It’s a huge statement of intent for Kawasaki, and as president Hiroshi Ito gives a speech at Tokyo’s Port Hall Takeshiba regarding their future plans, specifically that they want the majority of their future two-wheeled vehicles to be electric by 2035.
There will be stages to the big plan, it’s not going to happen all at once. As of 2025 Team Green plan to have at least 10 (or more) hybrid and electric vehicles on the market, and then by 2035, there will be no bikes on the market solely powered by petrol.
That means electric, hybrid and potentially alternative fuel will take the forefront, as we have previously reported that they will not be solely relying on electric. One of these options is hydrogen, and the ‘river marked’ manufacturer has been investigating the possibilities of responsible fuel sources for some time.
I say ‘river marked’ brand, simply because Kawasaki has adopted the iconic River Mark logo initially chosen to represent the H2 and H2R to now be the signature of all models going forward. The logo represents the Japanese kanji for ‘kawa’ which means ‘river’. There’s a whole history lesson to be had there, and it’s an interesting one at that.
Anyway, perhaps the H2 and H2R will be a surprising all-electric release in the future to do battle with the Energica’s of the two-wheeled world, with uber-power and uber-cool status.
It's also not been a secret that electric projects have been in the pipeline for quite some time.
As for the all-electric motivation, both in the UK and Europe a line has been drawn in the proverbial sand for all petrol-powered vehicles to be banned from sale by 2035. Whether or not that line is pushed further as it nears remains to be seen, but it’s almost necessity for all big manufacturers to be considering their future place on the market.
From the chats we’ve had with manufacturers, every single one is working on an electric or alternative offering for their future vehicles. It’s not a matter of if, rather when.
So, get out there and buy a bike with a combustion engine whilst you still can if you’re gonna miss them!
