Italian scooter manufacturer, Piaggio announced to set up a consortium with Honda, KTM and Yamaha to encourage the use of swappable batteries for electric motorcycles and light electric vehicles.

The Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC) wishes to increase the use of light electric vehicles, like scooters, mopeds and motorcycles, along with more sustainable management of their batteries.

They aim to highlight the battery issues such as life, recharging times, infrastructure and costs, with international standard technical specifications for swappable batteries.

Piaggio in the consortium said that they welcomed others collaboration with them to extend standards to as many companies as possible.

Piaggio Chief of Strategy and Product Michele Colaninno said, “Urban mobility is going through a delicate transition moment towards electrification. Thanks to this consortium motorbikes will keep their key role,”

Honda’s Motorcycle Operations Chief Officer, Yoshishige Nomura said that the consortium’s objectives meant to make electric motorbikes more convenient for users.

He said, “use on large scale can substantially contribute to the creation of a more sustainable society”.