The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2025
Can-Am Pulse '73 re-enters motorcycling with a heritage EV — Red Dot BoB 2025
BRP's first Can-Am electric bike keeps the classic tank silhouette and snowy-owl lines — Red Dot Best of the Best 2025.
BRP Inc. · Can-Am
What it had to solve
BRP entered electric two-wheelers from a standing start, and riding felt intimidating to beginners and smaller riders; the new bikes had to carry Can-Am's heritage into a new era of urban mobility.
How it works
In 2025 BRP delivered the Can-Am Pulse and Origin, the first electric motorcycles in Can-Am's history. The company, better known for Ski-Doo snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft and off-road vehicles, was entering a crowded EV market as a newcomer and needed designs that felt unmistakably Can-Am.
The design team led by chief design officer Denys Lapointe deliberately kept the classic fuel-tank silhouette even though an EV has no tank, calling it "an ergonomic and symbolic anchor" that riders instinctively understand. Instead of nostalgia, the body follows the Canadian snowy owl — a symbol of elegance, efficiency and silent power — with a sculptural transition from rear to headlamp that suggests an owl in flight. Subtle references like the stylised pentagonal shape of the historic 1973 logo complete the homage.
Under the styling sits a 35 kW Rotax electric motor, a liquid-cooled system that charges from 20 to 80 percent in about 50 minutes, a single-sided swingarm with an enclosed chain case to cut maintenance, and a clutchless, gear-free ride with a low 30.9-inch seat height aimed at making motorcycling approachable, including for smaller riders.
The line won the iF Design Award in March 2025 and the Red Dot: Best of the Best in July 2025, where the jury said the Pulse "stands out convincingly from the crowd." BRP's Design & Innovation Team was simultaneously crowned Red Dot Design Team of the Year, and the Pulse '73 edition — with exclusive colors and badging — became the tribute to the first Can-Am motorcycle of 1973.
Why it lands
- It uses heritage as a bridge, not a costume: the tank silhouette is a deliberate ergonomic and symbolic anchor that helps combustion riders feel at home on an EV.
- The snowy-owl inspiration gives the machine a sculptural, animal-like tension — grace and energy — instead of the anonymous boxes common in early electric bikes.
- Accessibility was designed in: no gears, low seat height and a light compact frame explicitly widen who can ride, democratising the category.
- Every technical choice (liquid cooling, enclosed chain case, battery in the frame) serves the same story of silent, effortless urban motion.
- The recognition compounded: the same design language won iF and Red Dot honors and the team title, validating a whole design organization, not just one product.
What it did
Won Red Dot: Best of the Best 2025 — the jury praised its "powerful yet graceful presence" — plus BRP's first iF Design Award; the same year BRP's Design & Innovation Team was named Red Dot Design Team of the Year.
What you can take
When a brand jumps to a new technology, carry forward the emotional anchors people already trust — a familiar silhouette, a heritage mark — so the unfamiliar feels inviting instead of alien.
Since then
The Can-Am Pulse and Origin arrived in dealerships in early 2025 carrying the first international design awards in BRP's electric motorcycle program. The Pulse '73 special edition fixed the 1973 heritage tribute in the lineup, while the Red Dot Design Team of the Year title put BRP's design organization alongside previous winners such as Apple, Ferrari and Thule. The platform also seeded BRP's broader electric strategy as the company continued developing electric models across its product lines.
Sources
- Red Dot Design Award: Can-Am Pulse
- BRP Recognized by Prestigious iF Design Award for Can-Am Pulse and Can-Am Origin Electric Motorcycles
- Red Dot Award: Product Design 2025 – The best designers of the year celebrate in Essen
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