At the end of April, 2021, Husqvarna dropped a short teaser for its e-Pilen electric motorcycle concept. It’s been working on both the e-Pilen and the e-Scooter for some time now, and in March, we had reason to suspect we’d see the e-Scooter show its face sometime in 2022. Now, it seems, Husqvarna parent company Pierer Mobility AG (PMAG) confirmed that both electric Huskies will hit the market in 2022.
For some time, KTM and partner Bajaj have been collaborating on development of a shared 48V electric two-wheeler platform capable of producing between 4 and 11kW (equivalent to about 5.36 to 14.75 horsepower). A variation of this platform is already in use in the electric Bajaj Chetak scooter, but those two Huskies will be the first on-road electric bikes launched under the Husqvarna brand.
In an April, 2021, company presentation, PMAG laid out its plans for both 2021 and into the following years. Overall, motorcycle sales over 120cc largely increased around the world in 2020. PMAG, which is also concentrating on development in the lucrative e-bike market with GASGAS and Husqvarna, sees electric powered two-wheelers more broadly as an important opportunity for growth. In Europe particularly, e-bikes are becoming exponentially more popular, with 58 percent growth year-on-year from 2019 to 2020. PMAG also reports expectations that the market will continually double year-on-year until at least 2025.
E-bikes aren’t e-Scooters or e-Pilens, though. Luckily, PMAG’s report shows that both electrics are officially on the schedule for some time in 2022. We know that’s an entire 12-month span, but since we’re almost at the halfway mark in 2021, it also isn’t very far away.
PMAG forecasts that the 50 to 125cc motorbike class in Europe will shift to at least 50 percent electric over the next 10 years. For that reason, the group aims to “become a global leader for electric powered two-wheel vehicles in the power range 4 to 11 kW (48 Volt) with strategic cooperation with Bajaj and with CFMOTO.”
Is there any chance that these two motorbikes will also pull that swappable battery agreement with Honda, Yamaha, and Piaggio into the picture? Although KTM was specifically named and not PMAG more broadly, KTM and Husqvarna now share so many pieces and processes, it’s not an unreasonable leap in logic.
Plans can and do change, even when they’re officially confirmed by internal company documents. External forces, like pandemics, semiconductor shortages, and shipping vessel fiascos in the Suez Canal can and do happen. Still, if all goes according to plan, it seems that we won’t have to wait much longer to have these questions answered.
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Source: Pierer Mobility AG