One of the world’s leading classic motorcycle manufacturers, Royal Enfield, is going out on its limb to enter the lucrative electric 2W segment. While the Flying Flea brand is gaining traction, all eyes seem to be on Electric Himalayan project.
Test mules of Electric Himalayan have been spied multiple times. Royal Enfield has officially teased Electric Himalayan test beds off-roading in Leh Ladakh region. Recent spy shots show Royal Enfield Electric Himalayan test mules getting charged via charging stations and mobile chargers on wheels running on ICE generators. Let’s take a closer look.
Electric Himalayan Spied Getting Charged
Royal Enfield Himalayan is one of the company’s most celebrated models. It aims to be a hardcore off-roader and then a versatile tourer. The company has flexed its engineering prowess with Himalayan as it was their first ever ADV. Now, the company is porting over its expertise into electric 2W segment and Himalayan is a candidate.
Electric Himalayan has been recently spied testing enroute Ladakh for testing. Being an electric motorcycle, it needs recharging especially while range usually drops while tackling inclines in mountain terrains. These test mules seen in recent spy shots were connected to fixed charging stations and then mobile chargers.
These mobile chargers are likely to be working on diesel generators. In this case, the generator was housed inside a Force Traveller van. Royal Enfield seems to be operating a large number of test mules and that is why existing chargers were not enough to charge them all at once, necessitating the need for mobile chargers.
However, this reflects the fact that India’s electric charging infrastructure is still in its nascent stage and is yet to evolve further. If a group of 10 friends took a ride like this, all on electric 2W or cars, there are just not enough charging stations to accommodate them all at once.
What to expect from Electric Himalayan?
As seen in the video by er.janakbhardwaj on Instagram, Royal Enfield Electric Himalayan comes equipped with two separate battery packs. These could be removable allowing users to carry these battery packs to their apartments to charge. Also, this design might help users to carry battery packs to nearest domestic plug when fully depleted rather than pushing the entire motorcycle. Think jerrycans, but for electric 2W vehicles.
Overall ethos of Himalayan ICE motorcycle have been carried over. In this sense, Electric Himalayan is still an off-roader as it gets large wire-spoke wheels with off-road tyres, high ground clearance and suspension travel, a tall windscreen for wind protection and more. It has to be noted that the units spied are still test beds and they get a lot of premium components.
Most of these might not make it to final production model when launched. The company has not revealed a launch timeline, but Electric Himalayan is going to be a global product. Where performance is concerned, Electric Himalayan packs a mid-mounted motor from Spanish EV brand Stark Future SL, which could pack enough oomph to match Himalayan 450’s performance.
Source
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
