Sinje Gottwald Becomes First Person To Ride Across Africa On An Electric Motorcycle

On February 15 2023, Sinje Gottwald, an account manager from Cake, completed a 13,000 km journey on her Cake Kalk AP electric motorcycle from Spain to Africa. This made her the very first person to cross the African continent on an electric bike. She started her journey from Barcelona without any technical or medical support on October 14 2022 and rode till she reached the tip of Africa, Cape Town. The distance covered by her is the longest anyone in the world has ever been able to travel on an electric motorcycle.

She set off on her 124-day journey started from Barcelona, from where she ferried to Morocco, putting the electric dirt bike to good use by riding it through the sand dunes. Her ride across Africa saw some rough terrains that included forests, rivers, and deserts. This is not her first long ride on a motorcycle as she has previously ridden across the world on a 1994 BMW GS, crossing over Europe to Asia, South America to North America and then planned to travel from North Africa down the continent. Unfortunately, this ride was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic when she reached Mali. She then had to fly back home after parking her bike in Dakar.

Commenting on her journey, Gottwald said: “My dream was to see the world with my own eyes. No matter how much I learn about places, seeing and experiencing them myself will always give me a better understanding. This I feel is particularly the case for Africa.”

Cake is a Swedish manufacturer of electric two-wheelers that showcased some of its products at the 2023 Auto Expo. Its Kalk series consists of motocross-style adventure bikes that feature a minimalistic design and a tall ground clearance of 300 mm. The series is powered by an electric motor that makes 14.75 bhp and 252 Nm of peak torque, giving it a top speed of 90 kmph and range of 86 km. The company seems quite keen on selling its products in India and is currently setting up an assembly and manufacturing plant, which will likely be located in Uttar Pradesh.