Royal Enfield Electric Himalayan – with rider on side or road
Royal Enfield Electric Himalayan – in the mountains
Royal Enfield Electric Himalayan – front shot
Royal Enfield Electric Himalayan – static main image
Royal Enfield Electric Himalayan – side of mountain
Royal Enfield Electric Himalayan – wheelie on rocky terrain
You’re looking at the first ever electric bike from Royal Enfield in its 122-year history. Revealed at the Eicma show in Milan earlier today, the Electric Himalayan Testbed – as it sounds – uses the existing Himalayan adventure bike as a testbed for an all-electric powertrain. Although it’s just a concept for now, senior Royal Enfield executives are keen to emphasise it points to the future of the brand.
The bike you see here is more of a laboratory than a concept, and originally started out as a technology and capability exercise. With that in mind, much of its construction comes from rapid prototyping and iterative design tweaks:
“The Electric Himalayan Testbed is much more than a design concept,’ said Royal Enfield’s chief growth officer Mario Alvisi. “There is a much larger electric mobility blueprint that is being brought alive at Royal Enfield as we continue to work on multiple ‘electrifying’ expressions of pure motorcycling.”
The Testbed’s objectives are not just technical ,but also focused on improving the experience of the adventuring rider: “More than building a motorcycle for regulations or directive,’ added Alivisi, “We saw this as an opportunity to create something unique and to inspire future generations. What began as a capability exercise for our teams, is now this electric adventure motorcycle we are very proud of; a new expression of our love for adventure and the mountains.”
It may look like the Himalayan on the outside, but the Electric Himalayan Testbed has been subject to an entire rethink: every touchpoint has been rethought, new materials like Organic Flax Fibre have been used and Royal Enfield have also had to engineer a battery box in-house.
Wind tunnel testing has also been deployed throughout the bike’s development to squeeze even more range out of its new EV powertrain.
We’ll update this article when we know more.
Keyword: Electric Himalayan! Royal Enfield’s adventure bike of the future revealed