STRiX, considered the leading electric hard enduro bike manufacturer today, has joined Pedro Bianchi Prata’s project to develop a rally raid e-bike for the 2027 Dakar Rally’s Mission 1000.

“This is a very important step for me,” said Bianchi. “In STRiX, I found a strong technical base and a highly motivated team with a real desire to innovate. My objective has been clear from day one: to develop an electric motorcycle capable of competing at the highest level and to build a truly competitive project for Dakar 2027. This will be a path of constant evolution, race after race, always focused on reliability and autonomy.”

Bianchi has been working on his electric rally bike for over a year. After running the Baja TT Escuderia Castelo Branco (finished 30th overall) and Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura (15th), it became the first electric motorcycle to complete an FIM-sanctioned World Rally-Raid Championship event when Bianchi set what would’ve been the 40th best time at the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. It also finished ninth in its maiden desert race at November’s Addax Rally.

Like in 2025, the bike’s itinerary for 2026 will be a mix of CNTT races in his native Portugal and FIM Bajas rounds as well as the Rally-Raid Portugal in March.

The bike relies on a Moeve generator powered by biocompost and synthetic fuel. Company marketing director Cláudia Soares Mendes added, “At Moeve, we believe in more sustainable mobility and in a responsible energy transition. Supporting a project like this, which combines innovation, sport, and technological development, is fully aligned with our vision for the future. We are proud to continue as the main sponsor of this initiative and to contribute to the development of more efficient and environmentally responsible solutions.”

The battery on the 2025 bike can be swapped out every 40 kilometers. Of course, since Mission 1000 stages run for approximately 100 km, Bianchi hopes to up the latter range via his STRiX partnership. EDMTECH will build the new battery.

“Our partnership with Pedro Bianchi Prata represents a unique opportunity to test and develop our technology in real and extreme racing conditions,” STRiX head Urban Repa commented. “We believe that together we can take significant steps forward in the evolution of electric competition motorcycles, with a direct impact on the future of our products.”

Since Mission 1000’s debut in 2024, every bike that’s taken part has been electric. Arctic Leopard and Segway fielded e-bikes for this year’s race.

Paulo Alves, the CEO of EDMTECH, stated:

“This project represents a major technological milestone for EDMTECH and a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of what is currently possible in high-performance battery engineering.

“Our ambition is clear: to bring today’s most advanced chemistry and power electronics technologies to their absolute performance limits. The battery system being developed for the Dakar competition is engineered to achieve extremely high energy density while remaining lighter, more efficient, more robust, and inherently safer under the most demanding racing conditions.

“This requires delivering exceptional discharge capability, advanced thermal management, structural resilience against vibration and impact, and intelligent real-time energy management, all within strict weight and volume constraints.

“At a deeper level, this project reflects a broader strategic vision: to progressively narrow the gap between electric energy storage and the energy density of gasoline, which remains significantly higher today. By optimizing cell chemistry, pack architecture, electronics, and system integration as a unified platform, we are accelerating the path toward true performance parity between electric and combustion technologies.

“Working alongside Pedro Bianchi Prata and STRiX allows us to validate these innovations in extreme real-world scenarios, transforming competition into a high-intensity laboratory for next-generation energy systems.”

Bianchi and X-raid’s hydrogen car are the only programs to confirm 2027 Mission 1000 entries so far, though it’s expected for teams like defending winner KH-7 to return as well.

Featured image credit: Bianchi Prata Offroad Center