Husqvarna’s first electric motorcycle just went into
production, as such say hello to the Husqvarna EE 5 – an electric dirt bike
aimed at young riders. The 50cc equivalent machine will go on sale in July 2019 worldwide,
except in the North American market, where “Autumn 2019” is listed as the
expected arrival date.
To that vein, European pricing is set at € 5,000 and
£ 4,500 (US$ 5,750). In terms of details, the mini
dirt bike makes 5 kW in power from its permanent magnet motor, hence the name,
which is comparable to what a 50cc four-stroke motor produces.
With a 907 Wh battery onboard (48V with 84 Li-ion
cells), riding time is pegged at 2hrs for casual riding, 25 minutes at race
pace. Recharging should be quick, due in part to the small battery size, with
Husqvarna quoting a 80% recharge time of 45 minutes, while it will take closer
to 70 minutes to reach a full recharge via an external charger.
The bike has six riding modes, and comes with WP
Suspension’s XACT air forks. The overall machine looks a bit crude, certainly
less of the elegant solution that KTM produced in the Freeride E, but at this
price point and use case, this probably matters less.
The big news here is that electric motorcycles are
starting to arrive from the major motorcycle manufacturers. It is perhaps less interesting
that Husqvarna’s first electric model is a 50cc dirt bike equivalent, but for
certain this is just the first of many electric-powered machines to come from
the Swedish brand.
