"We haven't reinvented the wheel. We just updated the powertrain."
With bike sales slumping and EV registrations in freefall, launching a new brand seems like financial suicide. Ampèra's boss explains why targeting car drivers—and bypassing bike shops entirely—is the only way to survive.
Let's be honest: 2025 was a bloodbath for the motorcycle industry. New registrations in the UK fell by 7%, dealerships closed at a record rate, and the electric motorcycle sector—once heralded as the saviour of urban mobility—saw sales plummet by nearly 30%.
Into this graveyard of startups steps Paul Cummins, a man from the Home Counties via Yorkshire, with a plan that seems dangerously optimistic. “I know the numbers,” the Ampèra boss says, not breaking eye contact. “I know people are skeptical. But the reason most electric bike startups fail is that they try to sell electric bikes to traditional bikers. And they try to do it in traditional bike shops. We aren't doing either.”
The "Odd" Problem
Cummins argues that the failure of electric bikes isn't down to the powertrain. It's down to vanity. “Look at the electric market,” the boss says. “Most of them look like appliances. They forget that people buy machines for how they make them feel. We haven't reinvented the wheel in design terms; we've just updated the powertrain for the 21st century.”
Don't Call It a Bike Shop
Here is where Ampèra’s strategy diverges wildly from the competition. You won't find the Ampèra EVO sitting next to a generic 125cc scooter in a dusty bike showroom.
"Why go to market via traditional motorbike shops when we aren't targeting traditional motorcyclists?" Cummins asks. "We are targeting car drivers. So we are going where they live."
Ampèra is partnering with independent prestige car dealers—places that already sell used Teslas, Audi e-trons, Porsches, and MGs.
"Why choose a different garage for your car and your bike? Our technicians are trained to Ampèra standards, but they work in the same bays that service your Mercedes."
It’s a calculated move. Ampèra is placing its bikes directly in the eyeline of people who are already sold on electric mobility. It removes the "range anxiety" conversation because these customers already own an EV.
The "Traffic Light GP"
The "thrill" Cummins is selling isn't environmental smugness. It’s raw acceleration. The inspiration for the brand came from a traffic light drag race in his own Tesla. "I raced a Kawasaki sportsbike in my Model 3," he laughs. "And the Tesla kept up. That was the spark. Why hasn't anyone put that torque into a bike that normal car drivers can ride?"
This is the killer app. Because the Ampèra EVO (launching April 2026) produces a 'nominal' 10kW, it is technically a 125cc equivalent (CBT legal). But it bursts to a peak of 11kW Nominal / 37kW Peak. That means 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds. On L-plates.
Confidential: Project A:EX
If the EVO is the business case, what comes next is the halo. The boss calls it "Project A:EX"—a rolling laboratory prototype designed to shatter records.
The Verdict
Is he mad? Perhaps. But by ignoring the "biker" clique and placing his machines directly in front of the EV-converting car market, the Ampèra chief might have found the only growth area left in the UK transport sector.
“Tesla became a polarising brand,” he concludes. “We want the early Tesla vibe. Led by tech, led by safety, without the politics. If we can do that, the sales figures will take care of themselves.”
