Kawasaki took to the EICMA Milan Motorcycle Show to unveil a trio of electric motorcycles, with Electrek front and center to see the action live. The Kawasaki Ninja EV and Kawasaki Z EV were revealed as traditional battery electric motorcycles, while the company also unveiled an HEV hydrogen-powered concept motorcycle. While the electric Ninja and Z models are both still in prototype form, Kawasaki Motors president Hiroshi Ito announced to the audience that the two models would be available for purchase next year.
Kawasaki Z, Ninja electric bikes
The Japanese brand took the wraps off a number of bikes at EICMA 2022, yesterday. As per the company, it will roll out the Ninja electric bike and Z electric bike in global markets next year, which are officially called the Ninja BEV and Z BEV, respectively. Both the Ninja BEV and Z BEV electric bikes will be available for purchase in 2023.
These bikes appear to have been inspired by the Z400 and the Ninja 400. According to the brand, these bikes will abide by the A1 requirements. Moreover, they will be marketed as entry-level electric performance bikes and will share the same battery with a capacity of up to 3.0 kWh.
The hybrid electric vehicle prototype, on the other hand, is still a little ways off from going into production, but Kawasaki predicts that it will hit the market by 2024. Further information on the motorcycle is still expected, but the HEV will have robust hybrid technology and will use either hybrid power or simply electric power depending on the needs.
President Ito has reaffirmed that Kawasaki is still heavily focused on bikes with internal combustion engines even if the company has begun to move toward electric motorcycles. Additionally, he stated that Kawasaki will launch about 30 ICE models internationally between 2024 and 2025, with almost half of them arriving in Europe.
For the safety of the rider, both the Z EV and Ninja EV are equipped with disc brakes on both the front and rear wheels, along with dual-channel ABS and a regenerative braking system for improved braking performance.The suspension duties on both motorcycles are taken care of by telescopic forks on the front and a mono-shock unit on the rear end.
As of now, the pricing and availability details for the Z EV and Ninja EV are very much a mystery. When launched, we can expect both all-electric motorcycles to be priced at around Rs. 5 lakh (ex-showroom) in India.