Kawasaki may not have yet a single electric motorcycle in its lineup but, hey, it did announce last month that it’ll go all-electric for traditional Western markets and Japan by 2035.
And things seems to be going in the right direction already, as the company’s CEO Hiroshi Ito confirmed the launch of three electric motorbikes as early as 2022.
Speaking at the 2021 EICMA Motor Show, Ito said:
I would like to share a new commitment with you now: Next year in 2022, we will show a minimum of three electric vehicles globally. That is a promise.
And while we held our breath, waiting for him to take the cover off one of the two concealed motorcycles standing behind him — what a glorious unveiling that’d have been — we were faced with disappointment.
There was no electric model under the wraps — not even a concept version.
So we’re stuck with the few details we know from 2019, when Kawasaki showcased an electric prototype through a video release.
The video features an interview with Yoshimoto Matsuda, Kawasaki R&D’s senior manager of the Innovation Department, and here’s a (very) small list of the specs we could gather:
- Its exterior is similar to the Ninja 650 model
- It features an unspecified powertrain on which the company has been working since the early 2000s
- There’s a thumb-activated regenerative braking lever
- It has a CHAdeMO charging connector
Yep, that’s pretty much all the information we have for you from that clip.
The models that were actually revealed
Kawasaki did unveil three new conventional motorcycles as part of its 2022 lineup:
The 2022 Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX and SE
The 2022 Kawasaki Versys 650 and 650 LT
The 2022 KLX 230 and 230SE
Perhaps we can expect the same design language for the upcoming electric motorcycles as well — maybe from the Ninja range? At least 2022 is arriving soon enough, and I hope we won’t be left guessing for too long.
You can watch Kawasaki’s press conference at the Motor Show here.
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