Stop us if you’ve heard this one. Husqvarna is teasing a new electric motorcycle concept, called the E-Pilen (which sounds vaguely dirty to our South African ears). The bike doesn’t have a launch date or a price as yet, just a short teaser video showing off the new e-ride.
South Africans might be more familiar with Husqvarna as a brand as it pertains to generators or lawnmowers, but, like Honda, they’re responsible for motorcycles as well. The Swedish company’s not quite like their motor vehicle counterpart Volvo, though — it’s hard to be incredibly safe on a motorcycle. That’s the case with the E-Pilen as well, which is styled after its range of road bikes.
One big E-Pilen
What we do know about the bike is that it’s designed mostly for getting to work and back. The electric motor produces a modest 8kW (about 10HP) and the bike will feature a range of about 100km. Actual motor specs are a mystery for now, as is the top speed but we don’t expect it’ll be very fast. You probably won’t go screaming about on one, but acceleration should be typically EV+motorcycle nippy. That’ll be hair-raising on its own.
Husqvarna joins several other large brands, from BMW to Triumph to South Africa’s own BST, in fielding an electronic motorcycle. None of those are really commercially available just yet either, but we’re keen to throw a leg over any and all of them. A stealth motorcycle? What urban ninja (looking to save on gas money) could ask for more?
