THE official supplier of race bikes for the MotoE championship has teamed up with carburettor and fuel-injection specialist Dell’Orto, to build a range of lightweight and affordable electric motorcycles.
The deal will see the companies design, develop and manufacture a completely new motor, battery, and control system for a range of motorcycles from 11kW (125cc equivalent) to 30kW which is almost equivalent to an A2 licence petrol bike.
Dell’Orto has been around for over 80 years and is a family-owned engineering business that’s famous for making carbs and fuel delivery systems for motorcycles. They supply some of the biggest names in the motorcycle industry including, KTM, Piaggio, BMW, Peugeot, and KYMCO and have a turnover of around $100m per year.
It’s safe to assume that the move comes amid pressure from global governments to phase out internal combustion engines in coming decades, with Dell’Orto with little or no experience in the area are probably looking to jump on that ship before it leaves the harbour.
From Energica’s side, the chance to work with a company with vast experience of high-volume manufacturing and established links to Indian and China are just too good to pass up. All of this makes the idea of a light to mid-weight electric motorcycle collaboration very interesting.
Livia Cevolini, CEO of Energica said: “Thanks to the know-how acquired and recognized internationally, Energica aims to start the development of this motorization, expanding our offer with a large volumes segment with high potential growth in the world. Our teams are already working on new solutions to meet the new market demands”
There is a good chance Energica already have some of the motor batteries and control systems almost ready to go and are using the Dell’Orto deal to help speed those products through to completion.
Davide Dell’Orto, the chief technical officer at Dell’Orto said: “This challenge well represents the continuous will of Dell’Orto to innovate not only in its core sector of internal combustion engines but also in the field of urban sustainable mobility that we consider to be one of the fastest-growing sectors for the future electric traction”
