The first electric motorcycle from Royal Enfield will hit the market in around two years and new details have emerged from the Q1 earnings call
It is no secret that Royal Enfield is working on a range of electric motorcycles for the domestic and international markets. Previously, prototype images appeared on the internet and some details were revealed by Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director at Eicher Motor. He has reasserted that EVs will play a big part in the brand’s future plans.
We may not see a separate standalone entity from Royal Enfield to run its electric vehicle business though in contrary to some of the other big two-wheeler manufacturers. The Chennai-based manufacturer has been exploring all the potential options available. In a recent earnings call, Lal acknowledged that EVs will drive growth for Eicher Motors and Royal Enfield in the future.
The brand is currently shortlisting supplier partners for battery management systems, controllers and electric motors and is aiming to make a “gorgeous and disruptive motorcycle” according to B Govindarajan, CEO of Royal Enfield. The zero-emission vehicle business is expected to get the major portion of the allotted Rs. 1,000 crore capital expenditure as well.
A new team of engineers has also been recruited to accelerate the product development and other activities as test mules are already running, said Govindarajan. As for the launch timeline, it has been noted that Royal Enfield’s first electric motorcycle will arrive in around two years. Besides fast-pacing the development, Royal Enfield is focussed on bringing a “totally disruptive” product.
Royal Enfield is preparing to roll out 1 to 1.5 lakh electric motorcycles from its existing production facility before expanding it to the new manufacturing unit in Cheyyar, Tamil Nadu. RE has a host of 350 cc, 450 cc and 650 cc motorcycles in the pipeline while a new line of 440 cc and 750 cc offerings is said to be in the works as well.
Amidst growing competition in the middleweight segment, Lal noted that his brand will be satisfied with holding an 80 per cent market share as opposed to holding a 90 per cent market share. Recently, Harley-Davidson introduced the X440 in partnership with Hero MotoCorp while the Bajaj/Triumph Speed 400 is already a contender for the best motorcycle of the year.