Charging Ahead: Energica’s Electric Vision

• High-performance electric bikes aim to attract petrol enthusiasts. (01:53) 
• Energica exclusively develops electric motorcycles to lead the market. (04:06)
•  A diverse product line caters to different riding experiences. (09:26)
• Weight distribution is crucial for electric motorcycle performance. (13:31)
• Advanced simulation reduces time to market. (20:05)
• Aerodynamics improves range without bigger batteries. (25:08)
• Police and emergency services adopt Energica bikes. (33:07)

Giampiero:

The investment would’ve been going early on electric, nothing combustion because let’s say the vision was already in switching to a hundred percent electric. Then of course climate change, pollution and so on. So the idea of leaving a better planet to our children is one of the main goals we have right now and we were looking almost 15 years ago.

Speaker 2:

Hi Chad. This week’s guest is Energica. Tell us a bit about that podcast.

Chad:

This was a very exciting podcast. They specialize in electric motorbikes, but they’re not just trying to provide fine transportation. They’re trying to give a real riding experience for those who are used to petrol or gas-powered motorbikes, trying to generate the same type of user riding experience with an electric bike. So, very challenging, pushing engineering to its limit. They’re really believers in sustainability and trying to fight climate change. It was a great conversation and I learned a lot.

Speaker 2:

What happens when you rev up an electric motorbike? Does it still make a vroom sound?

Chad:

No, it doesn’t actually make a vroom sound because that doesn’t have the same components, and that’s part of what we talked about. Like how does that change the experience, because all the different components, and how to rethink the whole layout and assembly of a motorbike when you don’t have half of the same components going into it. Because when you take out the combustion engine, you take out a lot of other things that go along with it.

Speaker 2:

Have you ever ridden a motorbike?

Chad:

I’ve actually never ridden a motorbike of any format, style.

Speaker 2:

Me neither. No, they’re far too dangerous for us.

Chad:

But I can say I’m tempted after listening to this episode.

Speaker 2:

All right, so let’s have a listen and then maybe next time we’ll talk about Chad on his electric motorbike.

Chad:

Hello Giampiero. Can you just introduce yourself and the company to our listeners?

Giampiero:

Hello, yes, I’m Giampiero Testoni. I am CTO and co-founder of Energica Motor Company. I’ve been here since the very, very first steps we did in the electric motorcycles, and so happy to share my experience with all of you.

Chad:

So there’s a lot of companies out there now producing electric vehicles, electric propulsion, transportation vehicles, but your company branded itself as apostles of change and revolution in the world of sustainability. Can you talk a little bit about why this was an important factor in forming the company — sustainability — and what was your driver for doing so?

Giampiero:

Yeah, let’s say that when we started, our CEO, Livia Cevolini, decided to push on the very emotional part of motorcycles. So she decided that we have to start with a supersports bike, high performance, long range, almost equivalent to 600 cc engine supersport motorcycle. So the challenge was quite strong at the very beginning, but this gave us the possibility to push really on the boundaries of what is done EV and how was EV seen in the beginning of the last decade. Honestly, when we started, we were all scared about doing such a big step. Why don’t we start with a small scooter, with something simple, but that wouldn’t have been effective for our CEO because she said we have first to hit the very, we call them Taliban of petrol motorcycles, in order to push on the very strongest path of the motorcyclist. Because if you can convince the most really-convinced-about-petrol that electric can be an alternative, then convincing all the others, it’s really, let’s say, I would say an easier job.

Chad:

So you’re focusing on the type of rider who’s looking for a very specific riding experience. You’re not talking about someone who just sees this as a mode of transportation from going from A to B. You were targeting, like you said, petrolhead motorcycle riders who were looking for speed, who were looking for the feel of what the conventional motorcycles are currently offering?

Giampiero:

Yes, correct. Because motorcycle is a passion. It’s not really a transportation mode because you can have a small scooter, you can go by foot, you can go by car. A motorcycle is, let’s say, an extension of the body, of the rider. So really, when you’re sitting on it, when you’re riding it, you really have to feel it as part of your self, an extension of your body, what is best, and starting from a supersports, then of course the goal has to be a hundred percent electric, people…

Chad:

But why a hundred percent electric? You could have entered the market and just gone after conventional combustion-type motorcycles. Why did you want to go after electric?

