Can-Am Gives A Behind The Scenes Look At Its Electric Design Process

From sketches on paper to clay models, the design processes of the Origin and the Pulse have many moving parts.

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Janaki Jitchotvisut

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Jul 24, 2023 at 2:22pm ET

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It’s been some time since we last heard from Can-Am about its ambitious new electric motorcycle project. The first two models, called Origin and Pulse, were originally announced by the company in August 2022. By October 2022, the OEM announced that it had broken ground on its new production facility for these bikes in Querétaro, Mexico, where it already had established an existing production campus focused on its Sea-Doo personal watercraft and Rotax engine manufacturing.

Fast-forward to July 2023, and the company just posted a new video on its official YouTube page. It’s something a little more than a teaser and offers an approximately three-minute glimpse into the behind-the-scenes process of crafting these designs from the ground up.

While Can-Am announced that the first two motorbikes in its electric lineup would be called the Origin and the Pulse, and that they’ll both be powered by an all-new Rotax E-Power electric motor, no specifications or other details have been made public just yet. According to the timeline put forth in 2022, production is planned to start in 2024, and we could see specifications later in 2023.

Gallery: Can-Am Origin and Pulse Design Renders

This video goes beyond the renders previously released in 2022 and does a reasonable job of fleshing out the pre-production process in three dimensions. While the renders clearly and visibly exist in a virtual space, the video shows one craftsman hard at work on sculpting a clay model in a workshop. Later on, we see another worker sculpting a body panel, as well as that body panel getting a coat of paint in a spray booth.

Throughout the video, the team talks about design, ergonomics, and who these bikes are for. Some of the design, they say, is influenced by the flight of snowy owls and how they move themselves through the air. It will remain to be seen how much of that influence comes through in the final design once it rolls out in production form, but it’s certainly an intriguing visual. In a way, it’s also an auditory cue, since electric bikes might make a high-pitched whirring sound, but don’t have the same engine noises typically associated with combustion bikes.

As we move further into the back half of 2023, we expect to learn more about Can-Am's upcoming electric motorcycle lineup in the coming months. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date when we do.

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