SCOOP: Yamaha’s 2016 electric production bikes revealed

Reports are in this morning that Yamaha WILL launch its first production electric motorbikes in 2016 – and we will get to see the firm’s proddie electric tech in both on and off-road incarnations.

Patents have been revealed that show two bikes and it’s clear that each is based very closely indeed on  concept motorcycles shown at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show.

Then we saw the PES1 (road bike, pictured) and PED1 (the dirt bike, pictured below) – two bikes that were modular in design, sharing chassis, motor and battery fitments. Apparently, the battery compartment on both bikes is the major adaption on the motorcycles in the build up to production.

The batteries will not only be able to be easily swapped in and out of the bike (so allowing a drop-off, drop-in battery system at Yamaha dealerships, a bit like filling up a tank with petrol at a petrol station) but the bikes will be able to go from carrying two batteries to carrying three, seriously extending performance or range.

We’ve now heard that Yamaha is getting into production electric bikes, the news that Honda MIGHT do the same has been doing the rounds for two years now and we’ve also been told that we’re going to get an amazing bit of inside info about a third range of bikes which are on the horizon from a major manufacturer too. We’ll tell you about those once the info lands.

Very exciting times indeed.