Kawasaki patents Ninja 300-styled electric bike

- Underpinned by a tubular frame

- Will get a swappable battery setup

- Frame will have hinges on one side for opening up

Kawasaki has acquired a patent for an electric motorcycle which is styled similar to the Ninja 300, the company’s entry-level sportsbike. The patent was filed in March 2013 while it was approved and published last month.

The Japanese bikemaker has been working on an electric motorcycle for a couple of years now, as signified by the frequently emerging patent drawings. It was in March 2015 that Kawasaki patented a sportsbike-styled electric motorcycle based on a trellis frame. While those drawings revealed an incomplete design, with only the sharp tail section and clip on handlebar visible, the new patent reveals an electric motorcycle carrying a design clearly inspired by the Ninja 300. Interestingly, the body panels such as the twin headlamp setup, windscreen, fairing and rear section are not illustrated in dotted lines which indicates that the same design will perhaps be retained on the production model as well. 

Besides the design, the patent also elaborates a swappable battery mechanism which Kawasaki will implement on its future electric bike. According to the description in patent, it will be underpinned by a tubular frame consisting of hinges on one side which will allow it to open up and give access to the pair of batteries. It will consist of a primary battery which will be operational along with a secondary unit as backup. The swappable design will allow the user to exchange a discharged battery with a charged unit. Kawasaki will equip this motorcycle with lithium-ion batteries.

While it is still unknown when Kawasaki will reveal this electric bike, the patent indicates that the Japanese bikemaker is actively working on such a concept and might reveal it soon. 

Source – Free patents online