutes.
More conventional, but also cheaper offer the Chinese manufacturers. Niu currently sells about 820,000 vehicles worldwide and dominates the German market with its scooters, numerous newcomers from China follow on the heels.
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The new Horwin brand is building the CR6 and CR6 Pro models. Two responsive motorcycles with six-speed transmission, a range up to 150 km and a top speed of 105 km / h. Sales Manager Walter Bauer expects good opportunities on the German market at prices of around 6,000 euros: "We have dealers throughout Flensburg and Garmisch."
Also, the Chinese manufacturer Voge is pushing with force on the European market. In addition to plenty of boring burners, the brand presented the e-bike ER 10, with a battery capacity of 4.2 kWh and a range of 100 km, which is to cost in the US market around 4750 US dollars.
Home game for Taiwan
More expensive, but also of a different technical caliber are the e-naked bikes of the Taiwanese manufacturer Otto Bike. In addition to the model MCR, a two-seater with over 220 kilometers range, the company also builds the single-seater MCR S and the Enduro MXR. In Taiwan, the models already drive, when a sales for the German market is to be built, is still unclear.
In the sales advantage, however, is the scooter specialist Kymco, which will deliver its planned e-motorcycles through the dealer network of MSA Weiden. RevoNex, introduced in Milan, is already quite close to mass production. According to Kymco boss Allen Ko the 205 km / h fast E-Sportbike in the year 2021 with the dealers.
Compared with this strong Chinese and Taiwanese commitment, the major Japanese manufacturers have so far held back noticeably. Suzuki and Honda: not a word about electric propulsion.
Only Yamaha has an electric concept
Only the development department of Yamaha seems to be seriously concerned with the electric drive. At the Tokyo Motor Show in early November, the Japanese manufacturer presented concept studies E01 and E02, two e-scooters designed to replace 125- and 50-cubic-centimeter burners in the urban area.
Takeshi Higuchi, who is responsible for Smart Powered Vehicles at Yamaha Motor Europe, says: "E-mobility is a high priority for Yamaha, especially against the background of European market development:" Electric motorsport has a bright future, undoubtedly everything is just a matter of timing. "
