The electric revolution is underway and the global automotive space is currently undergoing the biggest shift in technology ever. The long-running combustion engines are en route to becoming glorious chapters of automotive history textbooks while the electric powertrain becomes the talk of the town. While things have already picked up momentum in the world of cars, the same cannot be said about motorcycles as several brands are yet to dip their toes in the pond. However, as motorcycle purists still have a special place for liter class motorcycles and soak in the magnificence of Hollywood actor Tom Cruise riding the Kawasaki Ninja H2, a major development has happened to the world of motorcycles.
Austrian automaker KTM, who is known for making some of the most exciting motorcycles in the world, has joined hands with Indian automaker Bajaj Auto and confirmed that they are working on a high-end electric motorcycle. For the unaware, not only is Bajaj Auto one of the biggest two-wheeler manufacturers, but it is also the world's most valuable two-wheeler manufacturer with a market capitalization of $13 billion as of December 2020.
And it is this coming together of KTM and Bajaj for a high-end pure electric motorcycle that has got us excited, here's why.
The KTM-Bajaj Deal And A Shiny New EV Facility
The duo has signed an agreement to develop a ‘high-end’ electric motorcycle. It could very well be the KTM E-Duke that is reported to be the Austrian manufacturer’s upcoming electric motorcycle. It is expected to be similar in size to the KTM Duke 125 and will be based on the Husqvarna E-Pilen. Both these models along with the Husqvarna Vektorr e-scooter are set to be constructed at Indian automaker Bajaj’s fourth production facility situated in Pune, Maharashtra.
Bajaj recently announced an investment of about $40 million and is said to have commenced work at a brand-new unit for manufacturing Electric Vehicles. This unit will have a production capacity of about 500,000 EVs a year.
Bajaj says that the new facility will have cutting-edge robotic and automated manufacturing systems for everything including logistics and material handling, fabrication and painting, assembly, and quality assurance. These systems are claimed to be designed for flexible product mix while keeping in mind the best worker ergonomics and maximum process efficiency. It is spread over half a million sq. feet and will employ approximately 800 personnel. The investments made by Bajaj Auto will be supplemented by many vendors, who will invest a further $33 million.
The Size And Might of Bajaj Auto
With more than 18 million motorcycles sold in over 70 countries, Bajaj Auto, or just Bajaj, in short, is India’s top motorcycle exporter. The company is also the world’s largest manufacturer of three-wheelers.
KTM and Bajaj joined forces back in 2007 for multiple projects. As part of the current partnership, the manufacturing plants of Bajaj currently manufacture KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles. These models go for sale in India as well as are exported to overseas locations. Alongside its foray into premium electric motorcycles, Bajaj is also likely to develop an affordable electric motorcycle with KTM.
The Coming Together of KTM and Bajaj is Exciting
But all of that aside, the simple thought of these two brands coming together has us excited for fairly simple reasons. And in order to understand that better, we need to first revisit what makes these brands a success. Starting with KTM, they are known for making motorcycles with a character, which to be honest, is mostly performance-oriented. But nevertheless, their approach of chasing performance with everything they make has resulted in some of the best value-for-money performance motorcycles you can buy right now, be it the full-faired RC series or the street-naked Duke series. Coming to Bajaj, they know how to build motorcycles at a scale, and they know how to make motorcycles that can work in different markets and riding conditions across the world. On top of that, they know how to manufacture in such a way that their motorcycles end up costing almost half of what a similarly sized (engine-wise) KTM will cost.
In the world of electric motorcycles, there are many issues and challenges that need to be overcome by manufacturers. But they can be largely classified into two distinct fields - they are not the highest in terms of performance, and they cost a bomb to make. The result of this combination so far has been expensive electric motorcycles with average performance.
And this brings us to why we are excited - both of these challenges can be tackled by each of these two companies. There is no one better when it comes to packing performance on a two-wheeled machine than KTM and Bajaj, on the other hand, is a juggernaut of a company with perhaps the highest excellence in making motorcycles in numbers and at a budget.
And as a result, we are excited to see what happens when these two companies join hands to make a 'high-end' electric motorcycle. Perhaps it takes the coming together of two such companies to finally have an electric motorcycle that pushes the world of motorcycling to the future.
Source: KTM, Bajaj Auto