The Consortium will be involved in the creation of international technical standards by working closely with interested stakeholders
Following the signing of the Letter of Intent in March, automakers Piaggio, Honda Motor Co, KTM AG and Yamaha Motor Co have set up a consortium to encourage the use of swappable batteries for electric motorcycles and light electric vehicles.
The Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC) is committed to the promotion of the widespread use of light electric vehicles, such as mopeds, scooters, motorcycles,
tricycles and quadricycles in the transport sector and to the more sustainable life-cycle management of batteries in
the context of international climate policies, the companies said in a statement.
“The founding members of the Consortium believe that the availability of a commonly developed swappable battery system is key to the development of low-voltage electromobility,” it added.
It will focus on issues such as battery life, recharging times, infrastructure and costs and will work on defining international standard technical specifications for swappable batteries.
The Consortium will be involved in the creation of international technical standards by working closely with interested stakeholders and National, European and International standardization bodies.
The companies further said that the availability of charging stations varies between countries and there is still limited information for end users. Therefore, with this Consortium, PIAGGIO, HONDA, KTM and YAMAHA aim at engaging the decision makers for the development and deployment of charging infrastructure to promote the increase of light electric vehicles.
The companies in the consortium said they welcomed others joining them to extend standards to as many companies as possible.
Honda’s Motorcycle Operations Chief Officer Yoshishige Nomura said the consortium’s objectives aimed to make electric motorbikes more convenient for clients, as their “use on large scale can substantially contribute to the creation of a more sustainable society”.
Michele Colaninno, Chief of strategy and product of Piaggio Group, said, “Urban mobility is going through a delicate moment of transition towards electrification… Swappable batteries give the right answer to speed up the recharging time of vehicles offering an additional valuable choice for users. Our aim is to bring all our technological know-how and attitude for innovation to the Consortium.”
