Ducati accelerates into electric with agreement to supply MotoE World Cup motorcycles

Oct 21, 2021

Ducati has significantly increased its commitment to electric motorcycles by signing up to be the sole supplier of race bikes to the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup from 2023 through 2026.

The Italian company Energica has been the sole supplier of motorcycles for MotoE, the FIM series for electric motorcycles that runs in conjunction with selected MotoGP rounds. Recently, Energica announced it would no longer be supplying bikes after the 2022 season, the last year in its four-year contract.

That left some real questions about who could replace Energica. While we've seen some excellent electric race bikes competing in events such as the Zero TT on the Isle of Man, there are no other obvious electric motorcycle manufacturers with the resources to provide the fleet of 18 racing motorcycles and support needed for a series at this level and there certainly aren't enough to have a multi-manufacturer series like in MotoGP and other world championships. The answer, as it turns out, is not another electric motorcycle maker stepping up, but a traditional manufacturer making a bigger step into electrics. Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali made the announcement today at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli ahead of this weekend's MotoGP round.

⚡️ We are excited to announce the beginning of our Electric Era! 🔋 @DucatiMotor will produce the bikes for the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup from the 2023 season! #ForzaDucati pic.twitter.com/1SjClgFtQV
— Ducati Corse (@ducaticorse) October 21, 2021

The announcement will begin a definite acceleration in Ducati's involvement in electric vehicles, and CEO Domenicali did not play down the significance.

"What we will discuss today will make a difference between what was before and what was after for Ducati," Domenicali said. "This is a very important step for us.

"We decided to enter electric mobility from the top."

Manufacturers always say that they go racing to develop new technology and to learn how to build better motorcycles for consumers. Sometimes that materializes and other times it feels more like an excuse to go racing. In this case, it may be far more true than not. Building a fleet of MotoE race bikes will push Ducati to come up with clever engineering to address the challenges of electric two-wheelers, especially weight.

"It’s in the area of weight, which is a fundamental element of sports bikes, which will prove the greatest challenge," said Domenicali. "Lightweight machinery has always been in Ducati’s DNA and thanks to the technology and chemistry of the batteries that are evolving quickly, we are sure that we can achieve excellent results."

Benefits may flow in the other direction, as well. While the series has steadily gained acceptance using the Energica Ego Corsa racing motorcycles, having a familiar name on the bikes may further ease acceptance of EV racing among traditional fans. At least it shouldn't hurt.

Ducati sketch of possible MotoE race motorcycle — Ducati provided this sketch but no details at all about what its MotoE race motorcycle will actually be like. In fact, there's no guarantee it will even look anything like this. We won't know details until next year. Ducati illustration.

What we don't know yet is anything about the motorcycle Ducati is building for MotoE. As part of the VW Group, Ducati can draw on some technology from its car-world partners. Domenicali specifically mentioned battery technology being developed at Porsche.

"The racing bike is under definition now," Domenicali said. Details won't come until next year. And what about a street motorcycle for consumers based on the race bike? Domenicali said that probably wouldn't happen until the 2025 to 2030 time frame.