Giampiero:

We went to electric because it was an idea of doing a product from ourself, let’s say from the paper to the final customer. We were already racing petrol motorcycles. We started with racing in 2010 with electric motorcycles and we saw that we were quite good at doing it because we went in the very first championship. That was in 2010. We went there with three people, including the rider. We won the championship so we said, “Oh, maybe we are not so bad.” And so from there onwards, there was an idea in the company of doing a product of our own. And the motorcycle was what we knew how to do, but we didn’t know enough in the electric, but we knew that electric was the future. So the investment would’ve been going early on electric, nothing combustion because let’s say the vision was already in switching to a hundred percent electric. Then of course climate change, pollution and so on. So the idea of leaving a better planet to our children is one of the main goals we have right now. And we were looking almost 15 years ago.

Chad:

So 50 years ago you saw the trend that we’re in right now coming, and founded a company devoted to that, which is great because we need more companies willing to do that in order to reverse the climate change we’re seeing and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. You understood then what the dynamics of a sports motorcycle was, what the rider was looking for in terms of the experience. But conventional combustion engines, they’ve been around for a long time. Those styles of motorcycles have been around for a long time. They’ve been just improving and improving on the same basic principle. What challenges do you face when you then try to convert that experience into an electric motorbike? Because that’s a very different type of architecture to base your propulsion on.

Giampiero:

Absolutely. It was a big challenge, mainly for the battery pack because back in 2010, now we have a lot of engineering firms that are able to support you in the development, in the design and so on. But back in 2010, we looked for someone that was willing to design our high voltage battery as a contractor, but we didn’t find anybody. That’s why we started designing our own and that’s why we were lucky, I would say, because it was hard at the beginning, but is now a flow of know-how that we built internally in the last years and it’s what is giving us the advantage. In those years, Tesla was just hitting the market very slowly in Italy. It was not arrived yet, maybe the first Roadsters, and we were seen as crazy people really. When we were talking to anyone, said, “You’re crazy. What the hell are you doing?” An electric motorcycle.

Chad:

I think a lot of innovators are seen as crazy early on. It’s only afterwards where their sanity is verified. And even Tesla, you’re mentioning, that’s still a vehicle with four wheels and not the same dynamics as an electric motorbike. So a very different experience. So you were saying you were really greenfield and there was not a lot of companies to partner with to help you develop any of the technology behind the motor?

Giampiero:

Yeah, absolutely. So from the experience we made in the racing in 2010, in 2011, we started designing, let’s say, a whole legal prototype. Took us one year and a half to put it together, the first prototype, we started with journalists. We did a big event here in Tuscany with nice place where to ride. We invited journalists from all over the world, from Japan, US, Europe and so on. They were all so enthusiast of how it was easy to ride, despite of course heavier weight to the very top niche, supersport motorcycles. But they all said the same thing. You just feel it when you’re standing on the bike. Then once you’re riding, it’s so well-balanced that it’s really enjoyable and then you don’t need any clutch, you don’t need any gears because you always have the perfect torque for every corner. So it’s like you are always in the perfect gear in every corner because there’s so much push out of the corner with the high torque of the motor. And so it was a great success and that was what pushed us to invest in the industrialization of our motorcycles that took in the next two years, let’s say.

Chad:

So from that initial idea, you’ve now developed a product line that has various types of motorcycles for different riding experiences. So you not only had to initially come up with the battery design and the technology behind your first concept, but you’ve now leveraged that expertise into different writing experiences. Can you talk a bit about your product line and how that evolved and since your initial founding?

Giampiero:

Yeah, absolutely. We started, as I said previously, with the supersport bike. Then on the same platform… so for us, the platform is battery pack, swingarm frame, and let’s say that holding just C plus battery and powertrain. From that one, we designed the Eva that now is called Eva Ribelle in the new design. So it’s a street fighter motorcycle, so very similar performance to the supersports bike, just a little less top speed because it’s innate, so 200 KPH instead of 240. Then the year after in 2016, end of 2016, beginning of 2017, we introduced the Eva SS9. That is, let’s say, the classic model with the round headlight, much more comfortable, a little less performing, I would say not less performing but less aggressive as a riding. So a more comfortable seat, a better riding comfort on the overall bike. And we end up in the last year and a half when we introduced on a new platform, on a complete new platform, the Energica Experia that is the… we call it green tourer because for us it’s a new segment. But it’s touring bike with big side bags, top case and so on, with a very comfortable position, very good for closing even into people and doing longer journeys and so on.

