The race for the electric market includes not only vehicles dedicated to daily commutes, but also leisure motorcycles, as demonstrated by Kawasaki, which is probably the manufacturer currently presenting one of the most versatile lines. However, what we can see in this patent, published by the colleagues at Cycleworld, is a singularity in several aspects. The first is that the electric motorcycle for which the patent is requested is, in all respects, a 450SR to which an electric motor has been applied instead of the 450 cc twin-cylinder engine that we have been enjoying so much in the sport and naked 450NK. The batteries and the electric motor, as well as the control electronics, thus find space under the fairing, leaving what used to be the fuel tank for a role – we imagine – of pure storage or battery charging center.
A project that certainly has the advantage of being able to quickly have a tested and proven platform to bring the motorcycle relatively quickly into series production; it is, if you will, a bit like what Kawasaki has been doing with its electric and hybrid motorcycles, which exploit economies of scale with models already in production.
Not much else is known, there is no talk of performance or range, which makes us think that the limited space for the batteries would imply a contained range, and therefore we find it likely, at least until we have more technical information, that the one mentioned in the patent is a model with performance similar to that of a 125 cc model.
It remains to be seen, however, what CFMOTO’s strategy is, as it already has a fully electric brand, ZEEHO, currently targeted at the sports and design scooter market, with a premium approach conveyed by the latest Magnet. Could this patent be the first indication of electric motorcycles under the CFMOTO brand, perhaps leaving the scooter and urban product segment for ZEEHO?
