Zero Motorcycles is on a roll. Hot on the heels of its DSR/X adventure bike introduction comes word the California electric motorcycle maker has secured a new $107 million round of financing.
Zero says the latest round of cash is coming from Polaris, Exor, Hero MotoCorp and financial investors including long-time backer Invus and other undisclosed investors.
Related: More EV motorcycle coverage
Although Zero is still a small motorcycle company compared to giants like Harley-Davidson and Honda, it’s still managed to build more than 20,000 bikes and provide expertise to other industry players.
For EV motorcycle fans perhaps the best news of all is it should allow Zero the financial flexibility to quickly finish up work on adding CCS DC fast-charging to some of its line-up.
Zero has long led the industry in Level 2 J-1772 charging speeds but has fallen behind its two biggest competitors, Harley’s LiveWire brand and Italy’s Energica, when it comes to DC fast charging.
Zero bet on the wrong DC-fast charging horse years ago, which was CHAdeMO. To use an analogy, it’s sort of like Zero bet on Betamax instead of VHS or HD-DVD instead of BluRay.
The good news is that it’s an open secret that Zero has been working on CCS for years now since the 2020 Zero SR/S owner’s manual actually has references to Zero’s yet to be released CCS charging solution.
Polaris has been betting big on Zero. Back in 2020 Polaris signed a 10-year exclusive EV development partnership with Zero for off-road vehicles and snowmobiles.
For those that don’t know, Polaris brands include Indian Motorcycles, Slingshot, its famous ATV brand and others.
Zero also provided battery and motor components for Vanderhall’s limited-production run Edison 2.
Meanwhile Zero’s competitors are also moving at a fast clip. Harley has been raising cash for its LiveWire brand during its special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) offering – and has introduced its second EV – the S2 Del Mar, while Energica just announced its largest single order ever – valued at nearly $2 million – to deliver 88 EV law enforcement EsseEsse9+ motorcycles to Indonesia.
Speaking of fleet sales, Zero has sold electric motorcycles to more than 200 police departments and other authorities.
Zero CEO Sam Paschel says the latest round of cash will fund more global scaling of its operations along with new models.
“Zero has refined the most advanced powertrain technology between e-bicycles and cars driven by its Cypher III operating system. The company has also built an innovative, global brand that is highly respected in the industry,” said Paschel in a news release announcing the additional funding.
It’s all great news for motorcycle lovers. More cash means more investment which means even better bikes will be headed our way.
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