Husqvarna’s electric motorcycle and scooter concepts are going on display tomorrow at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, Germany. We are on-site at the show and got an early peek at the first public showing of the futuristic electric two-wheelers.
The company first unveiled the Husqvarna E-Pilen back in April, followed just a few weeks later by the unveiling of the Vektorr electric scooter concept and its smaller BLTZ electric kickscooter cousin.
But the flashy press photos notwithstanding, this appears to be the first time the vehicles have been rolled out in front of the public and seen in the flesh.
All three of the vehicles adopt a styling that is clearly inspired by Husqvarna’s design legacy, yet takes on more of a futuristic flair than we’ve seen before.
The electric scooter, in particular, looks more like something we’d see in a science fiction movie than rolling down the street – or at least before BMW rolled out its own sci-fi electric scooter model recently.
The E-Pilen electric motorcycle retains a similar body and panels in the faux-tank area to other Husky Pilen models in the company’s gas bike lineup. But instead of a gas tank, the E-Pilen houses three removable battery packs in that area. Each has a grab handle on top and would presumably be easy to pull out for at-home charging, though three batteries and two hands sounds like a bit of a juggling act.
The company claims a maximum distance of 100 km (62 miles) from the three batteries, meaning the bike could have decent urban range on a single charge.
Below the batteries sits the E-Pilen’s chain-driving motor. Rated at 8 kW (10.7 hp), it’s not a gigantic powerhouse. But again, the bike isn’t meant for setting speed records; it’s designed for urban riders looking to zip their way through the city.
There’s no word yet on the top speed of the bike, but somewhere in the 100-120 km/h (62-75 mph) ballpark is probably a reasonable guess based on the size of the motor.
The Husqvarna Vektorr electric scooter concept was displayed nearby, showing off its modern styling. In this case, though, the scooter looks a bit faster than it truly is.
Its top speed of 45 km/h (28 mph) isn’t much, but it keeps it legal as a moped-class vehicle in much of the world. That means most riders won’t need any special motorcycle license to use it.
The low speed also helps boost the range to 95 km (59 miles). It is unclear if it uses the same batteries as the E-Pilen concept, but it would make sense to standardize across the models.
There’s no word on power yet, but it is unlikely that the concept is hiding anything larger than a 2-3 kW motor. That’s the typical power level found in other electric scooters with similar performance levels.
Lastly, Husqvarna also showed off its cute BLTZ standing electric scooter concept.
It’s a far cry from the more industrial-looking Bird and Lime scooters and is likely to catch the fancy of riders searching for a scooter with a more interesting design.
While it also appears to offer a removable battery pack, it is much smaller than the batteries seen in the E-Pilen concept.
There’s no guarantee that any of these two-wheelers will actually make it to the road, but that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. BMW unveiled similarly futuristic-looking concepts and then followed through with bringing at least one to production, so there remains a chance that Husqvarna could be following the same game plan.
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