Since 2018, MV Agusta has been working on reviving the Cagiva name, but with an electric motor, and now new boss Timur Sardarov (pictured above) confirms it is still part of their plan.
“Cagiva production will resume next year, at the latest in early 2021, and will be dedicated to electric urban mobility,” he told Italian site Motociclismo.
The interview is unclear about what the electric vehicle will be: scooter, motorcycle, e-bike?
“But we will not make scooters, they will be motorcycles,” says Timur who took over from Giovanni Castiglioni last year.
Cagiva V-RaptorThen he seems to contradict himself.
“Easy to drive and below 4kW, because at the moment no-one who produces beyond this threshold can generate profits.
“In six or seven years, it will probably be possible to reach the profit with vehicles equivalent to 350cc.”
Cagiva return
Giovanni when he was still boss in 2018When I met with MV Agusta boss Giovanni Castiglioni in July 2018, he talked about the electric Cagiva project and said he believed in the potential of electric bikes.
“There is a market for high-performing light bikes and that’s how the Cagiva electric bike project started,” he told me.
“From my pure personal experience, the torque, power and throttle response is great. You can have fun and you don’t scare the cows and the deers. It’s actually enjoyable.”
He said Cagiva electric bikes would start with 80km of range and reach 320km in the next five years with a range of bikes from commuters to off-road.
But he also said MV would not go into electric bikes because there is no market for high-performing electric street bikes.
John Kocinski’s Cagiva V594“People think the electric bike is for losers and the reality is it is not.
“But at the moment, its potential is in cities for short-range commuting from home to the office or for short trips.
“We don’t yet live in a world where you can live with an electric car. I would like to buy a Tesla, but only for driving from home to the office. I travel a lot by car and I can’t start my journey by doing a flight plan like in a plane.
“The charging infrastructure needs to improve first.”