- Yamaha Motors India working on a Yamaha NEO’s-based e-scooter for the Indian market.
- The Yamaha NEO’s based electric scooter will be adapted to suit Indian climatic conditions.
- The e-scooter is also likely to be locally manufactured and assembled.
Yamaha India might be working on an electric scooter based on the Yamaha NEO’s specifically tailor-made for the Indian market. Yamaha intends to install a product in the growing e-scooter market in India. The Japanese bike manufacturer will develop the battery and the motor, two of the major components in an EV, keeping Indian weather conditions in mind. The made-for-India product will also increasingly rely on locally sourced components.
Yamaha NEO’s electric scooter was launched in the past in Europe where it sells parallel to a comparable 50cc segment scooter. The NEO’s uses a 2.5kW motor paired to a 50.4V, 19.2Ah Lithium-ion battery pack and is capable of offering up to 68km of range (in dual battery configuration).
Yamaha electric scooter in India
The Japanese automotive brand had recently showcased the Yamaha NEO’s and the Yamaha EO1 electric scooters at a dealer conference. This restricted event was conducted to gauge the response of dealers towards the products. The survey yielded a requirement for a daily runabout of 25-35km. The NEO’s in the single battery layout runs for 37km before it runs out of charge. To sell in the Indian market, Yamaha needs to extract more range out of the scooter.
Indian consumers, given the competition, now expect about 100km of real world range. Yamaha Motors India chairman Eishnin Chihana said that squeezing 100km of range out of an e-scooter is a tough job. “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,” Chihana added.
There are currently multiple offerings in the Indian e-scooter market that allow users to ride around 100km in the real world. Yamaha’s new scooter, if and when it launches, will go head to head with such rivals.