So right now we have a lineup of four motorcycles on two different platforms, and of course we are developing new models.

Chad:

It was very impressive because we’re not talking about decades and decades here. So that’s very impressive to have come up with a concept just under 15 years ago, it sounds like, and already be in a position to have a diverse product line that shows your ingenuity and level of commitment to the idea.

Giampiero:

Absolutely, yes, and also you have to consider that in the same platform, we introduced novelties during the years. So for example, in 2018 we introduced a bigger battery pack that was 50%, had a 50% more energy compared to the previous one on the same chassis, on the same… a little less volume and lower weight. So we saved weight, we saved volume, and we put 50% more energy on the motorcycle. Then during COVID we introduced a new motor and inverter that we co-developed with another Italian company that saved us another 15 kilogrammes on the bike. We increased performance, increased the efficiency of the overall powertrain. Every platform that we have is being evolved not only aesthetically, so with facelifts or so on, but even on the important part of the vehicle. So battery, motor, inverter and so on. Plus all the work that has been done in the last 12, 13 years on the software side, because we release every year three to five update software so that every time you can have new functionalities, you can improve something and so on. Even if you have a very older bike, let’s say a 10-year-old bike, you will still have all the novelties that have been developed for the later models.

Chad:

So you’ve thought about backwards compatibility?

Giampiero:

Absolutely.

Chad:

That’s great. That’s really great. Obviously that’s a key factor for product obsolescence. You don’t want people to just want to ditch something because the new features are locked out because they have an older model. So that’s wonderful that you’ve taken that into account. When we talked before doing the episode, the interview we’re doing today, one of the things that came up in terms of electric motorbikes wasn’t just the weight, because weight obviously is a critical factor, but weight distribution was something we talked about. Because the balance of the bike is super critical and there was some key differences that you mentioned when you were looking at the weight distribution and the balance when you have an electric motor chassis or platform versus a conventional motorcycle. Maybe you could talk a little bit about that because not everyone listening to this episode is going to be as intricately familiar with how you go about designing a motorbike. So maybe just help us understand how come it was so challenging to rethink the balance and the weight distribution of the bike.

Giampiero:

Let’s say the three main factors in, I would say, any product, but just speaking about our motorcycles. First one is volume. So the volume you have at your disposal to fit everything inside. Weight, performance, range and so on. But most of all, let’s say, the key factor is also price. Having these three plus price factors in mind, we have to mix and match to have the best compromise between all of them. Sometimes riding a motorcycle is the most important part. We are all motorcyclists. We believe that if you do the best motorcycle but then it’s not rideable or it’s not enjoyable, then you won’t sell anyone. Rideability is one of the most important factors that we took in consideration, but of course with a limit in the spending because you could design the slickest motorcycle, but then if it costs too much, then you won’t sell it.

We always had to put together range, price, availability and performance of course, and at the end we ended up in, let’s say, a very good balance in the first platform that was having a big battery pack that is almost a big box, I would say. Because in the assembly plant, because we design and assemble everything in-house, so assembling the battery pack has also to be something that can be done without huge investments or without huge time-spending. When we put together all these components, of course, as we said previously, a bike was slightly heavier than conventional bikes, but the overall balance of the motorcycle was very well distributed. Even on the MotoE, so the championship that we did for four years in the MultiGP World Championship, was considered a well-balanced motorcycle. So we were very happy. Of course during the years, many evolutions came, mostly in the battery pack, so, because of the energy density of the batteries and so on. When we came up to designing the new platform, we decided that we should have solved all the critics that we received in the previous platform.

So we really moved all the weight as close as possible to the rider. We moved the motor to the very lowest part. We moved backwards the battery pack so that the centre of the gravity of the motorcycle was as close as possible to the rider. That makes a big difference in a motorcycle because he can move, can stand, he can go down. Even the best motorcycle has to take into account the centre of gravity of the ride. So with all these developments that we made, the new Experia is very nimble and easy to ride. It feels like it doesn’t have the weight, and also considering that the reference of the touring motorcycles has the same weight as our bikes, so it’s close to 250 kilogrammes. So if you consider a supersport bike, our platform was heavier, but if you consider touring, then that’s exactly the same weight. And having a very good handling, a very good torque delivery most of all because through the software we can control very precisely the torque delivery. So the connection between your right wrist and the delivery of torque to the motor and to the wheels.

