Italdesign Gives Us an Electric Ducati

The idea of an electric Ducati might be anathema to many enthusiasts after decades of bikes with a combustion engine as their very soul, but the Italian firm is increasingly involved in electrically assisted bicycles and it’s surely only a matter of time before a battery-powered motorcycle emerges from the Borgo Panigale factory. We’ve seen various unofficial design studies for such a machine in the past, but this one, dubbed the 860-E, is different—comes from Italdesign, a company that’s got both history with Ducati and a current involvement with the firm.

Italdesign—or Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A., if you want the full name—is the firm started by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1968. It’s responsible for countless iconic car designs, from the exotic, multiple Maseratis, Lotuses, and Ferraris have emerged from the firm, to the ubiquitous, like the original VW Golf/Rabbit. However, Italdesign hasn’t limited itself to four wheels; the firm’s designs have appeared on Nikon cameras and Beretta firearms, as well as several motorcycles over the years.

Related: Italdesign Patents Smart Seatbelt Tech for Bikes

The most famous two-wheeler from Italdesign is probably Suzuki’s RE5 rotary—criticized in its time but sought-after today—though the firm’s 1974-on Ducati 860 GT was arguably more influential. Although traditionalists found the bike’s sharp-edged style a shock, and the angular fuel tank was quickly revised to a more sculpted shape for the later GTS version, it was a bike that predicted the shift to squarer designs long before models like Suzuki’s Katana appeared. Most recently, Italdesign created the Ducati Urban-E, a production foldable electric bicycle, in collaboration with Ducati’s own designers.

With the 860-E, Italdesign harks back to the 860 GT, but without going all-out for a retro appearance. Key details are carried over—the gilled side panels that cut into the “tank” on each side are an exaggerated revival of the 860 GT’s, for instance. The flat top and sides to the tank area are also reminiscent of the original, as is the circular headlight, though on the 860-E concept it’s literally a ring of LEDs with a hole in the center. Italdesign has adopted more modern Ducati signatures including a single-sided swingarm and modern, upside-down fork with radial brakes for the mechanical parts, while the lower front bodywork—which presumably contains the battery pack—is given a silver, finned finish, filling the area where the original 860 GT’s bevel drive V-twin sat.

Italdesign says that the original 860 was “so futuristic it was probably ahead of its time” and suggests that’s why it’s revisiting the look now. The firm says there’s no plan for production, but even so the company’s links with Ducati, both past and present, mean its insight into a future electric model carries more weight than most speculative renderings.