Kawasaki Patents Battery Swap Technology For Electric Bikes — Kawasaki Goes Green, Quite Literally!

Kawasaki has been working on battery swapping technology for its future electric motorcycles. Patent sketches filed by Kawasaki shows the surprising development made by the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer.

Filing for a patent does not necessarily meant that the technology would be put into production, but what it does show is that Kawasaki has been working on developing electric motorcycle-related technology.

So far, there has been no news about an electric Kawasaki motorcycle, but with these patent images, it is pretty clear that Kawasaki is considering one. The patent sketches show a battery swapping system involving a tubular frame that can be opened laterally to remove the entire battery pack unit.

Electric cars and motorcycles are the way forward and almost every person on earth now knows this. It is an inevitable change and all manufacturers would have to manufacture electric vehicles some day if they need to survive.

Kawasaki too seems to be prepping for such a day when going electric or at the least, having one electric vehicle in the entire product line up would become mandatory. Electric vehicles need charging infrastructure, without which, its functioning would be impossible.

However, even with charging infrastructure everywhere, it will take a pretty long time to fully charge up the battery. Which is why, according to some two-wheeler manufacturers, battery-swapping technology makes more sense. Kawasaki seems to be working with a similar mindset.

The patents filed clearly shows how the entire battery pack can be removed from the motorcycle. The entire frame of the motorcycle has been redesigned in such a way that it be opened on one side.

The entire section on the left side of the tubular frame - between the steering head and the swingarm-mount - can be moved out, allowing the battery pack to slide out. The patents also reveal an on-board charger that allows the user to charge the battery while it is still in the motorcycle.

The battery-pack will be air-cooled, but the transmission unit will be oil-cooled. The detail in which Kawasaki has filed the patents clearly shows that Kawasaki has made huge headway into the development of the battery swapping technology.

What makes this entire developing really interesting is the fact that Kawasaki has based this new technology on an existing motorcycle. The design of the motorcycle in the patent sketches clearly show that it is a Kawasaki Ninja 400 in the images.

This could very well mean that the battery swapping technology is not something that will be far off in the future, but could be put into production if need be. Recently, there was news of the big four Japanese manufacturers - Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki - working together on battery technology for the future. At this moment, it is uncertain if this battery-swapping technology is also part of this agreement.

Thoughts On Kawasaki Battery Swap Technology Patents

Kawasaki is one of the most revered names in the world of performance motorcycling. It used to produce the ZX-14R which became the fastest motorcycle in the world during its time and it is currently the only manufacturer to have mass-produced motorcycles powered by supercharged engines.

There is no doubt then that Kawasaki is all about the performance. Kawasaki going green, quite literally, will come as a shock to enthusiasts. But this is something that everyone knew would happen eventually, so we have to live with it.

Images Source: freepatentsonline