Honda and Yamaha go electric

TOKYO (Reuters) – Honda and Yamaha have set launch dates for electric motorcycles, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday.

Yamaha aims to launch electric motorcycles by 2010 with a range of 100 km (60 miles) on a single charge, comparable to those with 50cc engine displacements, the paper said.

Honda, the world’s top motorcycle maker, will launch lithium-ion battery electric motorcycles in 2011, targeting customers such as Japan Post Service that may switch its fleet of about 90,000 motorbikes to electric models, it said.

Reuters UK