Chad:

So it really required a radical rethink. It wasn’t just simply swapping out a few components and no, it had to be…

Giampiero:

No, it’s a completely, the only part that is in common between the two platforms is the inverter, with a different software, of course.

Chad:

A lot of design factors going in there, a lot of different concerns to be considered, both rider and experience and safety. Battery density obviously is a issue for electric vehicles and electric forms of transportation right now. How did you overcome the challenges of addressing battery density when designing your motorcycles?

Giampiero:

So we have always been in contact with the major producers of batteries in the world. Was much harder at the beginning when you were no one, now almost all of them know who an Energica is, so at least they reply to your phone and to your emails because we are a very small business for huge battery makers.

Chad:

They realised you weren’t insane and decided to answer.

Giampiero:

Yeah. So that’s already a good achievement. But besides that, we know what’s happening. We are in contact with all of them. So we are looking at what is the next technology. But first of all, we are putting in place the past energy density sales that are available on the market. Because of designing everything in-house, doing all the validation in-house and doing all the assembly in-house, we have a very high reactivity and very short time to market because we have everything under control. We don’t have contractors X, so having to deal with different people, but we do everything in-house. So that is a very big advantage that brings us to speed up and to catch up with any new technology that is hitting the market because…

Chad:

The technology is changing rapidly. That’s something else that I think has changed. Now there’s such interest and there’s such investment in this area compared to when you started, the advances are coming much quicker and you’re trying to have a very short time to market. How does that factor into your design process? You have rapidly changing technology, you have a very short time to market that you’re trying to achieve. How do you reconcile those two different pressures on your design process?

Giampiero:

Yeah, absolutely. Consider that a normal time to market is from three to five years. We are hitting it in two, sometimes even less than two years. I would say two years.

Chad:

That’s a drastic reduction.

Giampiero:

Yeah. Two years for a complete new platform and sometimes even one year for different model based on previous platforms, including all the testing and so on. What really made the biggest change is in simulation because of course on the mechanical side, simulation on CAD, so drawing, designing and doing everything on say virtual model is something that it’s maybe 20 to 30 years that is being made. On the other side, simulation about what is happening on aerodynamics, thermal, so CFD on thermal, CFD on aerodynamics, and everything that is electric, so flow of energy. It’s something we introduced with Siemens a couple of years ago and this gave us a big advantage in accelerating the process and accelerating the time to market because we were able to build a digital twin of our motorcycle and perform all the simulations on what was a virtual model of the whole motorcycle. Of course this still needs some experimental testing because you have to validate what has been calculated or simulated previously, but you can reach the target in a much, much shorter path and faster, much, much faster.

Chad:

Do you think it would’ve been feasible to try and shorten your design time to market but so drastically without relying on simulation or dependable simulation with reliable digital twins?

Giampiero:

Without simulation, you could do it, but then it’s always a risk. So we think this is okay, so…

Chad:

Why is it a risk?

Giampiero:

Yeah, because you need really to perform some of the tests physically. Either you do simulation or you perform them physically or doing miles on the road and this takes a lot of time. Then if something goes wrong, then you have to redesign everything, reprototype it, go and test again. While with simulation, at least the biggest steps can be done all on a virtual side. Then you can refine it with two different solutions that you go testing. For example, in the wind tunnel, we developed all the Experia and the wind tunnel and thanks to the Siemens tools, we were able to have an idea of where we should have been modifying our fairing in order to achieve the best CX of the motorcycle. Then we went with a couple of two or three solutions in the wind tunnel, but maybe we used only one day except of five or six different days going, moving.

Chad:

So simulation allowed you to be more efficient even with your… okay, well that’s a big time saver and cost savings I presume, reducing your time in the wind tunnel by what, 80% almost?

