Ducati shows off its first electric racing motorcycles set to join MotoE racing series

Ducati’s first electric motorcycle prototype was finally released yesterday, giving the world an initial look at the bike that is set to fill Energica’s shoes as the exclusive supplier of the FIM MotoE electric motorcycle racing series.

Ducati V21L electric motorcycle prototype

With Energica’s contract ending, Ducati stepped up as the new manufacturer of MotoE racing electric motorcycles.

The announcement was made barely two months ago, and now the Italian motorcycle manufacturer is already giving the world a glimpse of the bike to come.

Known as the Ducati V21L, the electric prototype performed a number of laps on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli track.

In the saddle was test rider Michele Pirro, who put the bike through its paces in front of Ducati’s cameras.

As explained by Roberto Canè, Ducati’s eMobility Director:

“We are experiencing a truly extraordinary moment. I find it hard to believe it is reality and still not a dream! The first electric Ducati on the track is exceptional not only for its uniqueness but also for the type of undertaking: challenging both for its performance objectives and for its extremely short timescales. Precisely for this reason, the work of the whole team dedicated to the project has been incredible and today’s result repays us for the efforts made in recent months. We are certainly not finished yet; indeed, we know that the road ahead is still very long, but in the meantime, we have laid a first important ‘brick’.”

While Ducati was quick to show off the bike in action, the company has yet to share any hard numbers on performance.

The bike that Ducati will attempt to replace was the Energica Ego Corsa, which was known to hit speeds of up to 160 mph (257 km/h) during races.

Energica outfitted the bike with a 110 kW (147 hp) liquid-cooled electric motor helping lay down 220 Nm of torque.

Ducati’s fully-faired V21L electric racing motorcycle doesn’t provide many glimpses of the technology underneath the panels. We can see a single-speed setup with a chain drive that runs in line with the swingarm pivot, helping to give a few clues about the drivetrain. But the larger powertrain is still a mystery as the battery pack is hidden away from view.

Electrek’s Take

Well that was fast.

Here I was two months ago, taking Ducati to task for spending years poo poo-ing electric motorcycles. Then out of nowhere, they drop a bike that looks pretty darn good.

The company’s R&D team has obviously been working on this the entire time, even while Ducati’s top brass has been giving one excuse after another for why they won’t build an electric motorcycle.

I’ll withhold full judgement until we get to hear the specs. But it’s a good start for Ducati.

Now bring me a consumer electric motorcycle and I’ll be really impressed.