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Royal Enfield has a wealthy historical past in bikes, tracing its roots again to 1901 when the corporate’s first bike rolled out of the manufacturing facility. Over the past 123 years, the corporate has advanced its merchandise and enterprise practices to remain afloat amidst turbulent instances.
A Wealthy Historical past
When World Struggle II swept throughout Europe, Royal Enfield was fast to mobilize, packaging their 125cc bike right into a customized body designed to be air dropped onto battlefields. Dubbed the “Flying Flea,” these offered speedy mobility for paratroopers being dropped behind enemy traces.
Since then, the corporate has continued to innovate, defying the percentages because the longest constantly working bike producer on the earth. Over the past 30 years, Royal Enfield grew from a small boutique bike producer producing 12,000 bikes per yr to a powerhouse cranking out 930,000 bikes in 2023.
So, when Royal Enfield invited CleanTechnica to Milan to be among the first on the earth to listen to in regards to the subsequent chapter within the evolution of Royal Enfield, we jumped on the alternative.
Disclaimer: Royal Enfield paid for the writer’s journey and lodging to attend the launch occasion at EICMA in Milan, Italy.
A New Chapter
Apart from a couple of teasers forward of the revealing, Royal Enfield saved the announcement underneath wraps. When the time got here, their management group set the stage and introduced a totally new model dubbed “Flying Flea” in a throwback to their disruptive bike from years previous. “The next chapter for the next 25 years starts today,” Royal Enfield’s managing director Siddhartha “Sid” Lal stated on the launch occasion.
The unique Flying Flea bikes wanted to be light-weight, simple to make use of, nimble, and environment friendly each to swimsuit a variety of riders and to maximise the quantity that may very well be packed onto a airplane. The revolutionary spirit behind the unique Flying Flea knowledgeable the group at Royal Enfield as they formed the absolutely electrical future over the past decade.
It Is Written
You see, Royal Enfield’s evolution to completely electrical bikes isn’t any accident and it’s not one thing they’re doing in response to an exterior regulation or mandate. They first dove into exploring the potential of electrical powertrains 10 years in the past and formally launched the hassle to develop a Royal Enfield electrical construct 6 years in the past.
“It’s a market that has not been cracked,” Lal stated. Batteries are massive and heavy, which made translating the core values of conventional Royal Enfield prospects troublesome to translate into an electrical bike. It’s the identical cause so many electrical bike corporations have failed over time.
“If you want a long range electric motorcycle today, you can’t have it,” Lal stated. “To go long range, the battery gets big, heavy, expensive.” It’s a technological recreation of Catch 22 of kinds, the place including sufficient battery capability to get highway journey vary means the bike will get cumbersome and heavy, translating to a suboptimal using expertise.
Early on, Royal Enfield seemed outward within the business to discover a associate to work with. After surveying your entire area, they discovered Stark and made a strategic investment early on. Royal Enfield CEO B. Govindarajan stated they particularly chosen Stark as a associate due to their experience in modular design and packaging.
They imagine utilizing Stark’s experience and mixing it with Royal Enfield’s skill to drive scale up and value down is a key piece of a successful method. Certainly, the partnership has been extraordinarily productive, as Royal Enfield is presently utilizing two of Stark’s 6.75 kWh battery packs in parallel to energy a Stark motor on model 2 of their Himalayan check mule, amongst different collaborations.
Royal Enfield’s Himalayan check mule is an absolute tank, with a large quantity of energy, battery capability, and vary. Kitted out with composite armor, Royal Enfield’s group rips across the Himalayas with their fleet of seven check mules to place new applied sciences and concepts to the final word check. It’s not headed to manufacturing anytime quickly, however somewhat, is meant to be a versatile check mattress for brand spanking new concepts.
The Flying Flea C6
Chapter certainly one of Royal Enfield’s story is steeped in its wealthy historical past. It’s a legacy model constructing a steady filled with traditional cruisers. Even nonetheless, that wasn’t going to cease the group from constructing out what they noticed because the inevitable evolution into electrical powertrains.
“We can’t hold the company back from what it should be,” Lal stated, chatting with the inevitability of the transition to electrical. The transient historical past of electrical bikes is already suffering from the stays of quite a few failed ventures, however after taking time to construct functionality, perceive the panorama, type partnerships, and put the suitable group collectively, they had been able to launch.