Giampiero:

Yeah, absolutely. Also the immense time that you save, because if you consider the day at the wind tunnel, there’s also all the preparation before and after. So you have to move, you have to pay, it’s quite expensive, and so being able to reduce the number of times you go to the wind tunnel because of your simulation and the right, let’s say, correlation between simulation and experimental data, that is the best thing you can do. So you invest a little more time at the beginning to have the model working properly, but after that you save a huge amount of time and money.

Chad:

And this isn’t your wind tunnel, I presume, this is a wind tunnel that you have to…

Giampiero:

No, it’s a wind tunnel that we use here in Italy. So we have to move…

Chad:

Right, so you have to schedule that, you have to move there. So all the logistics.

Giampiero:

Sometimes you have to book them one year in advance, so you don’t even know if that day you will have availability and so on. So it’s really…

Chad:

A lot of dependencies. So aerodynamics I presume is a big part of what you were able to simulate and then reduce the wind tunnel time for with this project. So CFD, what does that affect in terms of your design process now, being able to rely on CFD and simulation versus wind tunnel?

Giampiero:

On electric motorcycle, the best aerodynamics and the best efficiency gives you more range for free. So you don’t have to add batteries, but you can optimize all you have on your motorcycle and maybe gain some kilometres or miles of range, just because you modified a fairing or just because you increased 1% efficiency of the overall transmission or the overall powertrain and so on. Having a very limited amount of energy inside our battery pack and performing all the kilometres that we are able to do, if you consider that a small percentage of that will bring to a good amount of miles or kilometers extra. So it is very important, at the beginning you just do the best bike, then you start working on the best performance, then you start working here and there. But when it comes to giving the best efficiency, it’s smaller steps.

So whatever you can do to achieve a higher efficiency of the vehicles, that is extra miles for free, it’s very important. At the beginning we had to be considered as a reference of the market. Now that we are, we have to give the best product. We always have to achieve the best performance, the best efficiency in every single part of the motorcycle. This gives you weight saving, gives you extra range, saves money because you don’t have to add battery to perform extra miles, but you can achieve it just giving a higher efficiency to the whole vehicle.

Chad:

And you’re able to achieve all of this using the Simcenter portfolio of simulation tools. I think you used our tools quite extensively and even migrated from some earlier tools that maybe gave you as accurate answer and then invested more into a very accurate CFD. Do you feel that the Simcenter portfolio provided you with an edge here in terms of your design and…

Giampiero:

Absolutely. We started, as you said, with FLOEFD. That was an easier tool because of the meshing part. That was much easier , then we went to STAR-CCM+. The results were much more accurate and it gives us also the possibility to go in depth of very single and small parts of the aerodynamics. But at the same time we’ve been using CFD also for the thermal part, mostly about the battery pack, about the cooling of the motor, of the inverter and all the electronics part. It’s very mostly of course with FLOEFD, so they are tools that are very specific and once you have the technicality on how to use it, of course FLOEFD is easier. STAR-CCM+ is much more accurate and little more time that you have to dedicate as I would say, as the engineer that is using the tool, but then you are receiving a next advantage once you have finished the simulation. So we have seen in this last two years that we introduced these tools that even the mentality in the company is changing because first there was one or two X, how much range will we do having considering this weight? I can tell you approximately 200. Now it’s really technical data. Let’s run a simulation tomorrow morning, I tell you.

Chad:

You can validate your…

Giampiero:

Absolutely, absolutely. You pass from spreadsheets based on your experience to something that is, you can upload some of the data and have an output in a few hours. So it’s a big difference.

Chad:

That sounds like day and night almost.

Giampiero:

Absolutely. Huge change. Everything is changing in this sector. Motorcycles, of course, are way behind the automotive industry because of the investment, because of the money that is behind, because of the numbers of bikes sold compared to the numbers of cars sold. But it’s evolving so much and mostly in the electric vehicle, you have to follow more the automotive market rather than the motorcycle market because it’s so evolved and it’s so based on technology that you really need to give the best solution following the automotive grade components, the automotive experience. Because many of our customers are even, I don’t know, Tesla customers or electric vehicle customers, and they expect to have the same technology in the motorcycle as they have in their cars.

Chad:

They won’t accept any lagging.

