The electric two-wheeler market, especially the scooter segment is burgeoning, and with big players like TVS and Bajaj in the mix, Japanese manufacturers such as Yamaha are also getting ready to join the fray.
Speaking about Yamaha India’s EV plans, the company’s chairman, Eishnin Chihana, said the EV scooter market is growing faster than imagined and they are developing an electric scooter for India. "This will be a joint effort between Yamaha India and Yamaha Japan. The scooter will be made in India using components sourced from local vendors. The motor and battery will be developed keeping Indian climatic conditions in mind."
Recently, Yamaha showcased the E01 and European Neo’s electric scooters at a dealer conference in India to gauge their reaction. Yamaha’s chairman was betting on the Neo’s to be one of shortlisted EVs, however, the dealers didn’t warm up to the idea based on the international model specifications, which are quite low.
That being said, the Neo’s is one of the front running designs that Yamaha plans to adapt for its Indian electric scooter. It is expected to feature a more powerful motor and better range than the European-spec Neo’s 37km. Yamaha says that as per their survey, scooters on average are ridden for a minimum 25-35km a day. While the Neo’s fulfils that requirement, they are yet to figure how much the Indian-spec scooter’s range needs to be increased to, within a safe-to-operate limit.
When asked whether the electric scooter could offer a 100km range, as expected by most Indian buyers, Chihana said that it is an uphill task. The current battery management technologies make it hard to achieve 100km on a single charge. “The ones that are capped at 25kph can achieve it, but if you have performance levels going up to 45 or 50 or 60kph, a real world 100km range is very difficult,” he adds.
All said, while Yamaha India is slightly late to the EV party, it will take at least two to three years from now, before the production scooter sees the light of day. Yamaha, however, is insistent that it won’t compromise on quality, despite the necessity to get the product to the market soon.