Britain’s Hesketh brand enters electric bike market

Newly revived British firm Hesketh Motorcycles has joined forces with New Vetrix to launch a zero emissions scooter.

The Hesketh HZE-Vectrix scooter has been designed for the commuter market, and will reach a top speed of 60mph with a range of 50 miles between charges.

It goes from 0-50 in 6.8 seconds and is powered by a 125v battery, which takes 2.5 hours to charge.

Until the launch of this bike, Hesketh (HMC) was best know for producing a small number of machines in the 1980s including the V1000, Vampire and Volcano.

But when HMC was taken over by Charles Hesketh earlier this year, he stated his intention to move away from its petrol-powered heritage to provide a British branded electric bike.

Vectrix is the perfect bedfellow. It has been making electric machines since May 2006.

Charles Hesketh, Director of HMC, said. “This is a brand new chapter in the life of what we know as the world’s first high performance, zero emission, production motorbike.

“We spent a considerable amount both financially and energetically searching for a zero emission two-wheeled vehicle worthy of the Hesketh brand, and the Vectrix VX-1 meets all our requirements.”

The HZE-Vectrix will be marketed as a premium product for the commuter market with two new models expected during the course of 2010.

HMC is to offer a new contract to the current network of Vectrix dealers which will include continued support for all Vectrix bikes sold in the last two years.