Re-sparking interest in a dwindling segment

Electric dirt bikes have opened a new door for off-road enthusiasts, allowing them to ride in places they couldn’t before because of noise levels and pollution.
Manufacturers still face the challenges of low battery power and high prices, but the companies are establishing strong foundations through unique business tactics and enticing consumers.
Manufacturers
There are only three companies in the world that are producing electric high-performance vehicles, but there are additional prototypes in the works.
Zero Motorcycles, located in Scotts Valley, Calif., was founded in 2006, and shipped its first electric dirt bike about a year later. It currently has two models on the market and intends to release a third model next month as well as a street-legal bike next year.
The company is unique to its competitors as it’s not using motorcycle or auto dealerships to distribute its product, says Zero Motorcycles CEO Gene Banman.
“We’re promoting and taking orders on the Web and by phone,” he said. “We’re shipping directly to the customer’s doorstep.”
Dealerships are really a maintenance channel, Banman adds, so Zero Motorcycles is eliminating that step since the bikes require minimal upkeep.
“These don’t need oil changes or tune-ups. The motor is very simple; there’s one moving part,” he said. “We’re going to develop some service channels as we move to the street-legal bike, but we’re going to be targeting non-bike shops to do those simple maintenance tasks rather than motorcycle dealers.”
The other electric dirt bike manufacturer, Quantya, is based out of Switzerland and just started distributing in the United States in August. Quantya, however, has been established since 2005.
The company is currently looking into establishing a dealer network.
“Right now we’re still identifying the proper channels,” said Dario Trentini of Quantya’s U.S. division. “One of the channels we’re opting for is conventional motorcycle dealers; a dealership that’s thinking more in future terms as far as alternative vehicles in their product lineup.”
Quantya has the only dual-sport electric dirt bike that’s street-certified in the United States. It won’t be for too much longer though. Zero Motorcycles plans to release a street-legal application some time next year.
Vectrix is the third high-performance electric application manufacturer, but it’s an indirect competitor because it only makes scooters. The company, however, does have additional electric vehicles in the works.
KTM recently presented a prototype of a zero emissions motorcycle. The company says it’s a race-ready Sport Enduro with an electromotor. KTM worked with arsenal research to develop the motorcycle.
The prototype is about 198 pounds, and the company says it has a performance that rivals a light Enduro with a combustion engine. After going through various tests, KTM and arsenal research decided to turn the research project into a development project for a series machine.
Currently there is no official date as to when the motorcycle will be brought into production. Harald Plöckinger, board member of KTM Power Sports AG, said in a press release, “As an innovative and market-leading company, KTM must also take up the task of testing and developing new engine formats for our sports motorcycles. The concept of the zero emission motorcycle combines the well-known KTM competence with new and highly interesting motor technology. With an emission-free motorcycle, we see a big opportunity to make Enduro Sport available to a broader and completely new target group in the medium and long term by giving them access to a completely new sporting trend. The KTM Zero Emission Motorcycle will allow for riding in more areas, even densely populated areas, without coming into conflict with existing restrictions.”
Sales
Although sales numbers for Quantya are limited because its bike was just released a few months ago, Zero Motorcycles has experienced triple-digit percentage growth.
The company shipped 24 units of its first model, the Drift, in 2007. This year, Zero Motorcycles released the Zero X, which they sold out of. Banman says they shipped 80 units, but they’ll ship about 100-200 more before year-end.
“We have a back log of over 100 people who have placed deposits,” he said. “A number of our customers have been waiting quite a while to get our motorcycle, and we’re hoping to catch up with that back log by the end of this year.
“We have upped the volume capacity of our parts supplier, so we’re going to up our production with our ’09 introduction.”
The company’s 2009 Zero X will be its third model. “Now we’re in a model year conversion, and we’ll start shipping the ’09 next month. We expect to ship 1,000 of them next year.”
Demographics
Unlike the traditional dirt bike market, the demographics for electric dirt bikes are much broader.
Both Banman and Trentini say their customers are typically experienced dirt bike riders and have owned or currently do own gas-powered dirt bikes. Quantya’s demographics currently are between the ages of 38-50. Trentini adds Quantya’s customers are early adaptors and are typically looking for two things.
“One, truly an alternative vehicle, cleaner bike,” he said. “The other is a person that’s passionate about motocrossing but needs to surpass the limitations and difficulties with a lot of the parks in the U.S. being shut down.”
Both companies recognize the difficulties of dirt biking with the noise and emission regulations that have been passed.
“The main feature of the dirt bike is that it’s quiet,” Banman said. “There’s been a lot of complaints about noisy, polluting dirt bikes and that really forced the whole conversion from the two-cycle to four-cycle to reduce the pollution and the noise. An electric dirt bike is the next logical step to zero noise and zero pollution.”
Worldwide market
Quantya and Zero Motorcycles have already begun distributing the vehicles outside their home-based countries and are spreading even further.
“We’ve shipped units to Sweden, U.K. and Canada,” Banman of Zero Motorcycles said. “We have a lot of interest in Europe. We’re opening up a distribution center next spring.”
The company is also in the process of hiring a European managing director, which should be in place within the next few months. “We actually think Europe will be a bigger market than the U.S.,” noted Banman.
Quantya, based in Switzerland, extended its distribution sources to the United States and a handful of other countries. Trentini says the company dipped into the United States because it recognized the need for alternative vehicles.
“From the research we have done here in the U.S. on the (dirt bike) market,” he said, “we were overwhelmed with the response of our vehicle from trade shows. We are seeing a positive trend of the early adopters.”