CEO of Zero Motorcycles discusses bold new plans to introduce six sub-£10K models in two years

CEO of Zero Motorcycles, Sam Paschel has spoken exclusively to MCN about the Californian electric bike firm’s ambitious new plans to bring six more bikes to market in the next two years, all priced under €10,000 (roughly £8300 at today’s exchange rate).

The first of these machines arrived in November 2024 at the EICMA trade show in Milan and consisted of a £3710 XB and £5410 XE lightweight road legal off-road duo, built in partnership with Chinese firm Zongshen.

They were showcased alongside a manageable Neutrino concept, reminiscent of Honda’s £3899 MSX125 Grom town bike.

“We spent 18 years and have accumulated 180 million consumer miles under the tyres of Zero products,” Paschel told MCN. “The ambition was never to just start and end in the premium space, it was that once that technology was perfected, we would bring it into mid- and low-power vehicles to offer more access to consumers.”

The move will see the brand enter a new space, away from their current range that typically consists of larger premium models – including the fully faired £20,700 SR/S sports tourer.

It could well also attract more riders currently considering electric, that aren’t prepared to fork out huge sums to experiment with life on a new powertrain.

“We’re going to be launching six new platforms in the next two years, all priced under €10,000,” the CEO continued. “This is the moment where we take the brand, the distribution, the service, and the tech that we’ve built over the last 18 years and bring it to price points that offer more access to consumers that might be interested in electric.”

Like all large capacity electric brands, Zero have had it tough in the UK recently. A market reluctance to adopt battery technology – compounded by factors like rising energy bills, charge times, and range – have seen sales numbers continue to dwindle.

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Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) data released in early December 2024 further showed a total of 3531 electric bike registrations from January to November of last year. This compared with 101,662 internal combustion engined machines.

“Electric’s in a different spot. We’ve done well in premium, but it’s not enough – the adoption required, the number of vehicles sold above €20,000 is a relatively small section of the market, and that was never really the plan,” the Zero boss admitted.

“You look at what is the addressable market where you’re currently playing, where are the pockets where you’re seeing electric adoption gaining momentum,” Paschel added.

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“We have the permission as a brand – and with the technology – to enter into any category where we have built deep conviction that our technology can offer a benefit to consumers and there’s scale to be had.”

The lower capacity end of the electric market is currently doing the best in the UK, with the 125cc equivalent sub-14.8bhp class up by 77.4% in November 2024 compared with the same month in the previous year. This equated to 204 registrations, compared with 115.

Zero’s ambitions are backed up by strong financials, with Sam adding: “We’ve secured $100 million of a $120 million round. It’s still open and we’re hoping to close the last 20, and we’ve secured the future of Zero Motorcycles with those investments.”

Video: A year with the Zero DSR/X electric adventure bike