A Royal Enfield showroom in Thailand is proudly displaying a Bullet 500, with the familiar, tall single-cylinder engine swapped out for a battery pack. Although Royal Enfield are aware that the shift to electric mobility is inevitable, we weren’t expecting a battery-powered RE for at least another decade.
The bike pictured here, with the chassis modified to fit a large battery stack, is definitely not a Royal Enfield-sanctioned project, and is most likely the work of an enthusiastic individual or a bunch of students working on a college project.
The bike features a full-digital dash, mobile phone integration and the final drive is a belt in place of the chain. There is, of course, no chrome exhaust on the right side, and no clutch lever on the left handlebar, as the bike lacks a gearbox.
This is also not the first time we have seen a battery-powered Royal Enfield; a few years ago a UK-based RE owner went green, by fitting his 2005 Bullet with batteries from the Nissan Leaf electric car.
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