Kawasaki applies for battery swap patent
Ninja 400 looks like donor machine for potential new approach to e-motorbikesKawasaki has applied for a patent on an electric bike with a swappable battery, in a similar vein to what Taiwanese manufacturer Kymco unveiled last year in its ionex scooter.
The Kawasaki patent looks like it has been married to a bike looks suspiciously like a Ninja 400, with the left-hand side of the tubular frame able to be removed.
That then lets a dolly lock on to the battery back and remove it from the machine without the owner having to physically wrestle it to the nearest socket. The same system is used to install the new battery.
Kawasaki has also joined with fellow Japanese bike makers Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki -- - to try and avoid that issue by developing a battery swap and charging standard for electric motorbikes.
The public infrastructure on the ionex electric scooter includes vending machine-type battery swapping consoles open 24 hours a day, and ‘charge-friendly’ businesses.
Of course, the establishment of public infrastructure often involves negotiations with governments – some more receptive to the electric cause than others.
The ionex is due to go on sale in Australia sometime in 2019.
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