Having closed its production department from March 25th to April 28th, Italian electric sportsbike manufacturer Energica is reporting +68% more growth in dealer and importer deliveries "than in the same period last year".
The company says that it has seen a 72% increase in its number of dealers, with additions to its network already this year including new partners in Germany, Indonesia, Taiwan, France, UAE and in the United States, including Bill Nation's Pro Italia Motors at Glendale, California, right at the heart of the all-important greater Los Angeles area market, said to be the third largest metropolitan economy in the world.
California has always been one of the largest motorcycle-owning markets in USA, with some of all American riders to be found there. Energica says that six out of ten of the electric vehicles in the U.S. are driven by Californians, which today are 5.5% of all registered passenger vehicles in the state, versus less than 2% for the country overall.
EV sales in California consistently outpace every other state in the USA and are growing more quickly than conventional cars. 2019 saw EV sales in the U.S. drop by -9%, but they grew in California by +5%, where conventional new ICE sales have actually declined by -5.5%.
California has almost 26,000 EV charging outlets – a third of all those in the United States - and is investing $2.1bn in expanding that network to support an ambitious goal to replace over five million internal combustion vehicles in the state with electric by 2050.
"California is where our U.S. headquarters is based precisely because this is the epicenter of new technology and electric, and also the largest and most vital motorcycle market. We know that with these two latent strengths side by side, it's just a matter of time before the impetus towards electric cars translates to motorcycles," stated Stefano Benatti, CEO, Energica Motor Company Inc. "And if this is true for California, it's even more so for Southern California and specifically Los Angeles."
Giacomo Leone, Energica Sales & Field Marketing Director, says: "Production continues at a rapid pace to quickly satisfy both European, US and Asian customers. We continue to receive new orders, and this is a sign of an increasing attention to electric mobility, especially in territories such as the United States and in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and France. ACEM data on electric/hybrid vehicles are the only positives in the first quarter in Europe in comparison to the declining numbers of all traditional engines."
Energica is the 'spec bike' provider for the FIM Enel MotoETM World Cup - the EGO CORSA having proved itself in the 2019 inaugural season, this will be the second of a three-year initial contract with Dorna, organisers of the MotoGP series.
The plans for 2020 have, of course, been turned upside down by the COVID-19 emergency, but although no formal announcement about racing starting up again has yet been made (indeed races continue to be lost, with Britain, Japan and Australia the latest cancellations), hopes are high.
It had been planned to stage six races in 2020, at five different venues, but as things at the beginning of June stand, there will be five races at three venues.
The series will start at the Red Bull Ring during the Austrian MotoGP weekend, August 18, then move on to the San Marino MotoGP at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on September 13 for two races, with two more when the series wraps up for 2020 at the Valencia GP (Circuit Ricardo Tormo) on November 29.
