The Big Four a Gearing Up
When Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda, and Suzuki get into the electric motorcycle market in a big way, it’s going to change the industry. The companies have already teamed up to standardize swappable batteries. While there are plenty of electric motorcycle startups and other more established companies, the big four entering that arena will be what really changes things. It now looks like Yamaha has some patents that indicate where the charging port on the motorcycle is located.
According to MoreBikes, the company has three separate designs, each of which were filed in separate patents. The first is a half-faired motorcycle that has the charging port essentially where you’d expect to fill up a typical gas tank. This is the most obvious location for a charging port and honestly makes the most sense to me. The next one is a naked motorcycle. Its charging port is hidden under the pillion seat. It’s still a smart move, but not necessarily where I’d want the charging port. The last design features the charging port located behind the headlight on a sportbike. This is the oddest placement but could work well. You pull in front first and you can easily connect up to the charging port.
I would imagine the company is trying different designs to see which one works best in testing. While hiding the charging port away under the pillion seat or in the headlight might help from a design aesthetic, I wonder if it’s really actually a smart move. I would think a central charging port would make the most sense so no matter how you part the bike, it’s easy to get to. Time will tell what Yamaha decides is the best move. I’ll be watching and waiting to comment.