Yamaha’s first electric scooter for the Indian market, codenamed as RY01, will be based on the River Indie with greater focus on performance.
Yamaha is the only major automobile brand in India which is yet to launch an electric two-wheeler, whether scooter or motorcycle, in the country as almost all the leading auto companies such as Hero, Honda, Bajaj, TVS and Suzuki have introduced their electric models. However, things are going to change now as we have learnt that the Japanese 2-wheeler brand will have a presence in the electric scooter segment by the end of 2025 or early 2026. Yamaha’s e-scooter will be based on the River Indie with identical battery pack and electric motor.
Internally codenamed as RY01, Yamaha electric scooter will be developed in India and exported to several countries across the globe. The series production is expected to begin between July-September 2025 at the River manufacturing unit in Hoskote, Karnataka. Several global engineering teams of Yamaha from Japan, US and Europe are involved in this project along with the River team in Bengaluru.
Yamaha will have complete ownership of the RY01 electric scooter while River has been assigned the responsibility of execution of various other tasks such as engineering, R&D, powertrain, battery integration, and manufacturing. “The idea and product DNA are Yamaha’s, but River’s execution capabilities are making it possible. This isn’t a supplier relationship – it’s a strategic alliance,” said a person close to the development.
While the RY01 will be based on the Indie and borrow battery as well as other electronic components, it will have an entirely different design. Yamaha invested USD 40 million in River last year while announcing its strategic alliance with the Bengaluru-based EV start-up. Hence, it is using River’s new-age approach and localisation capabilities in the development of its first-ever electric scooter for the Indian market.
Apart from the River Indie-based RY01 e-scooter, Yamaha is also readying its own global EV platform and the first model based on this architecture will be rolled out by late 2026 or early 2027. The Japanese brand offers low-speed e-scooter models in Europe which are much inclined towards urban mobility. However, they are pretty ordinary when it comes to performance and hence, Yamaha doesn’t want to replicate this in India which is a highly performance-driven market.
“India is a performance-sensitive market, and Yamaha’s legacy here is built on excitement, speed, and sporty appeal. With River’s platform and engineering capabilities, Yamaha sees a chance to reassert that identity in the EV age,” the source added. The FY25 witnessed the electric two-wheeler market in India cross the 1 million units sales milestone for the first time while registering YoY growth of 20-21 percent.
