Wk 7 2025 – Honda and Yamaha dump SBMC; Gogoro Results are bad; Ola Electric’s are worse

How many swappable batteries would any brand make? That's a rhetorical question. Honda has already answered that. They would only do the MPP. So it's goodbye to SBMC, which may be the consortium's death knell. With Honda and Yamaha exiting, there is not enough meat on the bone.

Published : February 14, 2025
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The European market is highly fragmented, with about two million units being contested by 1500 brands. Now, an obnoxiously high number of these brands are white-label efforts from Chinese factories, which paint a telling picture of Europe. The electric efforts are powered mainly by the Chinese, with the Japanese and European players still taking baby steps. So why did they sit together in 2021 and form the Swappable Batteries Motorcycles Consortium?

On paper, it looked fabulous – the same standard battery powering the entire continent. In reality, SBMC had it tough from Day 1, with Honda already rolling out the Gen-1 of MPP. We fathom that developing a swappable battery was a challenge in 2021. However, that does not seem to be the case today, with companies having hustled their way to multiple portable/swappable batteries.

This week, we looked at SBMC and figured out if there is a future in store for the consortium.

Is the SBMC Disintegrating? – InsightEV
The Europe-focused Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC) was formed in September 2021 by Honda, Yamaha, KTM, and Piaggio.

Gogoro’s Financials Continue to Deteriorate

The company’s overall revenue was down amidst slowly increasing battery swapping revenues getting pulverized by steadily declining scooter sales. A worsening product mix and an enhanced focus on commercial energy storage opportunities were some key takeaways from the annual results.

Gogoro’s Financials Continue to Deteriorate – InsightEV
The company's overall revenue were down amidst slowly increasing battery swapping revenues getting pulverised by steadily declining scooter sales.

Ola Electric’s Financials Worsen

India-based Ola Electric has reported a 50% increase in Net Losses and a 19.5% drop in revenues in Q3 FY2025 (year-on-year). In a quarter when the Indian E2W industry reached a new peak, Ola’s declined. The company also had a one-off cost of INR 1.1bn (USD 12.56m) to address service issues.

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Hiccups in Europe

Data released by ACEM indicates that the penetration of electric two-wheelers declined for the first time since 2019.

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Zapp has made a unique scooter

Now they have started manufacturing it. The UK-based, Thailand-manufactured, Nasdaq-listed manufacturer of the i300 super-scooter has finally started turning revenue as it starts sales in Thailand and the UK. Global markets will follow soon.

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That’s a wrap for today. This newsletter will be back next Friday. The posts on the website are more frequent. Also, there is a new X in town.


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Gogoro’s Financials Continue to Deteriorate

The company's overall revenue were down amidst slowly increasing battery swapping revenues getting pulverised by steadily declining scooter sales. A worsening product mix and an enhanced focus on commercial energy storage opportunities were some key takeaways from the annual results.

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