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Uzone.id – In this era of electric vehicles, it turns out that there is an automotive industry that does not want to develop its electrified products too quickly. One of them is in the motorbike industry, many motorbike brands are already big globally but until now have not immediately launched their electric motorbikes due to the lack of interest.
Reporting from Visordown, one automotive company that does not want to develop its electric motorbike business too quickly is BMW Motorrad. BMW Motorrad is the motorcycle division of the German automotive manufacturer. Even though it has launched several electric motorbikes, this brand has stated that it does not want to develop larger products such as sports models.
Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW Motorrad, said BMW has no intention of developing an electric sports motorbike due to minimal demand for the vehicle.
At the same time, we closely observe market competition and its impact. When you combine these factors, you conclude that the time may not yet be right for high-performance electric motorcycles,” said Flasch.
Flasch only took over as chairman of BMW Motorrad at the end of last year and at the start of this year was the driving force behind rumors of BMW’s potential entry into MotoGP competition. However, in a recent interview with Italian publication Motociclismo, Flasch stated that BMW is not currently interested in immediately developing an electric sports bike.
“We believe there will be no need for larger electric motorcycles in the next two or three years,” Flasch continued.
BMW Motorrad currently offers two electric motorbike models, namely the CE 02 which is comparable to a 125 cc motorbike, and the larger spec is the CE 04. These two models provide exploratory insight, while also showing that BMW is not anti-electric motorbikes.
In fact, if you look at the field, BMW is not the only two-wheeled automotive brand that has not launched a larger model such as a sport in the electric motorbike segment. Big Japanese brands such as Honda and Yamaha still rely on scooter models for the electric motorbikes they sell globally.
Even Ducati, which is the main supplier of the world’s electric motorbike racing event, namely MotoE, has not yet launched a mass-produced electric motorbike that is sold retail to consumers.
Indeed, there are several brands that already sell electric motorbikes in the form of sports or big bikes, such as Zero and Energica. However, both can be said to be new brands which have a smaller risk if the products they release are not successfully accepted by consumers.
It seems that several automotive brands are introducing their electric motorbikes in the form of scooters as a strategy to provide electric vehicle options. On the other hand, it also shows that the company is paying attention to the environment by launching motorbikes that produce no emissions.
On the other hand, consumers have not shown much interest in high-performance electric motorbikes. So these models are still offered in the more traditional internal combustion engine drivetrain. Even though conventional engine models have to face strict emission regulations, it seems they are still careful in expanding their business.
This industry’s cautious attitude towards high-performance electric motors is in contrast to that of car manufacturers. Where car manufacturers are competing to launch electrified vehicles with impressive capabilities and longer range. However, factors such as consumer attitudes, cost considerations, and infrastructure development still influence the growth rate of the electric motorbike market.
In short, the decision by BMW Motorrad and several other automotive brands not to produce sports electric motorbikes underlines their strategy to align with market dynamics. However, they remain committed to lower emission mobility and continue to offer several models that are considered better suited to current market demands. Perhaps they realized high-performance electric motors needed further maturation before major investments were made.
