The European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers has hosted its annual conference on the future of the motorcycle industry, with decarbonisation the main focus.
As is perhaps to be expected the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers’ (ACEM) conference on the future of the motorcycle industry took a particular focus on decarbonisation.
From the enthusiast’s perspective it is a dull topic, and generally an uninspiring one because decarbonisation is generally associable with de-excitement. However, that does not change that decarbonisation is arguably the single largest issue in the automotive world as whole, including the motorcycle industry.
The electrification of motorcycling is already well underway, of course, and manufacturers are also exploring other alternatives such as hydrogen and synthetic fuels, the efficacy of which remain objectively uncertain.
Both obstacles and opportunities to decarbonisation were discussed, including securing raw materials, increasing investment in R&D, and cross-company standardisation through, for example, the Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC).
Additionally, the issue of charging infrastructure was raised. According to ACEM, this was “seen as a potential bottleneck in the path to lower CO2 emissions, as many Member States are still to deploy charging points in significant numbers.”
Speakers at the ACEM conference included ACEM president and Piaggio executive Michele Colaninno; eFuel Alliance MD Ralf Diemer; SBMC Coordinator, Bernard Gindroz; European Parliament member, Andreas Gluck; Director General for Vehicles at the European Association for Electromobility (AVERE), Mark Huitema; Antonio Perlot, ACEM Secretary General; Helfried Sorger, CTO for Powertrains at PMG; and Isabelle Vandoorne, Deputy Head of Unit, at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Transport and Mobility.
The full (two-hour) conference was recorded and can be viewed here.
