MotoE, the electric race series, has been put on hold until further notice. The announcement by the FIM and organisers Dorna Sports acknowledged that after seven seasons the series had not built up a sufficient following to continue with the 2026 season.

In a joint statement, FIM and Dorna attributed the lack of a developing fanbase due to the still tiny market for electric sports bikes, currently dominated by specialists such as Zero, Energica and Verge – “the (electric) performance motorcycle market has not developed as expected.” Notably, they made it clear that Moto E is on hold, not necessarily permanently put to bed, perhaps with half an eye on the success of Formula E, the electric alternative to Formula One.

Jorge Viegas, FIM president, added: “The racing has been really fantastic, and I would like to thank all the riders and teams that have competed in MotoE, and of course Dorna. We look to the future and are ready to embrace any new innovations and technologies.”

At the BMF, chair Jim Freeman said: “A subject close to our hearts at the BMF, Shaun Anderson , probably our fastest member, competed in the Electric TT until the ACU stopped running it, for much the same reason, the fans weren’t supporting it. There’s still a much larger 4 wheeled consumer base for electric vehicles to translate into support for Formula E than with bikes. ”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of MotoE