The Cagiva brand is going to be revived as an electric motorcycle marque.
Asphalt & Rubber reports MV Agusta, current owner of the Cagiva brand, plans to revive the name as branding for a new line of electric motorcycles. These machines won’t be electric superbikes, at least not at first. They’ll be light-duty cycles—A&R describes the idea as “a type of electric two-wheeler that is somewhere between an e-bike and a full-blown electric motorcycle.”
Although this isn’t the futuristic style of bike that Akira promised us, it’s where the industry is right now. Instead of going head-to-head with gasoline-powered motorcycles, the EV segment is exploring new territory, creating machines that offer powered two-wheel fun, but aren’t really intended to offer the same range or top end performance as traditional motorbikes. In North America, this segment was kickstarted by an unlikely contender—Cleveland Cyclewerks introduced its FXx and FXr some time ago, designed to bridge the gap between bicycles and electric street bikes. More recently, KTM announced it would explore this space, releasing battery-powered bikes aimed at light use under both the Husqvarna and KTM badges in the future.
It’s hard to imagine MV Agusta won’t release a more high-powered electrified superbike or adventure bike under the Cagiva name in the future, but for now, this gives them an inexpensive way to enter the EV realm. Will that be enough to raise this zombie brand back to life? Time will tell.