Giampiero:

No, petrol motorcycles, it’s more about the fashion or it has to smell, it has to make noise and so on. The electric motorcycle enthusiast, then that is something completely different. And now also the mentality is changing because now we are catching customers, not only that, let’s say, EV enthusiasts, but they’re just looking at the performance and saying, “Oh, I can have the same performance with electric. I cannot pollute. I can do whatever. I don’t have to have the engine, I don’t know, in my garage early in the morning or I don’t need to heat it up. I can just switch it on and go. I can charge it overnight, every day. I don’t have to stop at the gas station.” So there are many advantages that people are now realizing that there is, because of the mentality of the EV, so people, the very positive feedback that we’re having from EV car owners, it’s spreading also to normal petrol motorcycle users.

Chad:

Have you been successful in gaining any significant adoption of your electric motorbikes with petrolheads or typical users of such devices?

Giampiero:

Yeah, yeah. We had a big boost in the last year because of participating in MotoAmerica, in the Super Hooligans championship against petrol motorcycles, gave us a huge visibility and we were recognized of having motorcycles that can really compete and win against petrol motorcycles. So this was the first motorcycle to compete in a petrol championship and go to podium. In the first year, that was this year, last year that just passed, we raced in the Super Hooligans and we arrived fourth overall in the championship. We reached a second place podium in COTA in Texas with a very hard track for electric vehicles, and now everyone is looking at, “Oh, there is an electric motorcycle coming in the championship. Oh, we have to look after.” So customers now are saying, “Oh, I saw that bike racing yesterday, it arrived second,” or, “It had a very good start.” I think that is a good motorcycle because feeling how you’re racing and then having the ability to buy the same bike that is racing on track, that has proven that it can really race against petrol motorcycles that are there, out there since for the last 50 years, 80 years. So it’s a huge, huge achievement. So we are very happy about that and this is giving also higher credibility among strong petrolheads.

Chad:

It proves that your concept is valid, that you are able to deliver the experience that you talked about at the beginning of this conversation in an equal manner to conventional combustion engine motorcycles. Which is phenomenal because, again, you did this in such a short timeframe compared to how long it’s taken, even just electric vehicles when you look at how far back they started and the level to reach, and they haven’t quite even reached the same range as combustion vehicles. So there’s a lot of innovation that you were able to compact in such a short timeframe. Has there been any other notable successes in terms of adopting or using your electric motorbikes that you can think of or would like to mention?

Giampiero:

Yeah, let’s say that what’s happening right now in all the fleets for police, ambulance and so on, we had such a great access. We have the Experia that many police stations have tested our bike all over the world and they considered it the best motorcycle for patrolling and for city, for chasing, for ambulance. I call it ambulance, but he’s the doctor that is first reaching the place and can go with the motorcycle with the very important gear in his side bags and then, or in the top case, reach the place and then the ambulance will arrive. So the first part will be done with that. And now we won, for example, a tender in France where we will be delivering 200 of our Experia to the French police, and this is a huge recognition to our brand. Because there’s always been new petrol motorcycles, but now since the politics of going green and no pollution in the city centres and so on, of course also police has to give their first impression about showing that they are patrolling with electric motorcycles. And they considered our bike as the best one, and we are starting to deliver this and it’s small steps, it’s small drops in the ocean, but if you put together many small drops, you can save huge tonnes of CO2 in the world.

Chad:

No, absolutely. If you look at the number of vehicles that you’ve mentioned, ambulances, buses, police or other type of protection agency vehicles, that represents quite a number of vehicles. So you’re taking 200 combustion engine motorcycles off the road and bringing in 200 of your electric motorcycles instead. That’s a reduction of carbon dioxide right there, if the police are adopting that. Do you have any idea of what kind of impact that has environmentally, just that one case of swapping out the combustion?

Giampiero:

Yeah, we did a very simple math about this fleet. We considered a normal use of 20,000 kilometers per year, and with this 200 bikes, we’ll be saving something like 600 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Chad:

For just one city. Just one.

Giampiero:

Yeah, just for these 200 bikes. Yeah, absolutely.

Chad:

So imagine if we could get more areas to make the same change and adopt.

