Photo: KTM
What was initially expected to be a great step forward KTM was to make in the word of the electric two-wheelers, turns out to be a rather lackluster and modest project. KTM CEO Stefan Pierer told Italian publication Motociclismo that he believes it's simply too soon for thinking about e-bikes taking on the classic petrol-powered ones.
Pierer hinted that as far as he was concerned, the battery packs were the biggest problem: they're heavy and large, not safe enough and most of all, expensive. The pack for the Freeride E is around €2,000, and this has a negative impact on the final price of the bike, so KTM plans to back the throttle a bit on the development of their e-bike.
On the other hand, the KTM Freeride E bike was nothing to write home about, really: it showed only modest specs to say the least, by no means a true competitor for what other e-bike manufacturers have been dishing out lately.
In this new, fragile market, innovation is most likely one of the best assets if a manufacturer wishes to make it big or at least to make it count. The Freeride E has nothing exceptional and maybe this battle was lost just before it begun.
However, we'd like to believe that KTM will not pull out of the whole electric bike segment. They've got an amazing bike-building heritage, and all that's missing is decent, high-voltage shock, pun intended.
On the other hand, the KTM Freeride E bike was nothing to write home about, really: it showed only modest specs to say the least, by no means a true competitor for what other e-bike manufacturers have been dishing out lately.
In this new, fragile market, innovation is most likely one of the best assets if a manufacturer wishes to make it big or at least to make it count. The Freeride E has nothing exceptional and maybe this battle was lost just before it begun.
However, we'd like to believe that KTM will not pull out of the whole electric bike segment. They've got an amazing bike-building heritage, and all that's missing is decent, high-voltage shock, pun intended.
Google News