From bitter rivals in competitions, especially in MotoGP, to partners in an unprecedented consortium dedicated to two-wheeled electric mobility. The Piaggio Group, Honda, Ktm and Yamaha, following the signing of the Letter of Intent on 1 March, have signed the official agreement for the foundation of the Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC). The purpose of this union is to promote the spread of light electric vehicles such as mopeds, scooters, motorcycles, tricycles and motorized quadricycles, encouraging a more sustainable management of the battery life cycle in line with international climate policies. According to the founding members of the SBMC, the development of low-voltage electric mobility is closely linked with the availability of interchangeable battery systems – which can be moved from one vehicle to another, even of different brands – designed on the basis of specifications. common.
Aspects such as autonomy, charging times, infrastructure and costs are the central themes of electric mobility, on which the four main objectives of this Consortium depend: to develop common technical specifications for interchangeable battery systems; verify the possibility of sharing battery systems; define and promote common specifications to be proposed as standards to European and international institutions; promote the extension of the adoption of the Consortium’s common specifications at a global level. The availability of charging stations varies greatly between different countries and the information available to end users is still very limited. For this reason, the SBCM also wants to incentivize those responsible for the development and implementation of the charging infrastructure.
In addition, the four founding members invited all interested players to join the project, to ensure greater dissemination of the interchangeable battery standard. “Thanks to this Consortium, motorcycles will continue to play a key role in the urban context. Interchangeable batteries will reduce vehicle charging times, offering users an extremely interesting alternative” commented Michele Colaninno, Chief of strategy and product. of the Piaggio Group, echoed by Yoshishige Nomura, Chief Officer, Motorcycle Operations at Honda “Honda believes that the adoption of large-scale electric motorcycles can contribute substantially to the creation of a more sustainable society. solve various problems such as the extension of autonomy, the reduction of recharging times and the reduction of the cost of vehicles and infrastructures “
“We intend to work with our partners to develop an interchangeable battery system for low voltage (48 V) vehicles with a maximum capacity of 11 kW, based on international technical standards. We are doing everything possible to protect the role of vehicles. on two wheels in the future of urban and extra-urban mobility “added Stefan Pierer, CEO of KTM, while Takuya Kinoshita, Head of Yamaha’s Land Mobility Business Operations division concluded:” I hope our initiative will push other companies that share the our own values to take part in this mission, in order to generate a revolutionary change for the future. We are confident that this initiative will help to standardize technical specifications and standards, maximizing the benefits of power supply for customers around the world “.