Giampiero:

Absolutely, absolutely. Then it doesn’t have to be only a vehicle… For example, in the company, we are trying to spread the word of how to act in the greenest way, avoid even in eating some kind of thing. When you can buy something that is local, don’t go and buy something that comes a thousand kilometers from here because okay, you buy the same product, but this has a different impact on the pollution of everything compared to this one that has been cultivated or bred just behind your town. So it’s really something that we are trying to spread as a state of mind, of being greener in everyday life. Not that the motorcycle, the car, but even in how hot you keep your house every day, so that is pollution, how you act with your rubbish and so on. So let’s say trying to give a different message to the younger people in order to be more… My young daughter is very keen on this because it’s normal.

There’s the middle-aged children that have been between us and the smaller children that haven’t been having this imprinting since the very beginning. So we want also to give this message that is not only about how you move, because you could also go by foot. It’s the best solution, but then you have to look at the everyday’s lives and how much it takes and so on. So we have to be-

Chad:

Practical.

Giampiero:

I’d say yeah, objective, I would say, because you have to move, but if you can move with the cleanest way possible, why not? If you can eat the cleanest way possible, why not? If you can act the cleanest way possible, why not? It’s something that we really believe in. So it’s not only about doing, okay, the high performance motorcycle. Yes, it’s what we want. We can have a lot of fun with no emission tailpipe, but at the same time in producing the motorcycle, we have photovoltaic roof. We are saving something like 15,000 of tonnes, 15,000 tonnes of CO2 every year just because of our photovoltaic roof on the two buildings that we have. Something that we really have to think in everyday’s lives.

Chad:

So was that one of the reasons why your company has started towards this project of Energica Inside?

Giampiero:

Yeah, we have Energica Inside.

Chad:

Maybe you could also explain what that is first.

Giampiero:

Yeah, Energica Inside. Yes, sorry. Energica Inside is a business unit inside Energica with dedicated people that is bringing our experience and technology that we made in the last 15 years of motorcycles to different markets. Just to give you an example, we are working on designing a battery pack for a big electric tractor. We are developing battery packs and also powertrains for go-karts, for crosskarts. So racing. For… what else? Small aeroplanes. We are doing some projects, but let’s say that we are trying to bring our experience to different segments, I would say. So not only two wheels, but also have the possibility of whoever is willing to electrify something. Can be a vehicle, a boat, watercrafts or jet ski. I don’t know how you call them in English. It’s something that we have been doing some projects and we have seen that there’s a huge interest because nowadays everybody wants to electrify everything.

We already went through this experience, not only as a component supplier, because you can just buy components off the shelf and put them together, but the biggest experience is putting the system together. So working as a system integrator, that is one of the toughest job because you have to face how this integrates with that, how it’s speaking with this one, who will do the aftermarket, who will do the service and so on. It’s something that we already gone through in the last years with our motorcycle, so we have experience of how it’ll happen also in other vehicles. And at the same time give this experience and most of all have a full knowledge of the software that is behind it because whatever kind of powertrain, electrification, battery and so on, we are going to do, will be implemented with our own software inside the vehicle control unit. So that is the biggest advantage of having everything internally and not having to rely on someone that is doing DCCU, someone that is doing the motor, someone that is doing the inverter. On our side, you just have one person to speak to that is Energica, and they will put together everything for the customer.

Chad:

What do you see Energica doing in the next five to 10 years then, beyond these projects?

Giampiero:

Nice question. For sure we will continue doing high performance and high quality Italian-style motorcycles because this is our DNA. We will continue doing racing because our DNA is in racing. We will be supporting many businesses in through Energica Inside, outside of the two wheels because we don’t want only to do a one-off, but we want to be partners in supplying also the components so that we can do a higher volume and we can achieve better prices on every single component, both for our motorcycles and for our customers. So it’s a win situation. And, who knows, and maybe we will be battling with huge motorcycle companies that will have to go electric and we will see who will be the best or the winning ones on the racetrack.

Chad:

You definitely are living up to your promise of being apostles of change, and I wish you lots of success in your pursuits. This has been a wonderful conversation. Thank you for your time today. I really enjoyed speaking with you and I hope you have enjoyed talking with me as well.

Giampiero:

Thank you. Thank you. Enjoyed it. Absolutely.

Chad:

Thank you for listening to this episode. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard, please make sure to leave a review and follow us so you never miss a new one. I’m Chad Ghalamzan and I look forward to speaking to you next time.

Speaker 4:

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