Yamaha offers electric scooters for green errands

Toss in a portable solar cell to charge up the scooter when not in use and I'll be more likely to jump on this.

Where can you by the electric bicyles in Tokyo?

Electric bicycles(actually only "power assisted" in Japan) bout any bigger bicycle shop or department store.

Small scooter, limited performance and no noise, count me out too dangerous(as are all small engine scooters).

Roppongi, try donkihote. I have seen electric bicycles there in the past.

It is unclear whether Yamaha’s target buyers—Japanese women, who routinely use bicycles for grocery shopping and other errands—will opt for a green scooter.

Yet another dent in the pockets of poor everyday salarymen's kozukai.

Pros: "eco-friendly"

Cons: high price, half the range and speed of a gas scooter, takes hours to recharge, disposing of batteries - not so eco-friendly, would be difficult to "borrow" a strangers konsento to recharge if batteries died while away from home, batteries cost big bucks if there is a need to replace, majority of power plants supplying electricity still burn fossil fuels.

Summary: No thanks.

Don't think the electric scooter will sell well in Japan.

Reason is that any self-driving/powered vehicle in Japan needs a licence. Hence why bicycles use a the "power assist" system, makes pedaling easier but you will always need to keep pedaling.

Each country classifies vehicles slightly different. E.x.: In my country you don't need a licence for a 50cc scooter but they are top-speed limited to 40km/h.

Don't think you can even drive a Moped here without licence.

Above scooter might be good for a quick trip to the combini but don't see it viable for daily commuting, etc.

making it convenient for late-night city driving,

And for those brakes-squealing-like-fingernails-on-a-blackboard newspaper delivery people.

one of the biggest menaces on the road today are middle aged to elderly women on 50cc scooters. we don't need any more reckless kamikazes on the road parking their scooters whereever they want, blocking footpaths and entranceways. stick to bicycles.

Gotta wonder what the lifetime of the rechargeable battery is. They never honestly tell you that.

I'd rather walk. Fossil Fuels Forever !

Gotta wonder what the lifetime of the rechargeable battery is. They never honestly tell you that.

I don't know the scooters but the battery for my electric bicycle only lasted a year. You can still recharge it after that, but the power isn't the same. Now, I would have to pitch in another 35,000 yen... when the bicycle itself was 80,000 yen.

I asked Yamaha's service guys if this was normal, and they said "YES"!

Its a silly concept. The customer needs a new battery after 3 years (typical battery life of a 1.000 charges) and few customers live in a place with a power socket at the parking.

A petrol driven scooter is cheaper, faster, more reliable, carries two people and does not need a special parking with a power plug. Furthermore, modern scooter have front disk brakes. I can't see any on the above picture.

“Aspiring to low-emissions societies is a certain global trend,”

That is a common misunderstanding as recent studies have shown. The so called "trend" is for a certain kind of customers that need products that allow them to give an "eco-statement". For that to work the product must look different and must be more expensive than similar products.

The Toyota Prius for example was a complete failure in its first version and only after it became more expensive than comparable models and looked distinctive different it became a tool for elitist, snobbish people to make a statement.

@dreamland- too true. The JP over here are using "eco-police cars" and they hate them and rarely use them because they cannot afford to keep changing the battery. The only thing they ever did right was to stop using that damn car.

Why make "eco" crap when they still have stuff they can not properly recharge or get rid of. Just trying to make a buck. Where is Leo when you need him. (sarcasm)

HonestDictator said: Toss in a portable solar cell to charge up the scooter when not in use and I'll be more likely to jump on this.

That would be like filling a swimming pool with syringe. Just carry a splitter, unplug a vending machine, plug both into the splitter and voila! Put 200 yen in the machine. Drive away. Done!

it is kawaii.

Dang - we can buy these things in China for about ¥3－4万. Even with a 100% import tax - that would only be ¥6-8万!!

seaforte03, Sure you could import a chinese knockoff, but you would never be able to register it to drive on public roads.

drivers should not count on more than 25 kilometers, Yamaha said.

that is such a low-level statement to say about your own product, they should be ashamed to say it without blushing! I mean if your way back from work in the evening would be after dark that would mean even less km! So, if you are lucky to plug in your toy at work that would cut the battery's life into half! Too many minus to this products to even call it a finished product, maybe more like a "beta".

I can see a properly built electric scooter as going over well ESPECIALLY as it will only require 110 volt plug in to build up the battery.

Problem with most scooters of 49cc is that they are two-stroke & people do not know how to pre-mix the fuel. Now with an automatic lubricating system in it then it would gain again, but in some countries they are downing 2-stroke in lawnmore, power saw, compressore, & so much more.

Both Yamaha have a much better outlook in the world of m/cs to scooters as they have established parts to repair shops almost in every city around Canada. Something the Chinese do NOT have & it is hard to obtain parts let alone any shop service which is not like any of the big four m/c makers like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, & Kawasaki HAVE.

It is a pity one chap mentioned how his battery broke-down in just one season. I ride m/cs & all are hooked up to a system called Battery Tender meaning as soon as I come home the bike is blugged in, for its battery, & the Battery Tender will charge up fully, but not overcharge. Meanining I am getting well over 9 yrs of use for my m/c batteries even in the Winter months of where the bikes are NOT used.

This

Yamaha hopes to sell 1,000 in Japan in the first year

and this

It faces competition from electric bicycles, which are generally more simply constructed than the EC-03, and are already booming in China, with an estimated 20 million in use.

Doesn't compute. They might sell a few to retired folks, but I can't see anybody spending that much cash on something that can only make one trip somewhere.

they also don't say how long, and how expensive it will be to charge the thing.

Lot of questionables about this product. Maybe it were under 10 man, and went three or four times as far. I also wonder how long before you have to replace the battery, since you'll be charging it every day or so.

Those scooters are probably very expensive and makes so much noise that even a a monkey in the mountains will cover it`s ears as it goes by on the roads of Japan.

... is zero-emission and super-quiet, making it convenient for late-night city driving.

Geez, do people even bother to read the article before commenting? Yes, I'm sure "super-quiet" will mean that the monkeys in the mountains will cover their ears. What nonsense.

Yes, I'm sure "super-quiet"

Maybe to human ears. But perhaps to the sensitive ears to a monkey it might very well mean instant brain hemorrhage.

Sure it's nice to plants, and the ozone layer, but it may very well be death to our simian cousins.

Someone please tell the post office obasans about these. Their noisy bikes are a consistent pain waking me up every 4 in the morning.

whats exactly a mamachari btw?

never mind, I think I got it mixed up.

"targeting fashionable green-minded consumers"

"drivers should not count on more than 25 kilometers ( range )"

Obama would be the ideal customer for this scooter.