Suzuki Electric Scooter Patent Images Surface Online

Suzuki is likely to manufacture the electric scooter in India

• Patent reveals a simple underbone frame.
• The battery box is located beneath the seat, reducing storage space.
• Expect Suzuki to introduce this scooter by 2021.

Suzuki has been working on a low-cost electric scooter for developing markets like ours. The Japanese company had revealed plans of manufacturing the electric scooter in India and possibly exporting it across the world. Now, patent images of the Suzuki electric scooter have come to the fore, depicting relatively simple mechanicals with an electric motor where one would ideally find an internal combustion engine.

Suzuki’s aim with the electric scooter was simple: make it cost effective. Hence, you find similarities between the underbone chassis in the patent images and the ones it uses on the likes of the Access 125 and the Burgman Street 125. Extra fortification and gusseting have been provided to boost the structural integrity of the frame. Unlike the Access 125 or the Burgman Street, the electric scooter will have a proper swingarm with twin shocks.

As seen in the patent images, Suzuki has packaged the batteries right below the seat. While this makes for a mass-optimised design, it limits the storage space available on the scooter. The necessary electric micro-controllers and circuits seem to be placed on the floor of the scooter. A belt drive system is going to be the obvious mode of power transmission from the electric motor -- situated right behind the controllers -- to the rear wheel. 

Late last year, Suzuki India’s managing officer, Santoshi Uchida had said, “We are developing an electric scooter for India and next year we will start test running it in India. We are continuously studying the electric vehicle (EV) market and we have developed a prototype. We gather as much information on the EV market as possible.” 

This statement had given us hope that the scooter would be ready for tests by mid-2020 with a 2021 launch on the anvil. The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown would have thrown a wrench in the plans. We believe the earliest we could see the scooter go on sale is late-2021 or perhaps even at Auto Expo 2022.