An Electric Italian Stallion Is Coming
Electric motorcycles are starting to really come into their own. I made a prediction that 2019 would be a breakout year for electric bikes. It’s shaping up to be true. Ducati is in the game.
At a Motostudent event in Spain, Claudio Domenicali, Ducati’s CEO, said “The future is electric, we’re not far from starting series production.”
The Italian publication Corsedimoto, reported Domenicali saying the quote above. It has everyone wondering what Ducati’s electric bike will be. Ducati has yet to release any information on an upcoming electric bike, but it’s clear Ducati will not only build electric motorcycles but sees it as the future for the brand.
Seeing as how VW Group ownsDucati and that company’s next serious large-scale initiative is electrification, this comes as little surprise.
No Stranger to Electric Bikes
As electrek points out, Ducati has experience with electric bikes. It has partnered with companies to make electric bicycles and it worked with Milan Polytechnic School of Design developing an electric concept bike called the Ducati Zero. The company’s CEO was also spotted riding a Ducati Hypermotard that had a Zero FX powertrain.
With all that in mind, it’s clear that the Italian motorcycle manufacturer has electric bikes on the brain. It comes at the right time, too. Harley-Davidson revealed the LiveWire, Lightning Motorcycles just announced a new model, and the world seems full of electric motorcycle startups.
Ducati positioned itself wel to take advantage of the EV market. It has VW Group technology to pull from. Many riders see Ducati as a premium motorcycle manufacturer. I would expect people to balk less at a high-priced electric Ducati than they would, say, the Harley LiveWire.
That doesn’t mean I think Ducati should put out a $30,000 electric motorcycle. However, the company could probably charge a little more than the competition and get away with it.