WHEN I think of Ducatti bikes I tend to think of Italian superbikes. Race-track honed superbikes. That sort of thing.

But an electric bicycle?

Hmmm, this is new.

But it’s true, apparently. Ducati has jumped into bed with another Italian firm, Italwin, in a three-year licensing deal to produce the City Pearl. An electric bike that will revolutionise the electric bike sector, reckons Ducati.

And they might have a point. What really caught my eye was this: where’s the battery? To all intents and purposes it looks like a normal bike.

But a Panasonic lithium battery is lodged on the rear luggage rack, which also houses the electronics. So it looks like a traditional bike; but has that that extra motivation when you need it – up to 24k/mh (15mph).

City Pearl is available in both men’s and women’s styles. Both models are are being displayed at the International Eurobike show at Friedrichshafen in Germany before going on sale early next year. It could give a new – and rather racy – name to eco-commuting.

Mark Jones posts this reply: Not forgetting, of course, the very sexy https://www.gocycle.com/.

Ducati electric dream machine