Royal Enfield HIM-E electric Himalayan test mule revealed
Royal Enfield has wheeled out a surprising prototype at EICMA, the Him-e, an electric version of its Himalayan adventure bike.
Royal Enfield has never made any secret of having electric ambitions, although this new bike is a genuine surprise - especially given how famously leaky the Indian motorcycle industry is! It is, though, exactly what it says on the side panel: an all-electric Himalayan adventure bike, and one that looks to be fairly well advanced in its testing and development program.
Specs on the new bike are very thin on the ground, and in any case, if/when the bike finally makes it into production, the finished form will likely be very different.
What we can say, though, is that this new model seems to be neither exactly the same as the previous generation Himmy, nor is it directly or obviously related to the latest 450 that has also just been launched. This bike for instance looks to be using the battery pack as a structural member, making much of the Himalayan 450's new frame redundant. There is an interesting structural detail surrounding the swingarm pivot, which almost looks like half of the ‘Omega’ frame from the Yamaha GTS1000. Connected to the rear of this frame element is an all-new (and rather sexy looking) aluminium swingarm, which again is nothing like that found on either the latest or previous generation machine. It’s a fairly beefy-looking thing too, possibly pointing to it having to deal with some significant amounts of torque (and/or weight) in harsh, off-road environments.
Suspension on the test mule is top-spec Ohlins, with a long-travel rear shock and fully adjustable forks that are mated to a radially-mounted Nissin caliper to take care of the breaking duties.
Speaking about the purpose behind this project, B Govindarajan, CEO of Royal Enfield said:
“At Royal Enfield, our Electric Mobility team is powered by the objective of preserving the quintessential Royal Enfield DNA, and extending that into our creative ideas and designs for electric motorcycles as well. This Electric Himalayan concept motorcycle is an outcome of this pursuit, as purpose and innovation meet distinct Royal Enfield design and character. This motorcycle is only just a part of a much bigger sustainable ecosystem of exploration and adventure that we are working on in the Himalayas. From green charging pit-stops, to our responsible travel initiative, from creating self-sustaining communities to collaboration with UNESCO to preserve the intangible cultural heritage of the Himalayan region, there are a lot of initiatives we are passionately driving”
Sadly at the time of writing, there are no specs for the project and Royal Enfield’s PR team is remaining tight-lipped on that front. We also can’t pin them down on the potential arrival date of an electric Royal Enfield in any form. It does though look like this project is fairly well-advanced and has obviously been putting in some hard miles already, either in India or at the firm’s UK technology base.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
