“The beginning of a new and important chapter in Ducati‘s history…that of electric sports bikes.” Welcome to week #230 of Total Motorcycle’s Inspiration Friday: Ducati’s Electric Historic Moment! The start of production of the “V21L” prototypes represents the beginning of a new and important chapter in Ducati’s history…reducing internal combustion engines to zero.
With declining sales and model offering for 2022 and 2023 sport bikes and supersport categories companies scramble to do something, anything different to generate interest as the industry cannot survive on sales of a couple of bike styles per manufacturer.
The solution…remove the internal combustion engine from the equation, because, after all, you don’t buy a sport bikes because of it’s visceral performance right? Joking aside, Ducati is putting on their chips on the table to shape what the character of a future Ducati electric road bike might be. Hopefully they also solve the flaming electric car issues of spontaneous combustion when EV battery connections get wet or corrode. For MotoE vs MotoGP, you just need to look at the success of Formula 1 vs the failure of Formula E racing. Seems fans actually want to hear “Drivers start your engines” and the roar of cars going by at high speed. Ducati’s states…
“This project represents a decisive step for Ducati to contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions on the product side, alongside research into synthetic fuels (eFuel) that can reduce the total CO2 emissions of internal combustion engines to zero. Environmental sustainability is something that all individuals and all companies must consider a priority if the delicate balance of the planet is to be preserved. Ducati is committed to this also at industrial level, and the construction of the new Finitura e Delibera Estetica area classified as Nearly Zero Energy Building is just the latest example”.
Quite the near future is shaping up to inspire future generations of riders to try the latest crop of environmental sustainable, 100% no noise, automatic transmission sportbikes down the bike paths created from the Interstates of old! Best of luck to Ducati, hopefully Ducati’s Electric Historic Moment is an inspiringly good one.
Take a look at our 2022 and 2023 model guides are notice the trends my friends. If you, like me, love standards, cruisers and sport bikes, then buy a new one before they are gone and replaced by electric scooters. While I do enjoy dual sport/ADV bikes, I also enjoy seeing a diverse range of bikes too. Governments are also forcing manufacturers, all manufacturers (both car and bike) to have 100% sales to be EV by 2030/2035 (depending on region). That folks, isn’t that far away. In fact, American and Canadian cities have already BANNED construction and replacement of gas stations (Los Angeles, California and Vancouver, British Columbia come immediately to mind).
I’m a sports car gear head fan on the side, I love a manual transmission, 2 seater, gas powered performance machines so I’m just a tad biased here. The expression, “You do you” fits if you want one of these, me, I’ll do a hard pass. What about you?
Check out our 2022 and 2023 Ducati Motorcycle model guides, guaranteed not to and offer you hours upon hours of motorcycling enjoyment and inspiration.
Total Motorcycle would like to thank Ducati and our hundreds of millions of motorcycle riders who visit and support TMW for inspiring us to bring you this week’s Inspiration Friday: Ducati’s Electric Historic Moment. Each week we bring you another Inspiring Motorcycle story to inspire you to get out and ride.
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Ducati’s Electric Chapter Gets Underway: Production of MotoE Bikes For the 2023 Championship Begins
- A year after the first track test at Misano, production of the bikes that will compete in the 2023 MotoE World Championship has begun
- By mid-February all the bikes for the championship will be completed and the training courses for the team technicians will commence
- Two pre-season tests, at Jerez and Barcelona, before the race debut at the French GP on 13 May
Borgo Panigale, Bologna, January 16, 2023 – A little more than a year after the first test with Michele Pirro at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, work has begun on the ‘V21L’ prototypes that will be the protagonists of the 2023 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship season. The production of the bikes started in December and the 23 units will be ready by mid-February. In addition to the 18 motorcycles that will be raced, five spare units will be made available to the organization. Each prototype is assembled by expert technicians in the Ducati MotoE Racing Department with the same process, precision and attention to detail typical of the high craftsmanship used to build a MotoGP bike.
The start of production of the “V21L” prototypes represents the beginning of a new and important chapter in Ducati’s history. For the Borgo Panigale company, this project was born to develop skills for its future, maintaining the approach that has always fueled Ducati’s DNA: experimenting with technological solutions in the world of racing and working to ensure that everything developed in this area can then be used on motorcycles destined for enthusiasts all over the world. To do this, Ducati created the world’s most technological, refined and sophisticated electric motorcycle, resulting from the joint work of Ducati R&D engineers and the Ducati Corse team. “V21L” is the MotoGP of electric motorbikes, combining the electronic technologies and chassis dimensions developed by Ducati Corse with the design process and project management typical of a road bike like the Panigale V4. It is the combination of the best skills of the two worlds, racing and production, a prototype with which Ducati experiments in a world yet to be discovered, that of electric sports bikes.
Claudio Domenicali, CEO Ducati: “The start of production of the Ducati MotoE is a historic moment for our company, which with this project is thoroughly studying the technologies of the future for the world of motorcycling. It is an important area of experimentation, in which we are investing to build know-how, so that we will be ready when battery technology should allow the creation of an exciting electric road bike with the weight, performance and range that enthusiasts expect from a Ducati. We are therefore embarking on this new adventure with the aim of developing the people and skills within the company to shape what the character of a future Ducati electric road bike might be. The MotoE project represents a decisive step for Ducati to contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions on the product side, alongside research into synthetic fuels (eFuel) that can reduce the total CO2 emissions of internal combustion engines to zero. Environmental sustainability is something that all individuals and all companies must consider a priority if the delicate balance of the planet is to be preserved. Ducati is committed to this also at industrial level, and the construction of the new Finitura e Delibera Estetica area classified as Nearly Zero Energy Building is just the latest example”.
After a year of development tests that have seen Michele Pirro, Alex De Angelis and Chaz Davies take turns riding the “V21L” prototype, the Ducati MotoE project is getting closer to the moment when the bikes will take to the track. The first test with the riders and teams competing in the 2023 World Championship is scheduled for March 6, 7 and 8 at Jerez, followed by three more test days on April 3, 4 and 5 at the Montmelò circuit in Barcelona.
The race debut will take place at the French Grand Prix on Saturday, May 13. The 2023 MotoE World Championship calendar is spread over eight Grands Prix with two races per weekend, both on Saturdays. After the French debut, the MotoE World Championship will be present in all the following European races until the Misano GP, thus will continue at Mugello on the weekend of June 11, at Sachsenring on the following weekend and at Assen on the June 25 . After the summer break, the Ducati MotoE bikes will return to the track at Silverstone on August 5, before tackling the final three Grands Prix at the Red Bull Ring (August 20), Catalunya (September 2) and Misano (September 10).
#Ducati #DucatiMotoE #DucatiCorse
