2025 KTM and Husqvarna Electric Streetbikes

[Hugh Janus]

Street-legal electrics from both KTM and Husqvarna are coming for 2025. (Husqvarna/)

Austria’s KTM has been at the electric motorcycle game longer than most of its mainstream peers, having launched the original Freeride E battery-powered off-roader as long ago as 2011, but despite more than a decade of experience it has yet to jump into the EV streetbike scene. Until now. New documents show that both KTM and its sister firm Husqvarna will have identically powered electric models in their 2025 model ranges.

The information comes courtesy of the brand’s VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) decoding document, which has to be filed with the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and published to help make sure specific models can be identified from the VINs. The latest of these documents, which covers sibling companies KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas, reveals the existence of the KTM “Electric Freeride (Street Legal)” and Husqvarna “Electric Pioneer (Street Legal)” models in the brands’ 2025 model ranges.

Street-legal versions for the KTM Freeride have been promised for a few years, but appear to be coming in 2025. (KTM/)

Details of the bikes are thin on the ground, but the VIN decoder adds specific codes for the fourth and fifth VIN digits, used as model identifiers, to mark out the electric bikes: The Electric Freeride gaining the code “E1″ and the Electric Pioneer going by “P1.” The document also adds a new code in the seventh position of the VIN in the form of a “0,” meaning that a bike is electric. Until now, that position has only been used by the number “2″ or “4″ for two- or four-stroke engines. Finally, the 12th character in the VIN, which is normally used for engine capacity under the KTM VIN protocol, ranging from “0″ for under 125cc on two-strokes or under 250cc on four-strokes to “9″ for bikes over 900cc, can now instead feature the letter “C” to represent an electric powertrain that’s described as “5.54kW Li-ion 660W.”

That description is a little confusing. Both 5.54kW and 660W are figures relating to power, so one interpretation is that the motor is rated at 5.54kW (7.43 hp). The 660W figure is too low to realistically represent the bike’s power, as it equates to less than 1 hp, but it could be related to the bike’s rate of charge.

The KTM Freeride E-XC. (Brown Dog Wilson/)

The problem with that explanation is that there’s a separate section of the VIN that’s specifically related to power (the sixth digit), so why include the 5.54kW figure? Also, why is it listed as “5.54kW Li-ion” when Li-ion is the battery chemistry, unrelated to the motor? One possibility is that the “kW” in the document should actually read “5.54kWh Li-ion” and relates to the battery’s capacity and its chemistry, and previous information from KTM about its electric bike plans aligns with that explanation.

Most notably, back in 2022 KTM and Husqvarna’s parent company, Pierer Industrie, published a presentation document that included both details and images of its planned electric bike models, showing four machines. One was an electric kids’ bike, then code named the E10, which has since turned into the SX-E 2, but the other three were intended for the street and named the Husqvarna E-Pilen, KTM E-Duke, and KTM Freeride E LV. Notably, all were claimed to use a “5.5kWh” Li-ion battery, pointing to the possibility that the “5.54kW” mentioned in the new document should really read “5.54kWh.”

The Husqvarna E-Pilen, based on the 390 Duke’s chassis, has for the time being been put on the back burner, but is likely not dead. (Husqvarna/)

In terms of power, the three proposed bikes were all close to one another. The E-Pilen and E-Duke—both based on the standard 390 Duke chassis but with an electric powertrain—were claimed to have 10kW (13.4 hp) while the “Freeride E LV” was a street-legal enduro-style bike, with a proposed 9kW (12 hp), matching that of the existing Freeride E-XC. In each case, the power was listed as “nominal” (electric bikes often have peak outputs substantially higher than their rated figures). The Freeride E-XC, for instance, peaks at 18kW (24 hp) despite its 9kW rating.

Both the E-Pilen (shown as a concept back in 2021) and the mechanically identical E-Duke appear to have been put on the back burner at the moment, but even in 2022 the Freeride E LV was claimed to be near production. The 2022 Pierer presentation revealed plans to launch the bike onto the market in 2023 and a recommended retail price of under 10,000 euros ($10,800). While the time scales have clearly slipped, it’s likely that the KTM Electric Freeride and Husqvarna Electric Pioneer are both developments of that project, with even the KTM’s name coming very close to the original Freeride E LV title of the project.

If the new bikes are descendants of the Freeride E LV, and the specifications have met the original targets, then they’re due to have a removable battery pack. It was confirmed in the 2022 presentation, and KTM is founding member of the European Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium, a group created by KTM, Piaggio, Honda and Yamaha, but now including more than 20 members with the aim of establishing a standardized swappable bike battery.

The VIN decoding document also hints that Husqvarna will be adding a Vitpilen 801 to its range to sit alongside the existing Svartpilen 801. That’s a logical move, as the two bikes would be based on the same platform, like smaller Vitpilen and Svartpilen models, with just a slight change to the stance and riding position to make the Vitpilen more street-focused without the Svartpilen’s hint of scrambler. Prototypes spied before the Svartpilen 801 was launched included just such a bike, with slicker tires and lower bars than the Svartpilen 801 uses.

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