Kawasaki
Back in 2021, Kawasaki announced plans to electrify its entire range by 2035 - a prescient move given growing calls across Europe to enforce a switch to electric power by the same date - and now the first bikes in those plans have been seen - initially at INTERMOT in Germany in October.
While Kawasaki still hasn't released detailed technical specifications, sales of the production versions of the naked Z EV and faired Ninja EV seen at EICMA are due to begin in 2023, alongside a near-final prototype of the HEV Hybrid that will reach showrooms in 2024.
Both the Z EV and Ninja EV are set to compete in the learner-legal class, with performance and power equivalent to 125 cc bikes. They use the same battery, frame, electronics and motor, differing only in their bodywork - which in both instances comes from the existing Z400 and Ninja 400 models.
The motors are rated at 11 kW (15 hp), but those figures are likely to represent a maximum continuous output. Most electric bikes also have a 'peak' power figure that's significantly higher than the rated output. American documents leaked earlier this year show both are due to be on sale as 2023 machines, with the codenames NX011AP for the Ninja EV and NR011AP for the Z EV. In each codename, the '011' represents the output in kW.
Two batteries are stored in a case under the dummy fuel tank, and it looks like they are removable, swappable packs. The electric motor drives the rear wheel via a reduction gear and chain, with a single speed and no clutch, but to make sure the bikes still appeal to traditional riders, the rear brake remains foot-operated, rather than moving to the left-hand bar.
Kawasaki's HEV might be another 12 months from production, but it's an even more unusual design that combines a small electric motor with a parallel twin combustion engine, both driving through a shared, semi-automatic transmission. The gearbox - operated either in fully-auto mode or as a push-button manual - means that the bike can switch between electric power or petrol power seamlessly on the move, while a 'boost' button on the right-hand bar can engage the electric motor and petrol engine simultaneously for max performance when needed.
There are no official specifications yet, but the HEV is understood to use the Ninja 400's twin-cylinder engine, and when added to the electric motor - driven by a small lithium battery pack under the seat - should have performance equivalent to a 650 cc machine. Meanwhile, in typical mixed usage, running partly on electric power and using the petrol engine for economical cruising, the emissions and economy should be on a par with a 250 cc bike.
Kawasaki's final news from EICMA was the showing of its prototype hydrogen-powered engine. A supercharged four-cylinder based on the design from the H2, it's intended to power a large, high-performance bike in the future, shown in illustrations at the event. It uses swappable hydrogen canisters in the panniers to sidestep problems with hydrogen storage and refuelling - a solution that Toyota (a partner in Kawasaki's hydrogen power project) is already adopting in its model hydrogen-fuelled town, Woven City, that is under construction on a 708,000 sq m plot at the foot of Mount Fuji (it will eventually house 2,000 residents).
