Stepped plan sees at least 10 hybrid or electric models by 2025 and no petrol-powered motorcycles by 2035, although there will be hybrid and alternative fuel engines. Is it the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Kawasaki Will Be All-Electric (Or Hybrid) By 2035

It's the most significant statement in motorcycling so far: the first of its kind in the motorcycling industry, following on from similar statements from many car manufacturers.

Kawasaki President Hiroshi Ito has announced in a speech that the company plans to have at least 10 hybrid and electric vehicles on the market by 2025 and that, by 2035, there will be no bikes powered solely by internal combustion engines burning petrol.

Kawasaki has been conducting research on responsible fuel sources for a while now so it is unlikely that the whole range will be solely electric. Instead it is likely to be a mix of electric, hybrid and perhaps hydrogen-powered bikes.

With the UK and Europe planning on banning the sale of new petrol-powered vehicles by 2035, Kawasaki's planned timing would fit in with that. While not alone among motorcycle manufacturers, Kawasaki is the first to come right out and say that petrol does not have a place in its future and to put a definite time stamp on that.

While the banning of the sale of new petrol-powered cars and bikes is nothing we didn't already know, it is something we are going to have to get used to sooner rather than later. It's time to stop putting off the day when you buy that new motorcycle!