Yamaha EC-05 Electric Scooter with Gogoro Batteries Unveiled

Yamaha EC-05 electric scooter has been officially unveiled for the Taiwanese market. The product has been developed in partnership with a Taiwan-based brand, Gogoro. The electric scooter brand brings class-leading battery technology to the product, most happening of which is the quick-swappable battery option.

Gogoro offers thousands of battery stations across Taiwan and their scooters use two packs that can be either charged at home or swapped for a fully charged option at a station. They use Li-ion technology that keeps the weight under control and also offers a fast-charging option. Yamaha EC-05 will be available for public use in Taiwan starting from August 2019, while the launch price has not been revealed yet.

Gogoro rivals Kymco in this department, with their battery packs looking and feeling more neat and practical for everyday use. Battery swapping takes just the same amount of time as it takes to refill your scooter with a few litres of petrol. Yamaha has already entered into a partnership with Suzuki, Honda, and Kawasaki for a single platform that will feature a battery swapping feature.

Yamaha EC-05 electric scooter comes with an unconventional design, with headlight forming the base for its facial expressions and large one-piece panel neatly wrapped around the same. The handlebar section remains empty and seats look decent for city-specific use.

Yamaha EC-05 is expected to bring 100 kilometres of range, with two battery packs that can be replaced quicker than filling petrol and paying at the counter. Yamaha will keep EC-05 exclusive to Taiwan for some time but meanwhile, they will try installing stations across their major markets before launching the scooter.

Unlike the time when brands were looking into exclusivity and never even shared a single part from their drivetrains, the electric revolution will see all of them sharing parts to keep the overall costs low and improve the vehicle practicality. The Indian market has a limited number of electric products on offer and most of them are brand-engineered versions of popular international options.