Fuell is once again the protagonist, but not for what we would all like. The company that Erik Buell set up together with Frederic Vasseur, head of the Ferrari team in Formula 1, and Francois-Xavier Terny, has just declared bankruptcy this October, as we knew through Motorrad
The project was born in 2019, with the signature of the American genius, leaving behind the aspect of more sporty and gasoline motorcycles, to embark on the challenge of electric and urban mobility. Of course, without leaving aside the personal brand with which he managed to become one of the most respected names on the international scene.
For this purpose, it presented the Fuell Flow-1 and Fuell Fluid-1, two models that tried to put themselves at the forefront. The Flow-1 had engines that allowed both models to be either equivalent to a 125, or have 47 HP to be able to be used with the A2, and promising ranges of about 200 kilometers. A good idea that, in theory, was going to save costs because what varied was the motor and the battery.
The Fuell Flow-1 should have arrived in 2021
The Fuell Flow-1 was going to be in charge of paving the way for the arrival in 2021 of the Fuell Fluid-1. An intelligent and not ostentatious way to position themselves in the market in which, in addition, they did so with quite reasonable prices not only for electric motorcycles but for motorcycles in general, since the Fuell Fluid-1 was going to be on the market for $3,295 (3,051 euros at the current exchange rate) and the Flow-1 already raised the level to 10,995 dollars (10,180 euros).
As we say, everything was quite well planned, at least seen from the outside. Instead of looking for impossible large electric motorcycles, they focused on reasonable models, at competitive prices and that could give a twist to the concept of electric motorcycles, but the reality has been different.
And there is no doubt that the plans were affected by the pandemic, which led Fuell to delay the arrival of their first motorcycle and only in 2023 did they accept pre-orders which, we assume, would not be many either.
A bitter end for a project that could have revolutionized the sector. Or maybe not, because the truth is that today the electric motorcycle still has not found its place.
