Yamaha reveal electric future
Three new concepts with more on the way
‘The battery can be removed for charging’
Yamaha have unveiled three new electric concepts which could be the perfect city run-arounds if they make it into production. Released ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, which starts on Wednesday, October 23, the three join the TY-E electric trials concept in Yamaha’s electric portfolio.
The key model is the E01 which has radical looks that hide what Yamaha say is a remarkably practical scooter. Yamaha claim the scoot has the power output that’s equivalent to a 125cc scooter (about 14bhp) and that it’s fast-charge compatible. They also say it provides decent range although they stop short of giving any key figures. We’d imagine 100km (60 miles) will have been a key target. Described as the ‘next-generation electric commuter bike’ the E02 is smaller, with output roughly equivalent to a 50cc scooter. What’s more interesting is that the batteries are removable, suggesting this is the first fruit of Yamaha’s joint venture with Gogoro: a Taiwanese scooter manufacturer who already produce a battery-swapping scooter. Gogoro’s machine, the Smartscooter 2, has two 9kg batteries under the seat that, when fully charged, give it a range of 100km. It weighs 112kg fully loaded and the electric motor puts out 6.4kW (8.5bhp) giving it a top speed of 58mph. The Smartscooter 2 also has some clever security tech: on top of the usual ignition key, the bike makes use of fingerprint scanning in your phone to ensure that even if someone steals the key or forces the lock, they can’t get it started. Gogoro sell the machine in Taiwan for just over £1200.
As well as the two scooters, Yamaha unveiled the YPJ-YZ – an electric mountain bike that borrows some design ideas from the firm’s YZ motocross machines and looks like it could be a lot of fun to ride.
Yamaha announced a variety of machines ahead of the show, plus all manner of other ideas including a self-driving four wheeled offroad machine.
They have also confirmed that they will unveil another two motorcycles when the show opens later this month, we’ll have full details in a future edition of MCN.