Edgy timing doesn’t even begin to cover this one. Just days before (on September 8th) MotoE announced it would be going on hiatus after the 2025 season, Ducati rolled out its brand-new V21L, the first motorcycle in the world to run on a solid-state battery. Not only that, but it also became the first Volkswagen Group vehicle to do so.
On one hand, Ducati’s reveal at IAA Mobility in Munich was a thunderclap moment—proof that solid-state battery tech wasn’t just a PowerPoint dream anymore, it was real, track-ready, and capable of reshaping the conversation around electric motorcycles. And then, whiplash: MotoE, the very series designed to showcase exactly this kind of innovation, said it was stepping away from the grid.
The official line from organizers wasn’t sugar-coated. FIM President Jorge Viegas admitted that “despite all the best efforts…we haven’t reached our objectives, nor has the industry associated with performance electric bikes.” Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta added, “We continuously strive for innovation…but must be equally unafraid of listening to our fanbase…and observe market development.”
