Yamaha Motor Co plans to launch its new electric commuter e-Vino scooter from December 2014. Manufacturing and sales of the new model will be carried out by Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co. 

The e-Vino is powered by a newly-developed motor and a new 50V lithium-ion battery. Yamaha says the new model offers both excellent battery life and ride performance – it can cover a distance of 30.1km per charge (when driven on a flat surface at 30kph) while featuring a boost function that provides additional power when required, such as when climbing uphill.

The e-Vino also offers more practicality. For instance, the battery is removable, and its remaining level can be easily checked on the instrument panel using both a digital gauge and scale, reducing concern regarding battery level. In addition, convenient under-seat storage allows a spare battery (sold separately) to be stored.

Furthermore, by basing the body on the Vino Molfe, a popular 50cc scooter in the Japanese market, the e-Vino has functions required for easy everyday short-distance commuters while being priced similarly to petrol-powered models. 
The Taiwanese motorcycle market recorded an annual demand level of approximately 700,000 units (Yamaha Motor survey, 2013), of which 50cc-class models comprised approximately 10,000 units, and approximately 70 percent of these are electric scooters. The main users of electric scooters are office workers and housewives – the e-Vino is targeted at the latter, who generally use electric scooters for short-distance trips. 

Yamaha Motor is also planning to launch a Japanese-spec model in 2015.