Yamaha has never been afraid to push design boundaries so it's not surprising two very headturning e-bike concepts are premiering at the Japan Mobility Show. The Y-01W AWD is an 'all wheel drive' (as indicated by the abbreviation), whilst the Y-00Z MTB is even more out there, being the first ever e-bike we have come across with power steering.
The Y-01W AWD's all wheel drive is accomplished, naturally enough, by having two motors; a chunky looking mid-drive driving the rear wheel and a front hub affair. These are paired with dual batteries on, it has to be said, a not particularly elegant looking gravel-styled machine.
Why two wheels? To cut a long story short, Yamaha has a track record in producing two wheel drive motorbikes (Google Yamaha WR 450F 2-trac for one of their more famous examples) and, though never a commercial success, riders lauded their superior acceleration and grip in soft conditions. So with the proven engineering background in the area and a desire to make even more of a mark in the e-bike world, it's not entirely surprising they are exploring such technology.
Apparently the AWD concept model is expected to be classified as a speed pedelec in the European market, meaning assisted speeds up to 28mph. With the potential extra power and performance on such a design, it probably makes sense to target the higher speed thrills-inclined rider given what we've just said above about the huge performance potential of two wheel drives on Yamaha's motorbikes.
Whilst the Y-00Z MTB looks somewhat like a conventional full-on e-MTB, it is in fact a much more contrary beast and might leave followers of possible future e-bike tech scratching their heads.
It's not the fact that it has a slightly unconventional and rather kit-like mid-drive sitting separately from the cranks but the fact that, apparently, the front headset area contains a power steering unit.
No other technical details are available, but as power steering is usually associated with much heavier vehicles where making the steering light is much more of an issue, it's not immediately obvious why Yamaha have put this kind of technology on an e-bike - perhaps they just like showing off....
The e-bike wheel of history turns again?
Yamaha played an absolutely pivotal role in the development of modern e-bikes and specifically pedelecs. Their 'Vehicle A' from 1990 claims to be the world's first true electro-hybrid vehicle - that is to say one that produces motor power in proportion to human physical input, in this case pedalling force. In that sense they invented the modern pedelec and set the template for all subsequent development - especially as their technology was accepted as a bicycle in law by the Japanese authorities and in turn Europe.
After the early 1990s, Yamaha lost ground to Panasonic and, latterly, Bosch and Shimano, though their mid-drives are still used in large numbers by the likes of Haibike and Giant.
In terms of cutting edge e-bike tech, Bosch are arguably the ones currently making all the running with their Smart System, which includes features such as electronic locking and adjustable ABS (on selected models). It's interesting that Yamaha have chosen developments with substantial hardware elements as well as, no doubt, complex software too.
However, Yamaha's very interesting launch of the Booster series and their latest 'future tech' prototypes from Japan might just herald their making their mark yet again on the history of the e-bike.
