British motorcycle maker Triumph today released an electric bike, the Trekker GT - with a range of 90 miles, a 250-watt motor and a 504-watt-hour battery.
With a charge time of five hours, the bike weighs 52 pounds (24 kilograms) and can produce up to 60 Nm (or 29 ft-lbs) of torque. The Triumph Trekker GT will be available for $ 3,750 at Triumph dealerships in the United States and abroad.
The question is how does this connect to the ultimate beginnings of a Triumph electric motorcycle. The manufacturer, which is a major global supplier of gas machines, has not yet launched an electric motorcycle - but announced in 2019 an EV concept, the TE-1.
The Trekker GT appears to be linked to the development of a production e-bike by Triumph, although the company has not been able to provide a schedule on when it might be available.
"The launch of the Trekker GT is a unique strategy from our research on electric motorcycles," said Adam VanderVeen, marketing director of Triumph North America at ClearTipsNews.
"We have introduced this electric bike in response to the growth of the electric bike market, while we continue to separately search for motorbike engine platforms, including electric ones."
Most major motorcycle manufacturers - Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki - took time to develop electric production motorcycles. This is with the exception of Harley-Davidson, which has become the first of the major gas manufacturers to offer a legal e-bike for sale in the United States - the LiveWire of $ 29,000 and 105 horsepower in 2019.
KTM from Austria offers a production all-terrain e-bike for sale in the United States - the Freeride E-XC. The Italian manufacturer of high-performance motorcycles Ducati has not yet published an electric motorcycle concept, but made its debut in Europe last year.
Ducati, like Triumph, seems to consider an electric bike as a progressive pivot towards the market of electric motorcycles.
Meanwhile, Harley-Davidson has already entered the EV arena with several e-motorcycle startups trying to convert gasoline-powered motorcyclists to electrics and attract a younger generation to the motorcycle.
One of the leaders is the California startup Zero Motorcycles, with 200 dealers worldwide. Zero introduced a LiveWire competitor last year, the SR / F at $ 19,000, with a range of 161 miles in the city, one hour of load capacity and a top speed of 124 mph. Energica, in Italy, is expanding the distribution of its high-performance electric motorcycles in the United States.
And Canadian startup Damon Motors launched its 200 mph, $ 24,000 Hypersport this year. The electric motor machine is equipped with exclusive safety and ergonomics technology for adjustable driving positions and blind spot detection.
I have to admit that the release of electric bikes by the major motorcycle manufacturers to replace full electric motorcycles is a bit yawning at this point.
We have been testing the advanced EV models from Zero and Energica for several years now. And the Harley Davidson electric hub in 2019 should have served as a wake-up call to manufacturers to bring complete electric motorcycle concepts to the market.
It should be noted that Harley-Davidson acquired a young manufacturer of electric scooters, Stacyc, in 2019 and committed to producing electric scooters and electric mountain bikes as part of its EV program. The strategy is to use these platforms to create a new bridge between young people and motorcycles in the world of mobility on demand.
With the Trekker GT, Triumph can follow this game plan as it approaches its first complete e-bike. The difference is that HD has already created an electric motorcycle to offer on the other side of the bridge and has new models on the way.
