Ducati, the balzy Italina motorcycle maker, has hinted their desires to make electric motorcycles before, but it’s committing in a more meaningful way. Ducati CEO, Claudio Domenicali, told guests at a Spanish event that the “future is electric” and the company was “not far from starting production” on its own two-wheeled EV. Regional Managing Director Eduoard Lotthé had hinted at plans in 2017, but this is about as official as it gets.
Domenicali provided little about the upcoming e-line, although we can only speculate that this won’t be a leisurely cruiser given Ducati’s history. Lotthé had suggested something might appear in 2021, though that was far from a definitive statement.
The company is late to the party, however. There are already numbers of brands offering electric motorcycles, and even seemingly traditional outfits like Harley-Davidson have jumped in. Ducati has signaled its desire for electric bikes in the past through its Zero concept and its partnerships on electric bicycles, though, so it’s more a matter of following through than any kind of philosophical opposition to the idea. The question is whether or not the electric motorcycle will be strictly one model or a whole line. We’ll have more to this story later in the year
