Yamaha may not have found runaway success with its previous electric scooters, but new design filings suggest the company isn’t giving up on battery-powered two-wheelers just yet.
As first spotted in Japanese design registration documents and recently reported by AMCN, Yamaha appears to have a new production-ready electric scooter waiting in the wings. While the styling is fairly conservative, the scooter features several engineering choices that set it apart from the growing crowd of electric commuters.
The scooter looks to fall into the 125cc-equivalent category, with proportions similar to Yamaha’s current RayZR 125. But unlike many electric scooters that integrate the motor directly into the rear swingarm, this model appears to use a centrally mounted electric motor driving the rear wheel via a belt. That layout is more reminiscent of typical moto-design and could potentially offer improved weight distribution and suspension performance.
The battery pack also appears to be housed beneath the seat, where it is likely designed to be removable, following the approach Yamaha already uses on its NEO’s electric scooter with swappable batteries. However, Yamaha has used multiple sizes and styles of removable batteries in its electric scooters, so it is not clear exactly which model would be employed here.
Another interesting departure from convention is the rear suspension. Rather than mounting the twin shocks near the rear axle as most scooters do, Yamaha has positioned them much farther forward and wider apart, seemingly to accommodate the battery compartment underneath the seat.
Other visible features include a compact TFT display, multiple storage compartments integrated into the front leg shield, and what appears to be a keyless ignition system. The front end also receives a more distinctive lighting signature with four separate headlamps surrounding a central running light.
With the design looking essentially production-ready, the scooter could make its official debut before long. The bigger question, however, is which markets Yamaha would target, and whether those markets have matured enough for Yamaha to find greater success with electric scooters than it did in previous attempts.
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