Specs promise 600cc power and 1000cc torque plus 130km range and 30-minute recharge
Honda unveiled its EV FUN concept bike at last November’s EICMA show with the promise that the production version would be available in 2025 – and the company looks just about on course to do that after releasing official images and the first specs of the machine in Europe.
While the ‘EV FUN’ name was a bit on-the-nose, the production model’s name, WN7, feels a little bland in comparison. Honda says the title derives ‘W’ from the development concept ‘Be the Wind’ and ‘N’ from ‘Naked’ while the ‘7’ is reference to the capacity class that the bike is aimed at, presumably 700cc combustion engine bikes.
The full launch will be at this November’s EICMA and production is confirmed to be scheduled to start before the end of this year, even though dealers aren’t expected to receive bikes before early 2026.
The key information released so far is intriguing. The peak power is rated at only 18kW, but Honda claims the power is on a par with 600cc ICE bikes. It’s not unusual for electric motors to have a rated ‘continuous’ power figure that’s substantially lower than their peak power, though, so Honda’s claim of 600cc performance levels might not be that far off the mark. Meanwhile, the motor’s torque is put at 100Nm, on a par with litre combustion engines, but again that’s a slightly skewed figure because ICE bikes invariably use multi-speed transmissions as torque multipliers at lower speeds, while electric bikes like the WN7 have a single-speed drive between the motor and rear wheel. The real performance level will become clear when we get a chance to ride the bike.
Perhaps more important than outright performance, though, is the range and practicality of an electric bike. Honda says the WN7 is good for more than 130km on a charge of its lithium-ion battery, 30km more than was originally promised when the concept was shown last year. Importantly, and unusually for an electric motorcycle, the WN7 also has a CCS2 rapid DC charging port that allows it to plug into the sort of fast chargers used by most electric cars. That means it can refill its battery from 20% to 80% full in 30 minutes, while a 6kVA home charging wall box will complete a 100% charge in under three hours. That points to a battery capacity of around 15kWh.
In terms of dimensions, the bike looks to be close to the CB1000 Hornet, and it’s around that mark when it comes to weight as well, tipping the scales at 217kg.
Full tech details won’t come until later this year, but the TFT dash is claimed to have RoadSync connectivity and ‘exclusive EV menus’, while the lighting is full LED.
And how much does it all cost? In the UK, the price has been confirmed at £12,999, equivalent to $26,600 AUD.
