Royal Enfield has offered up a glimpse of its future by revealing a teaser shot of its first-ever electric motorcycle due in 2025.
Dubbed the Royal Enfield Electrik01, a cropped shot of the prototype was revealed to the Autocar India publication with a smattering of details.
Though the shot doesn’t give too much away about what the machine looks like, it is nonetheless indicative of where the Indian firm is in terms of research and development for what could prove one of the most significant new electric launches in the coming years.
The image only shows part of the fairing and a rear-ward view of the nose, but it is clear Royal Enfield won’t be deviating far from the ‘classic vintage’ style of its current range with the Electrik01.
Even so, the image does suggest a distinctive look with the curved front-fairing and frame tube which stretches low and wide to incorporate the battery pack, but also curves down at the top to compensate for the omission of a traditional fuel tank hump.
Interestingly, the Electrik01 also features an unusual girder fork suspension configuration, a telling nod to the past while embracing the future with its powertrain.
According to Autocar India, the Electrik01 has been codenamed internally as QFD (Quality Function Development) and has been built to undergo customer research to ensure it comes to market capable of the range and performance expected by buyers, while no doubt retaining the brand’s ethos for good value motorcycling.
Indeed, Royal Enfield’s entry into the nascent full-size electric market is significant for a number of reasons, chiefly the firm’s desire to steer the model away from premium prices, one of the more vocal criticisms expressed towards EV models.
The Electrik01’s creation comes weeks after Royal Enfield CEO B Govindarajan told BikeDekho that the firm is bringing its first EV model forward in its product launch schedule.
Spurred on by the growing uptake of electric models in India - the world’s largest motorcycle market - he said ‘we have made investments in EV space in terms of creating physical infrastructure for testing of vehicles and associated preparedness’.
The comments come amid a major range expansion for Royal Enfield to capitalise on rising sales outside of its domestic market, including the Royal Enfield Meteor 350, currently ranked as the UK’s best-selling full-size motorcycle.
As a result, though the Electrik01 will arrive sooner than originally planned, it is still not slated to arrive before 2025.
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