Back in September, 2020, we spotted the upcoming Husqvarna e-Pilen in some presentation documents. At the time, Husky parent company Pierer Mobility AG (PMAG) was speaking to its investors about the future and said that the e-Pilen would likely be unveiled as a 2022 model. A couple of months later, in December, 2020, CEO Stefan Pierer talked about the electric motors that PMAG was collaborating on with Bajaj.
Two motors were in development under this partnership, Pierer said: a 4kW one and an 8/10kW one. Husqvarna also planned an e-Scooter, which accounts neatly for the 4kW one, but what about the 8/10kW unit? On April 26, 2021, it appears that the answer to that question is the e-Pilen concept. According to the Swedish brand, the e-Pilen concept unveiled today is powered by an 8kW (just under 11 horsepower) motor. Battery range is a claimed 100 kilometers, or 62 miles.
Husqvarna didn’t go too deeply into specifics just yet, since the e-Pilen introduced here is currently just a concept. However, one line in particular stands out. It says, “the E-Pilen Concept features a modular and swappable battery system allowing the power pack to be exchanged, extending the appeal and utility of electric motorcycles to those considering the switch.”
The Future Is Electric:
When Stefan Pierer talked about the upcoming e-Pilen concept last December he did bring up this probability, and we noted that the Freeride E-XC already uses a removable, swappable battery it calls a Power Pack. That was, however, about four months prior to when KTM teamed up with Honda, Piaggio, and Yamaha to work on swappable batteries together. Honda also has convenient swappable batteries that it calls Power Packs, which it’s been using since at least 2019. It’s worth noting here that Honda also just announced its electrification plans on April 23, 2021, at which point it called out the importance of that electric consortium deal.
While we can’t say for sure that the e-Pilen will share swappable battery technology with any other EVs, there’s enough circumstantial evidence here to make you wonder. In any case, even as shrouded in shadow as this e-Pilen video teaser is, what we can see of the design looks quite promising. We look forward to learning more about the production model in the not-too-distant future.
Source: Husqvarna