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Why Did Energica Put an Electric Motorcycle with Gas-Happy Bikes?

cycleBy 04 Mins Read


Last year, Energica made history in the (typically) gas-happy MotoAmerica Super Hooligan series. 

EV vs. Gas: The recap

Energica was racing against its own bikes in the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup; deciding to remove themselves from MotoE, Energica made the bold move to pit their electric Eva Ribelle RS against gas bikes. 

Three motorcycle riders racing around a track.
A view of Stefano Mesa (number 137) aboard his competition-ready Energica Eva Ribelle RS. Media provided by Energica Motor Company.

EV vs. Gas: How it went

Success was the theme of 2023; Energica’s Eva Ribelle went from being the first electric motorcycle to challenge the Super Hooligan circuit to the following record titles: 

Translation: Energica’s bet paid off in spades, paving the way for their new – rather impressive – reputation as the first EV brand to actually give gas-powered platforms a run for their money on a competitive circuit. 

Energica’s CEO imparts his two cents on the matter to the team at Roadracing World: 

We had to prove to people that we had a legitimate sportbike. And you earn your respect on the racetrack.”

– Stefano Benatti, CEO of Energica Motor Company, USA (via Roadracing World)
An electric superbike taking the lead on a race track.
 A view of Stefano Mesa (number 137) aboard his competition-ready Energica Eva Ribelle RS. Media provided by Energica Motor Company.

Why go to all this effort?

Naturally, a story of triumph like this doesn’t come without its own setbacks. In an interview with Roadracing World Editor John Ulrich, both Benatti and Energica’s CTO, Giampiero Testoni, talk about the struggles of pioneering preparation for such an insane year: 

Here the challenge mostly is to race against different bikes that have a clutch, have gears, have a transmission, have a different braking point, so even the lines could be different because of how you have to brake and how you accelerate.”

“… one of the major challenges for us is facing the energy consumption on very long tracks and very fast tracks. Daytona and COTA are two of the most challenging tracks for electric vehicles.”

– Giampiero Testoni, Energica Chief Technical Officer Giampiero Testoni (via Roadracing World)
An electric superbike taking the lead on a race track.
 A view of Stefano Mesa (number 137) aboard his competition-ready Energica Eva Ribelle RS. Media provided by Energica Motor Company.

What was the inspiration for Energica to race gas bikes?

A fun question requires an equally fun answer; in this case, Testoni tells the Roadracing World staff that “colleagues from the U.S. pushed a lot to go racing against petrol motorcycles.”

In other words, people badgered them to do it, so they gave it a shot and landed themselves a podium for their troubles. 

Fantastic. 

Here’s Testoni’s recall after the win was said and won: 

… at the end of the day, you have to say [the US colleagues] were right because this is proving, as you say, that we are making history – that the electric bike is a perfect alternative to a combustion bike.”

“You can have fun and go fast. You can race against petrol, and you can win against a petrol motorcycle… this is a great shout to the public, showing that there is something else out there.”

– Giampiero Testoni, Energica Chief Technical Officer Giampiero Testoni (via Roadracing World)
An electric superbike taking the lead on a race track.
 A view of Stefano Mesa (number 137) aboard his competition-ready Energica Eva Ribelle RS. Media provided by Energica Motor Company.

Does Energica believe in full EV power for our community? 

Absolutely not. 

Like other brands in our sphere, Energica believes that there is an increasingly welcome time and place for EV power in the motorcycling industry. 

We’re also reading in Testoni’s wording that nobody should tell a rider what to ride: 

We don’t want to say that everything will be electric… that there will be only electric so you just have to convert, no… but there is an alternative that is as fun, as fast, maybe funner, if you want, for the torque and so on.”

– Giampiero Testoni, Energica Chief Technical Officer Giampiero Testoni (via Roadracing World)

What do you think of Energica’s success in the 2023 MotoAmerica Super Hooligan series? 

*All media provided by MotoAmerica and Energica Motor Company*



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