Honda, KTM, Piaggio and Yamaha form swappable battery consortium

One of the big promises that were part of the early push to get electric vehicles off the fraudulent was the idea of swappable batteries. You drive nearby, drain your battery, and then, instead of plugging in, you control into a bay and have your battery swapped for a charged one in just a few minutes. Now, of course, we know that, for cars, that plan never really took off, but according to an announcement made on Monday, it’s looking increasingly like swappable batteries are the future of two-wheeled electric vehicles.

KTM, Yamaha, Honda and Piaggio — four of the biggest names in powersports — have employed an agreement to form a swappable batteries consortium, which could be just the push that swappable-battery tech devises to really get going. The goals of the consortium are outlined in the document as follows:

• Develop well-liked technical specifications of the swappable battery systems
• Confirm well-liked usage of the battery systems
• Make and promote the consortium’s well-liked specifications a standard within European and International standardization bodies
• Expand the use of the consortium’s well-liked specification to global level

So, if swappable batteries never took off for cars, what is it nearby motorcycles and scooters that makes them more likely? Well, size is a huge appraisal. A battery pack for an electric car is typically vast and expensive, so moving it around is inherently more anxiety and risky. A battery pack for an electric moped or motorcycle is smaller than a portion of carry-on luggage, and with lithium-ion tech, it’s dazzling lightweight, too, making it much simpler to swap over.

Another appraisal is cost. A smaller pack, like one in a motorcycle, would be cheaper, so having multiple packs for a single vehicle is a lot more practical, allowing you to keep one fully charged at home or in your office, ready to swap in at any time.

Does this consortium mean we’ll soon be inundated with two-wheeled electric vehicles that have swappable, interchangeable batteries? Probably not. Development takes time, and when you pair that with the smaller market for electric two-wheelers, it’ll probably be at least a few years beforehand that dream is realized.