Royal Enfield motorcycle may soon astonish its fans through the silent humming of an electric motor
- Published | 26 October 2018
Royal Enfield, the oldest motorcycle maker in constant production in the world, so far had limited product development, research, and in-house innovation at its two technologies and R&D centers in Chennai and the UK.
Global: Royal Enfield motorcycle may soon amaze its fans through the noiseless humming of an electric motor, as the maker of Classic 350 motorcycle, owned by Siddhartha Lal-headed Eicher Motors Ltd, is toying with the thought of developing an electric motorcycle platform to keep pace and stay relevant for a cleaner future.
“We are working on an electrical platform to advance the idea of pure motorcycling,” Rudratej Singh, president, Royal Enfield, adding that a “very small team” is working on the development at the company’s UK technology center. Singh further said that the company “may need to look at things differently for electrical because we are still learning”. Royal Enfield, which reportedly claims to be the oldest motorcycle maker in continuous production in the world, so far had limited product development, research and in-house innovation at its two technologies and R&D centers in Chennai and the UK. He further added, “How our platforms need to be re-engineered for the future is to be seen and we are working on it”. However, there was no word about the iconic 'sound' that the bike emits, which has captivated generations of fans leading towards the bike becoming an iconic Indian brand.
According to BlueWeave Consulting, the move is in the wake of the Indian government's emphasis on promoting the use of greener vehicles. India is the world’s biggest market for e-bikes. Because of so much pollution in Delhi and other Indian cities, people would switch to e-bikes very soon. And, the Modi government’s decision to encourage the use of e-vehicles is all the more reason for two-wheeler makers to support e-vehicles. India is also said to be the second largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and also tops the list of those having the biggest number of two-wheelers those run on petrol. Most of the polluted cities of the world are in India. This is the main reason why Modi government is planning to switch India to e-vehicles. The estimates will significantly cut the country’s oil bill and will also bring down the emissions by 37 percent. Other two-wheeler makers in India, including Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, TVS Motor Co. Ltd and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd, are also likely to move towards electric vehicles, by financing in start-ups, such as Hero’s investment in Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd, or making sub-brands, like Bajaj’s chic and aspirational Urbanite brand. The wave towards the increasing demand for Electric Vehicles, owing to its positive impact on environment, has already been established within the major automobile players, and is working towards their upcoming models of Electric vehicles. These changes will further have a positive impact on the emerging market of electric vehicles in the foreseeable future. Thus the shift to electric vehicles from the conventional combustion engine vehicles will fetch a change in the overall ecosystem of Automobile industry.
According to a recently published report by BlueWeave Consulting, on “Global Electric Commercial Vehicles Market by Propulsion type (BEV, HEV, PHEV, FCEV), by Vehicle type (Bus, Truck, Van, Others), by Component (Motor, Battery, Others) – Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast by 2018-2024”, the Global Electric Commercial Vehicle is projected to grow over a CAGR of 12% during the forecast period of 2018-2024 by value. The market is expected to reach around USD 149,316 Million by 2024. The expansion of the electric vehicles market is influenced by growing demand for fuel-efficient, high-performance and low-emission vehicles coupled with, stringent rules and regulations in several countries and growth of public charging infrastructures in countries like Norway, France, China and other developed countries. This is in-turn creating an opportunity for automakers to flood the market with electric vehicles. The highly populated developing countries like India, China will provide the future market for Electric vehicles.