Zero Motorcycles is offering newly licensed European riders up to €500 to choose electric, as the American manufacturer tries to expand its customer base, just as competition in electric motorcycles starts getting more serious.
Under its 2026 Rider Training Incentive, anyone buying a Zero within three months of obtaining an A1, A2, or full A motorcycle license can receive €500 cashback on models including the DSR/X, SR/F, S, and DS. Buyers of the new LS1 urban scooter or XE receive €250.
Available in Europe, not in the US
The scheme is available in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and several other European markets, but not in the United States.
The incentive is modest compared with the price of a full-size Zero. That becomes clear from Zero’s Belgian pricing. The new LS1 starts at around €5,275, making the €250 bonus worth almost 5% of the purchase price.
The full-size motorcycles are a different proposition. The 2026 S starts at about €18,295 and the DS at €19,330, while an SR/F costs around €23,630 and the adventure-oriented DSR/X €24,140.
On those models, the €500 newcomer bonus represents only around two to three percent of the purchase price, making it more of a well-timed nudge than a decisive financial incentive.
But the incentive’s timing is revealing. Instead of trying to persuade experienced motorcyclists to abandon gasoline, Zero is targeting riders before their brand and drivetrain preferences have become established.
That strategy comes as the electric motorcycle market is finally becoming more crowded. Zero spent years with relatively little direct competition in the full-size battery-powered motorcycle market.
Honda has now entered the segment with the WN7, Can-Am has returned with the electric Pulse and Origin, and Harley-Davidson spin-off LiveWire continues to develop its S2 range. BMW has meanwhile established a strong position in the premium electric scooter segment with the CE 04.
Netherlands 160% increase
Zero is also broadening its own range. The LS1, its first dedicated urban scooter, is particularly important because it gives the brand access to a much larger European market than its traditional premium motorcycles.
The Netherlands shows how quickly that can change Zero’s sales mix. According to BOVAG and RAI registration figures, the brand registered 113 new vehicles in the first half of 2026, up from 43 in the same period last year, an increase of more than 160 percent.
But 69 of those registrations were LS1 scooters. The newcomer therefore represented around 60 percent of Zero’s Dutch sales, while the larger DSR/X accounted for 21 units.
Zero still represents less than one percent of the total Dutch motorcycle market, but it is now clearly ahead of several electric motorcycle rivals. Stark registered 35 units in the first half, Sur-Ron 11, and LiveWire nine.
Belgium: struggling to break through
Belgium remains considerably tougher. Zero registered 39 motorcycles during the first half of 2026, up from 27 a year earlier. Growth is healthy, but volumes remain tiny compared with the overall market.
Electric motorcycles and scooters as a whole are still struggling to break through in Belgium. In the first quarter of 2026, gasoline accounted for more than 96 percent of new motorcycle and scooter registrations, according to FEBIAC, while electric models remained below three percent.
Financial incentives are limited too. In Flanders, the longstanding tax exemption for newly registered electric motorcycles ended in 2026. A new electric motorcycle now pays €61.50 in registration tax and the regular motorcycle road tax, currently €75.90 per year.
The Netherlands similarly offers no large national purchase subsidy, although electric motorcycles benefit from a relatively low fixed BPM registration tax.
Italy most generous
Elsewhere, support can be much more generous. Italy still provides purchase incentives worth several thousand euros for qualifying electric two-wheelers, particularly when an older vehicle is scrapped.
That fragmented landscape means the economics of switching to an electric motorcycle differ considerably from one European country to another.
Germany illustrates Zero’s position particularly well. In 2025, it was the leading brand in the country’s electric and light electric motorcycle category, with 288 registrations and almost 12 percent market share. Yet the category itself remains small.
Electric scooters already generate considerably higher volumes. NIU alone registered more than a thousand electric scooters in Germany last year, far above Zero’s motorcycle sales. That helps explain why the LS1 is becoming central to Zero’s European strategy.
The company is therefore fighting on two fronts. It wants to defend its early lead in full-size electric motorcycles as Honda, Can-Am, and others move in, while using the LS1 to enter the larger urban scooter market.
Against that background, paying new riders €250 or €500 is less about cutting the purchase price than about recruitment. Zero is betting that the easiest moment to convince someone to ride electric is before they buy their first gasoline motorcycle.
