FOR years, Japanese manufacturers have been teasing us with tempting-looking electric bike concepts on the premise such machines are just around the corner.
And now it seems they are.
Yamaha’s PES1 electric sports bike, along with its off-road sibling the PED1, will be in production by 2016, the firm has confirmed in an annual report.
Both machines were revealed as concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show in November. The naked sports PES1 is claimed to weigh under 100kg, while PED1 is lighter still, at less than 85kg.
Both use the same central chassis and brushless DC motor with a lithium-ion battery.
According to Yamaha's report, the new models will meet the expectations of existing motorcyclists while offering the advantages of electric power.
The newly published reports says: ‘In sports motorcycles, we are working to create new value with EV sports motorcycles, which we aim to launch in two years, with the development of the small, on-road sports PES1, as well as the PED1, which are being developed to expand the scope of electric vehicles to the off-road world. In addition to the advantages of being electrically powered, these motorcycles will offer the operability expected by existing motorcycle fans, together with a new riding experience.’
The respective model names stand for ‘Passion, Electric, Street’ and ‘Passion, Electric, Dirt’.
