Triumph prepares for its first electric motorcycle with new TE-1 e-moto project

Like most legacy motorcycle brands, Triumph hasn’t had much of anything to show in the way of electric vehicles yet.

But that appears to be changing, as the British bike manufacturer is now undertaking an electric motorcycle development project.

Triumph is developing its first electric motorcycle

Triumph first teased interest in an electric motorcycle earlier this year.

The company sent out a survey to its customers to gauge interest in a Triumph-branded electric motorcycle.

Then the company created more buzz when it trademarked a new Triumph Trident model that included hints pointing towards an electric drivetrain.

At the time there was no indication that this was anything other than simple market research or advanced planning. But now we are seeing the first evidence that Triumph actually intends to work towards developing an electric motorcycle.

The company announced a new project known as TE-1. The project’s goal is to develop electric motorcycle powertrain solutions in the next two years. The end result would apparently be a relatively lightweight electric powertrain that could serve as the powerplant for multiple electric Triumph motorcycles.

As Triumph confirmed to MCN, the TE-1 is just a project at this stage, not an actual product designation or model name. The current state of the project is to develop “battery technology, motors and the packaging constraints that currently hinder electric motorcycles.”

Triumph also isn’t going into this alone. They’ve teamed up with a number of partners including F1 racing legend Williams Advanced Engineering, motor and inverter experts Integral Powertrain, an electric specialist team at the University of Warwick, and even the UK government via the Innovate UK science and technology agency.

According to Triumph CEO Nick Bloor:

“This new collaboration represents an exciting opportunity for Triumph and its partners to be leaders in the technology that will enable the electrification of motorcycles, which is driven by customers striving to reduce their environmental impact, combined with the desire for more economical transportation, and changing legislation. Project Triumph TE-1 is one part of our electric motorcycle strategy, focused on delivering what riders want and expect from their Triumph, which is the perfect balance of handling, performance and usability.”

Electrek’s Take

Even if an eventual Triumph electric motorcycle is still more than two years out, I’m still encouraged by this news.

And I don’t want to take all the credit here, but I did browbeat Triumph pretty bad in my last article on why they should hop on the electric train or get passed by. So let’s just say this new e-moto will be 50% Triumph, 50% me.

But in all seriousness, kudos to you, Triumph! I know your customer base might not currently be the most e-friendly bunch out there, but I think you saw that Harley-Davidson took a brand with a similarly loyal culture and successfully pushed out multiple EV models and prototypes that have won praise for their design, if not for their price.

Harley-Davidson did it – there’s no reason Triumph can’t either

As more legacy brands get into the electric motorcycle mix, I think it will encourage further development of innovative powertrains. That seems to be the direction that Triumph is headed, and I think it’s the right move. Once they have their own electric powertrain, they can stuff it into all sorts of different bikes.

Triumph knows how to build motorcycles, they just need to figure out how to build electric motorcycles. And this news shows that they are serious about moving forward.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.