Ducati have unveiled its first electric motorcycle, slated to compete in the MotoE championship from 2023. The V21L prototype has that classic Ducati look but is swathed in carbon fibre, and has an 18kWh battery powering a 150 horsepower electric motor. Ducati will be the sole supplier of all 18 motorbikes that will compete in the FIM MotoE World Cup racing series from 2023 until 2026.
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The V21L weighs in at 225 kilogrammes, with just under half of that bulk being the battery pack. It can be charged from empty to 80 percent capacity in just 45 minutes, and will complete seven laps of the grand prix tracks where it competes. It has reportedly been able to reach top speeds of up to 275 km/h at the Mugello MotoGP Circuit in Tuscany.
“For Ducati, having the opportunity to become suppliers of the FIM MotoE™ World Cup is not only a technologically exciting venture, but also the best way to interpret the challenges of the new millennium. Racing competition represents the ideal terrain on which to develop innovative technologies that will then transfer to production motorcycles,” said Ducati R&D director Vincenzo De Silva in a statement.
“At this moment, the most important challenges in this field remain those related to the size, weight, autonomy of the batteries and the availability of the charging networks. Helping the company’s internal expertise to grow is already essential today to be ready when the time comes to put the first street electric Ducati into production.”
“I remember the birth of the MotoE project and every phase of the composition of the work team well, with the involvement of Ducati Corse colleagues and the search for contacts within the Volkswagen Group who could give us suggestions on how to develop this project,” said Roberto Canè, Ducati eMobility Director.
“To make this bike we followed the same procedure that we usually follow on a production bike. We started by defining the design of the bike and in parallel the technical office began to design the various vehicle components. The initial brief was to create a racing bike that respected the minimum performance characteristics required by Dorna. As a matter of fact, this project has made and is making the whole team involved fall in love and is pushing us to create a bike with better characteristics than initially requested by the organizer,” he added.
