The first electric motorcycle under the KTM brand is most likely to be Electric Duke or E-Duke which is expected to make its official debut this year
Pierer Mobility, the parent company of Austrian motorcycle brand KTM, has confirmed the development of a fully electric motorcycle. This battery-powered motorcycle will be retailed under the KTM brand and is expected to share its internals and running gear with its Swedish counterpart.
The upcoming battery-powered motorcycle will be based on the Duke range of naked streetfighter bikes from KTM. This bike will share underpinnings and powertrain with Husqvarna E-Pilen which made its debut as a pre-production concept last year. Details of this development have been confirmed by Pierer Mobility recently.
KTM Duke Electric Motorcycle
This latest development has come to light through a presentation of preliminary revenues and earnings for the 2021 business year, thus confirming that an E-Duke is in development. Not much has been disclosed as of now apart from the fact that it will be based on its Swedish counterpart E-Pilen. This includes a fully electric powertrain featuring a fixed 5.5 kWh battery pack.
This battery pack will deliver energy to an electric motor with a nominal power output of 10 kW (13.4 bhp). Performance figures of E-Duke might be comparable to the brand’s entry-level Duke 125. Although officially not confirmed yet, KTM would be expecting a range of around 100km on a single charge since this is what Husqvarna claimed for E-Pilen.
Expected to be affordable
It can be argued that KTM might be taking a conservative approach as far as performance is concerned but that might be a good thing for the brand since it is venturing into uncharted territories of electric mobility. By keeping the performance and price within limit, the Austrian motorcycle brand may be able to target a wider section of buyers in most markets.
Coming to its design, the electric Duke or E-Duke, features a similar frame and rear suspension as its Swedish cousin but flaunts a sharper and more aggressive styling that fits the signature design of KTM. The image on display here could be a photograph of an actual prototype instead of a sketch of E-Duke since it is seen standing on a side stand.
Prospective India Launch
Apart from E-Pilen and E-Duke, Pierer Mobility has confirmed the development of two more electric motorcycles- KTM E10 and Freeride E LV. The former is a youth dirt bike for amateur riders whereas the latter appears to be a scrambler. It will be interesting to see if Pierer Mobility decides to bring E-Pilen and E-Duke to Indian shores in the near future. However, Pierer hasn’t commented on the same yet.
If it does, the bikes could be manufactured by Bajaj Auto at their newly designated site for their production facility in Akurdi, Maharashtra. The Indian bikemaker has invested over Rs 300 crore for this manufacturing facility dedicated towards the production of electric vehicles only.
