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Iconic motorcycle brand Royal Enfield is in the “advanced” stages of developing its first electric bike for a launch next year, as global manufacturers scale up investments to try to crack the burgeoning market for high-performance electric bikes.
Founded in the English Midlands in 1901 before moving to India, Royal Enfield bills itself as the world’s longest-running motorcycle brand and has in recent years expanded globally, from the US to Thailand, tapping a cult following for its retro bikes.
B Govindarajan, Royal Enfield’s chief executive, told the Financial Times that falling costs for electric vehicles would allow the company to launch its first model in the next financial year, which starts in April 2025.
“Our focus will be on a gorgeous-looking, very differentiated electric vehicle,” he said, adding that while “no one is making money in the electric world as of now . . . the cost of an electric vehicle is rapidly changing”.
“In a year’s time, when we enter with the product, we’ll be competitive,” Govindarajan said.
EV sales growth has slowed around the world as manufacturers struggle with driving range and high costs, while developing high-quality electric motorcycles has proved particularly tricky.
Compared with four-wheel vehicles, motorcycles have limited space for batteries, requiring more frequent charging or swapping of batteries, while profit margins are lower than for bikes powered by an internal combustion engine.
Govindarajan said Royal Enfield would probably opt for a “fixed battery with fast charging” instead of battery-swapping. Anuj Dua, head of Royal Enfield’s Asia-Pacific business, said its electric bike was in the “advanced development” stage.
In Japan, Yamaha Motor has set an ambitious target to make 90 per cent of its motorcycle sales electric by 2050, but the group has been forced to push back its previous goal of selling 10 electric models by the end of this year to mid-2025. Honda plans to invest ¥500bn ($3bn) over the next decade as it aims to sell 4mn electric bikes a year by 2030.
US motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson this month secured $89mn in federal funding to expand the production of its electric motorcycles in Pennsylvania.
In 2022, Royal Enfield invested in Spanish electric motorcycle maker Stark Future. It then previewed an electric prototype of its 450cc-engine Himalayan bike at last year’s Milan motorcycle show.
Analysts said producing commercially viable, high-performance electric motorcycles remained a challenge.
“For an electric vehicle to churn out that kind of performance, power and torque . . . is highly demanding,” said Varun Baxi, a car industry analyst at stockbroker Nirmal Bang in Mumbai. “The technology needs to be more evolved.”
Royal Enfield has enjoyed rapid growth in India, the world’s largest motorcycle market by sales volume, dominating the market for “midsize” models popular with affluent Indians.
These are larger than India’s ubiquitous budget scooters but smaller than prestige bikes produced by brands such as Harley-Davidson or Triumph. Models typically cost between Rs150,000 ($1,800) and Rs400,000 each.
However, the company has lost market share as more domestic and global brands launch midsize models in India, leading it to turn to exports for growth.
The transition to EVs in India has so far been led by scooters, with companies such as SoftBank-backed Ola Electric and Bajaj developing models that go for about Rs100,000.
Ola made a successful stock market debut on Friday in India’s largest initial public offering so far this year.
India’s government has launched subsidy schemes to accelerate the transition to EVs and attract global manufacturers such as Tesla to set up factories in the country, with mixed results so far. Royal Enfield’s parent Eicher has applied for subsidies under India’s production-linked incentive scheme for EVs.
Govindarajan said while adoption of electric motorcycles would “take some time”, it was moving faster than he initially expected. “India is very committed as a country on the technology adoption,” he said.
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