The electric motorcycle sector is in crisis despite having become one of the protagonists of the sustainable mobility of the future. Sales in Spain fell 13% last year and this year they continue to decline, according to the Anesdor employer’s association.
The sector has been lamenting for months that demand has cooled off due to high prices, poor purchase incentives, insufficient charging points and the absence of European regulations prohibiting combustion motorcycles.
This set of factors has caused the suspension of payments of companies that years ago opted for this industry that had, a priori, a promising future. Among those affected, stands out Pursang Motorcycles, a firm from Esplugues de Llobregat that registered the trademark rights of Pursang, the name that Bultaco gave to its iconic motocross model. “In 2018 I set out to design a new model inspired by the old one but adapted to the electric motor and also to urban mobility,” says Jim Palau-Ribes, who had been design director of Torrot and Gas Gas.
With the help of seven local partners, Palau-Ribes invested 1.6 million in creating and protecting two utility models and the design of the motorcycle. The vast majority of parts were produced in Europe and assembly was carried out at the Rieju facilities, a historic manufacturer in Figueres. “We produced 70 units and sold 50. Unfortunately, there was not the demand we expected,” he says. The company filed for bankruptcy in December with a debt of 780,000 euros to several financial entities and is now finalizing the liquidation. “We are trying to sell the designs and technology to different European manufacturers but no one wants them, the sector is at a standstill,” laments David Barrio, from the Bauds firm, who has been appointed bankruptcy administrator.
In Sant Joan Despí, the Ray brand, operated by the company Win Life Electric Vehicles, has also filed for bankruptcy and is on its way to liquidation. Founded in 2019, it reached a turnover of 4 million in 2022, its first year on the market. The firm was financed by local investors, ICF and Enisa and obtained a loan of 1.5 million from Avança (Generalitat). “Now it accumulates debts of 6 million because for years it has invested a lot in R&D,” says the bankruptcy administrator, Laia Folguera, of the BDO firm, which has tried to find a buyer for the production unit. “The sector is in crisis and no one wants to continue the business. “We have just applied an ERE to the entire workforce, made up of 26 people,” she says. Now, it is considering the possibility of selling the assets, valued at 5.4 million, to competing groups. At the moment, there is one interested party.