It’s Official. Kawasaki Motorcycles Is Going All-Electric by 2035
And will bring 10 electric motorcyles on the market by 2025.
Following the lead of several high-profile automakers that have announced plans to go all-electric, Kawasaki Motorcycles Heavy Industries said it will make all of its bikes electric for markets in developed countries by 2035, a report by Nikkei Asia explains.
Kawasaki Motorcycle’s ambitious plans do come with the caveat that the company doesn’t have a proven record when it comes to e-motorcycles — there are currently no electric Kawasaki motorcycles on the market. However, the company says that it plans to have more than 10 electric models on the market by 2025 and it is working on developing hybrid, all-electric, and hydrogen motorcycles.
By 2035, Kawasaki Motorcycles aims to go completely electric in Japan, Europe, the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The Japanese firm also stated that it aims to increase sales by 2.4 to 1 trillion yen ($9 billion) and raise its operating profit margin to over 8 percent by 2030 compared to 6.1 percent this fiscal year.
Kawasaki Motorcycles aims to strengthen its environmental efforts
Kawasaki says its efforts to curb carbon emissions go hand-in-hand with attempts to provide easy means to travel in a post-pandemic world. It feels motorcycles can provide safe transportation in a world where people are more conscious of the dangers of infectious disease and the benefits of traveling solo. “Outdoor leisure activity has been popular during the COVID pandemic,” said Yasuhiko Hashimoto, president of Kawasaki Heavy Industries “We will strengthen our environmental efforts with our sights set on post-pandemic lifestyles.”
Other motorcycle firms have also announced plans for electrification. Honda, the world’s largest motorcycle producer, announced in April this year that it aims to produce 100 percent electric vehicles by 2040. Motorcycles, however, are generally behind the curve compared to cars in the race to go electric. In July, for example, iconic carmaker Mercedes-Benz announced it would only produce electric vehicles by the end of the decade and Rolls-Royce also recently announced it would go all-electric by 2030. Alongside its electrification goals, Kawasaki Motorcycles announced it will expand its production capacity at its plant in the state of Nebraska in the U.S. by March 2023 and that it will build a new plant in Mexico that will go into operation in 2023.
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