Founded just a year ago by four companies, the SBMC consortium, which plans to standardize batteries for two wheels, now brings together more than 21.
A certainly commendable project and undoubtedly beneficial for users, but which risks walking on the toes of a company already in place.
To facilitate urban electric mobility
Among the obstacles to the acquisition of an electric vehicle, there is of course autonomy, but also, for many city dwellers living in apartments, the impossibility of charging the vehicle at home. To address these two concerns, four companies formed the Swappable Battery Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC) in September 2021: Honda Motor, KTM F&E, Piaggio Group and Yamaha Motor.
The stated objective of this Consortium is to ” find solutions to customer concerns about the future of electromobility, such as range, charging time and infrastructure, and costs “. In concrete terms, it should lead to the development of common technical specifications for interchangeable battery systems on a global level.
From 4 to 21 members after one year
So far, the proposal has been limited to an attempt to impose the battery developed by Honda for its PCX electric scooter – without much success. You will agree that the viability of this type of grouping depends on the strength of its members but above all on their number. Suffice to say that with only four companies, success was far from guaranteed at the start.
However, what looked like wishful thinking may finally turn into reality. Indeed, the consortium now includes more than 21 members: major manufacturers of electric vehicles but also batteries.
Here is the complete list (including the two associate members AVL and JAMA, hence the 23 names): AVL, Ciklo, FIVE, Forsee Power, Hioki, Honda, Hyba, JAMA, Kawasaki, KTM, KYMCO, Niu, Piaggio, Polaris , Roki, Samsung, Sinbon, Sumitomo Electric, Suzuki, Swobbee, Vitesco, VeNetWork, Yamaha.
Yan Li, CEO of NIU, a company that markets electric scooters and joined the consortium, said:
“We are determined to improve access to electric urban mobility by creating common standards for interchangeable batteries. We believe this technology is key to the adoption of sustainable solutions for two-wheelers in cities by reducing charging times, increasing vehicle range and lowering costs for end users. »
Ride on the flowerbeds of Gogoro
The future will tell us if the project of this consortium succeeds or not. Still, their ambition for interchangeable batteries is, in fact, already a reality in many Asian countries.
Indeed, the Taiwanese firm Gogoro has made interchangeable batteries its specialty. More than a dozen scooter manufacturers now use Gogoro’s platform, which is now expected to expand to other regions of the globe.
Thus, some will especially see in the SBMC consortium the attempt of a few industrial players to stem the Gogoro phenomenon.
Sources: Honda, UNI, SBMC
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