Producing—no, make that selling—electric motorcycles is hard. Apparently, it is very, very hard. The list of failed electric motorcycle companies is long and storied. Companies like Alta, ARC, Brammo, Cake, Fuell, Mission, Sondors, and UBCO have filed for receivership/bankruptcy. Another electric moto company, the Canadian firm Damon, looks to be on life support. It is looking to move to California.

Some of these electric motorcycle companies are dead for good. Others have been given a second life in the form of new investors. From underperforming their internal combustion engine counterparts to higher pricing compared to internal combustion engine machines or just plain poor or crooked management, electric motorcycle companies have seen a tough road. Another one of those companies is Energica Motor Company. It, too, is in bankruptcy and is now up for auction in the Judicial Court of Modena, Italy.

Going From Good To Bad

At one point, at least to the casual observer of electrically powered motorcycling, things seemed reasonably rosy. Founded in 2009, the company seemed to be holding its own. Later, it was acquired by the tech company, Ideanomics. As an electric vehicle technology company, it seemed that it would be able to provide the cash necessary for Energica’s future growth. As late as February 2023, Energica said its sales were increasing, with a 52 percent sales uptick year-over-year combined with a 67 percent increase in year-over-year revenue and an expanding dealer network. On its face, things seemed OK.

Energica’s bikes seemed to offer performance figures that other electric motorcycle manufacturers were unable or unwilling to provide. With its concentration on performance, Energica somehow became the exclusive supplier of electric motorcycles for MotoGP’s MotoE series. From 2019 through the end of the 2022 season, Energica machines took to the world’s racetracks in a series at the highest level of motorcycle racing. Electric motorcycle racing was becoming more popular, and a large portion of that gain could be laid at the feet of Energica. Once again, things on the outside looked OK.

However, Ducati was able to win the MotoE supplier role in 2023. Perhaps the loss was too much for Energica to bear. It’s not clear what ultimately caused the company to go bankrupt other than the fact it apparently couldn’t sell enough motorcycles to sustain itself.

Bankruptcy Selloff

Things then took a turn for the worse when the Energica announced it was reducing its workforce by around 70%. Then, in October 2024, it filed for bankruptcy in Italy. At the same time, things apparently weren’t so rosy at Energica’s parent company either. In December of the same year, Ideanomics filed for bankruptcy in Delaware.

So here we are in 2025, and the Italian courts are now involved in the liquidation of Energica’s assets. The company is currently proposed to be sold off as a large single lot. All of the company’s properties, including unfinished and prototype motorcycles, intellectual property, name, branding, and virtually everything inside the Energica facility, are to be sold. Listed as included in the auction price is a list of about eighty pages of items that go with the sale. Even things as small as coffee machines and grey metal hangars are included.

Bargain Basement?

If you’ve got lots of money and a team of engineers behind you or are a large company looking to make an entrance into the electric motorcycle business, it would seem that Energica could be a place to start looking. That’s because the minimum bid price for the entire lot is surprisingly low. Bidding for Energica’s assets starts at a relatively modest €4.275M (~$4.6M). Remember, we’re not just talking about the technology assets but everything Energica owns.

Snapping Up The Leftovers

When once promising, or let’s say potentially promising, start-up electric motorcycle manufacturers die, there is often a period of mourning from the folks who plunked down their hard-earned dough to secure pretty much… nothing. And while the remains of the electric motorcycle manufacturer slowly sink towards the inky darkness of the ocean that is failed electric motorcycle companies, the sharks may or may not begin to circle.

Image: Energica

For example, bits and pieces of technology assets were gnawed from the corpse of the deceased ALTA electric motorcycle company by Bombardier. Some of that technology may have made its way into its new electric motorcycle company CanAm. In the case of Brammo, Cummings purchased what was left of the technology for use in its products.

Bueller, Bueller, Bueller

So the question becomes, are there any companies out there that want to gamble on electric motorcycles or use the technology for their products?

But will any company even bid on what remains of Energica? Who would want to gamble on an entry into the electric motorcycle industry in its present state? In the case of Energica in today’s electric motorcycle world, the sharks might just swim on by this one corpse. They may be on the lookout for more tasty and fulfilling prey.