The announcement of the entry of Ducati as the new official supplier of the MotoE fell by surprise since, only in 2018 did it present its first electric model.
Despite the unexpected, there are very high expectations about what may be presented by the Italian manufacturer, which although it is true that it has not unveiled all the details, it does offer lights about what will be the goal with the new prototypes that will jump on the tracks from 2023.
Unlike Energica, Ducati will begin by not starting with production models and then developing electric racing motorcycles, but will first launch into competition and from there will later develop large-scale two-wheelers. The MotoE will serve as a magnificent test bench, so Clauidio Domenicalli, CEO of the Italian firm is clear that this new adventure will mark a before and after in Ducati in the company.
Innovative Testing
For Domenicali, the arrival of the electric motorcycle series is an important step because they will continue on the path of new technologies for the future, including production bikes.
“At Ducati it’s all about performance, that’s why we decided to enter electric mobility from the top. There is no better way than to do it in competition to learn and gain experience. Everyone agrees that our engine in MotoGP is one of the fastest, so we want to transfer that experience to electric propulsion,” said the manager.
Read also: MotoE Team Manager Expects Ducati to Present a Faster and More Competitive Bike
Despite the secrecy, Ducati has vented that the plan is already underway and ambitiously aims to improve on the very high bar set by Energica in the first three seasons.
The two main objectives of Domenicali’s staff and the first ones on the roadmap are to have much lighter bikes and batteries with a greater autonomy. “We have already done some tests and experiments to try to understand when the time was right. In motorcycles the main problem is weight, so in our program we want to make the bike as light as possible,” explained the Ducati leader
He reiterated that the biggest challenge is to make a prototype that is not heavily loaded, but has a good range. “Batteries are the fuel of an electric bike and in terms of weight in quite high, so that’s the main challenge. We need to understand how to make the best use of energy taking into account energy regeneration, inverter efficiency and, above all, chemistry.
To achieve these goals Ducati has two important pillars to evolve: their extensive experience of almost two decades in MotoGP, where they are the pinnacle of innovation, and the potential and advantages of being part of the Volkswagen Group, from where they can draw important doses of knowledge about electric mobility.
“Some Group brands are closer to us than others. The team with a center of excellence for batteries and we are discussing very closely with them, but that complex is mainly related to series production cars, mainly VW and Audi. So we are also working very closely with the sportier brands like Porsche and Lamborghini,” Domenicali detailed.
Key Year
2022 is shaping up to be a pivotal year, as it will be when they will carry out all the testing and development of this model before 2023 when the MotoE grid takes over.
“We will use next year to finish all the development of the bike, also on track, to arrive in 2023 with a proven project that also complies with all the important safety rules. We want to achieve the performance that Dorna has asked of us,” Domenicali concluded.
Written by I Jhonattan González
