New electric sportbike from Yamaha coming soon
All of the Japanese ‘Big 4’ motorcycle manufacturers have already introduced their electric mobility offerings. Just an example, one of Honda’s offerings is the EM1 e: with a hub motor and battery pack with a range of 41 kilometers.
For Suzuki, they’ve been toying with the electric version of the Choinori – the e-Choinori, which the company showcased in last year’s Japan Mobility Show. Recent patent filing suggest that the e-Choinori is heading to the production floor, possibly within 2024. For Kawasaki, it had already introduced the Ninja E-1 at this year’s Makina Moto Show, with an SRP of PHP 624,000.
As for Yamaha, it already had a couple of electric mobility offerings, but recent patent filing suggests that the Iwata-based company is developing a new sportbike, possibly the size of an R6 or R1, with a motor powered by lithium batteries.
While Yamaha itself has not officially released any information, the upcoming electric bike from the patent filing appears to be fully faired, similar to Yamaha’s R6 and sports a trellis frame. The electric motor, possibly a 35 kW motor, sits on top of the swing arm, while the battery pack, which is possibly a load-bearing member of the frame, sits where a traditional 4-cylinder engine would be.
There are fins on the battery pack, suggesting that it will be air-cooled as opposed to liquid-cooled – saving Yamaha some precious weight from the hardware required for liquid cooling like water pump, hoses, sensors, etc.
Besides that, everything else seems to be similar to a traditional motorcycle – swingarm, double disc brakes with 4-piston calipers, upside-down fork, a monoshock absorber and chain as final drive.
It is also worth noting that Yamaha produced and supplied the electric motor for the Subaru STI E-RA electric vehicle (EV), which has been developed by Subaru since 2021 with the aim to gain experience and practice in new technologies in the world of motorsport, which is fast approaching a carbon-neutral era. This small electric motor was said to be capable of producing power equivalent to over 470 PS.