Flying Flea is being launched from Royal Enfield, with all their energy and backing behind it. “We’re not betting the entire farm on it,” Lal stated. “We are putting money behind it, but if it doesn’t work, we’ll be okay.” It’s comprehensible and will let the group at Flying Flea construct out the model one step at a time, however with the data that they’ll take a moonshot on a brand new know-how if it feels proper.
The curtain was lastly pulled again and a contemporary, glossy cruiser was revealed. Easy, flowing traces. A strong body surrounding a superbly crafted physique. A billet battery glinting within the gentle, harkening again to the traditional V-Twin motors from an age gone previous. The C6 is an electrical cruiser at coronary heart that pulls Royal Enfield’s mastery of bikes ahead into the electrical age.
As Royal Enfield put it, the brand new Flying Flea C6 is aimed toward folks searching for one thing that may deal with their each day commute within the metropolis after which some. They name it metropolis plus.
That plus is the vital bit as a result of it’s the enjoyable half. The plus is what you do after you get off work and also you’re seeking to blow off some steam. The plus is the rip by means of the mountains, taking tight turns by means of the canyons as you wind down from the day. The plus is the why behind what we do. Why you’re employed exhausting daily. Why you save your cash. Why you’re employed Monday by means of Friday. The reply is the plus.
The C6 was designed as a metropolis plus bike to fulfill the wants of each day riders however with sufficient vary for afternoon journeys to the mountains or rips by means of the native canyons. It’s not going to be a highway journey hog as a result of the know-how simply isn’t there but, in response to Royal Enfield’s group.
They’ve been using prototypes of the brand new construct round for the previous couple of weeks and are assured it’s on level. “It feels like a full motorcycle,” Lal stated.
The newly anointed Flying Flea management group was gentle on the main points on the launch relating to worth, energy, vary, battery capability, and chemistry for the C6. I requested instantly and so they weren’t shy about their reasoning. With a deliberate launch in early 2026, they admitted that they nonetheless have a variety of work to do to iron out these precise particulars. Although, they do have targets in thoughts.
If we have a look at Royal Enfield’s current lineup and the deliberate international distribution of the Flying Flea bikes, it’s wise for them to come back in at sub-$10,000 in worth. Vary feels prefer it needs to be 80–100 miles per cost for the primary bike, nevertheless it’s simple to think about this rising or reducing to focus on metropolis riders and journey riders alike.
Count on to see extra particulars within the coming months with a full reveal at EICMA 2025 on the newest in the event that they’re to have any shot at hitting their deliberate manufacturing launch in 2026.
The Flying Flea S6
On the finish of the presentation, in addition they dropped information of an Enduro-style construct on the identical 6-series platform that they’re calling the S6. This second bike is way thinner, lighter, and extra agile for something the mountains may throw at you. It ditches town all collectively. Seeking to remedy the plus by itself. That is the bike you mud off on weekends and take out for ripping across the open air, or that you just’re pining for out of your desk as you stay up for one thing enjoyable after the each day grind is over.
The S6 takes the know-how within the cruiser construct and ports it over right into a sportier, trendy construct. The bones are clearly the identical. however the appear and feel open it as much as a youthful viewers.
General
We all know Royal Enfield and their new Flying Flea groups have the technical chops in terms of bikes and so they’ve been engaged on electrical variations for the final 10 years. So, all indicators level to them having the aptitude to construct one thing wonderful.
As of proper now, although, now we have a variety of questions and some stunning merchandise. Time will inform whether or not the corporate is ready to ship these with a worth vary, charging pace, and energy that’s significant to customers. These components will in the end decide whether or not this new technology of electrical bikes beneficial properties traction with prospects or not.
“This is the first product — the C6. Many will follow,” Royal Enfield’s chief development officer for all issues electrical, Mario Alvisi stated. We’ll be conserving an in depth watch on their progress within the months and years to come back, as there’s little extra on the earth of cleantech that we get enthusiastic about than a legacy model utilizing its sources to construct the absolutely electrical, zero emissions future all of us want.
For extra details about Royal Enfield’s new Flying Flea model and their electrical C6, head over to their web site right here.
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