Indian Motorcycle

Polaris to replace Victory ‘Empulse’ with longer distance Indian branded E-bike

Having wound down production of Victory Motorcycles, including its ‘Empulse’ E-bike, Polaris has confirmed that it will now develop a new electric motorcycle under the Indian brand.

 
Expected to cover 120-140 miles on a single charge, compared with 75 miles for an ‘Empulse’, in a recent interview with Reuters, Steve Menneto (President of Indian Motorcycle) said: “We want to attract new riders with "fun" electric motorcycles. The characteristics of the (new) powertrain are going to be more applicable to be able to ride a bike in pleasure and twisties,” differentiating the planned new offer from the purely short-cycle urban mobility market that has largely been the province of E-bikes so far.
The company will be continuing to leverage their late 2014 acquisition of Ashland, Oregon based E-bike manufacturer Brammo, but Menneto declined to give pricing details about the new bike – except to say that it would be priced “competitively.” The company's suggested retail price for the Brammo derived Victory ‘Empulse’ was upward of $19,999. Harley is believed to still be some time away from being able to capitalize on the hype it generated with its “Livewire” prototype in 2014.

Steve Menneto (President of Indian Motorcycle)

Menneto also told Reuters that he expects the company's revenue from its motorcycle business to grow to $1 billion in the next five years from $708.5 million last year, and confirmed something that he told AMD Magazine in January, namely that the Indian product line will expand to include smaller displacement models.