Electric bike company Energica says its on its way back
Italian electric motorcycle brand Energica says it has begun the process of rising from the ashes of bankruptcy.
Italian electric motorcycle manufacturer Energica has issued a statement saying that new funding is in place and it has begun the long climb out of bankruptcy.
In July of this year, Energica announced that it had secured new investors and launched a restructuring process aimed at returning the company to full operation. In an update released this week, CEO Stefano Benatti explained that “the assignment of Energica that we referenced in our previous announcement is now completed.”
In other words, it has received funding from Singapore and is working to bring things back online.
“The first order of business with this fresh start is to restock parts for our motorcycles, so our current customers will be able to keep their machines on the road for many years to come,” Benatti said in a video posted on the brand’s YouTube channel. “The next objective is to resume production of all four existing models: the EGO+, the EVA Ribelle, the EsseEsse9+ and the Experia.”
As part of the process, Benatti says the company “will work to rebuild distribution and service points in our key markets and, over time, expand to markets where we haven’t been before.”
Benatti says this will all be directed from the company’s Italy headquarters but, perhaps notably, his announcement mentions only the development and operations side of things. Where the bikes will be manufactured isn’t addressed.
Energica was founded in Modena, Italy, in 2010 and quickly sought to position itself as a leader in the electric motorcycle market. On the whole, its bikes were well-received by moto-journalists, but perhaps less so by an electro-sceptic riding public.
(Sidebar: We wonder if Stark Future has studied the rise and fall of Energica?)
Energica positioned itself front and centre in the two-wheel EV market as one of the most premium of premium e-bike brands. It wasn’t interested in churning out cheap and cheerful urban runabouts. Instead, Energica wanted to go toe to toe with the best of the petrol-powered motorcycle makers. We’re talking Ducati, Triumph, Honda, et al.
But creating bikes that could compete in terms of performance and styling meant price tags far out of line with those of internal combustion-driven machines. Sales were disappointing, and Energica found itself trapped in the loop of chasing funding.
In the end, it got into bed with the questionable and now-bankrupt company Ideanomics - an organisation that had dealt in everything from nutritional supplements to Chinese broadband. When Ideanomics tanked amid a wave of fraud charges, Energica was dragged down with it.
Now seemingly back on stable financial ground. Energica appears to be taking an honest approach to the hard work ahead of it.
“Returning Energica to serial production and moving forward with innovation is not a simple or immediate process,” said Benatti. “We ask for your active engagement and patience.”
That doesn’t mean Energica isn’t dreaming big. In addition to setting its sights on new markets it still seeks to be a segment leader.
“We intend to continue Energica’s tradition of technological innovation that still makes Energica motorcycles the most powerful, the fastest, and longest-ranged electric motorcycles in the world today,” said Benatti.
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
