Chery has received approval for an unusual product, with a Yamaha-clone electric moped appearing in the latest product catalogue from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Similar e-moped clones mainly target China’s low-end market, with most bikes priced at 2,000 yuan (300 USD). It’s expected to spearhead the automaker’s two-wheeled efforts, with Chery showcasing extended-range (EREV) motorbikes at a recent in-house tech event.

Chery’s clone scooter

MIIT filings show a bare-bones electric step-through moped, or scooter, with a single hub motor in the rear wheel. It highly resembles Yamaha’s Vino line of mopeds, which usually feature a 150 cc engine instead of an EV powertrain.

The e-moped doesn’t seem to be solely Chery’s creation, as similar models have existed on the Chinese market for almost two decades. E-moped manufacturers, big and small, are no strangers to sharing components and body shells, and often use hub motors and lead-acid batteries to cut costs.

Clone bikes are even available online, with Chinese shopping sites listing them at around 2,000 yuan (300 USD). Buyers receive a complete bike with less than 2 kWh of battery capacity, giving a riding range of 50 km or less.

Clone e-mopeds once dominated China’s two-wheeled market, with buyers also offered Honda Zoomer, Yamaha Jog, and Vespa lookalikes. The rise of upmarket brands, like Niu, Xiaomi-backed Segway-Ninebot, and CFMOTO’s Zeeho, has forced them to focus on the budget sector.

Paving the way for EREV bikes

Chery has not announced pricing or specifications for its latest e-moped. Chinese sources, though, speculate that the new bike may help the automaker acclimate to two-wheeled production and use a low-cost product to bring assembly lines up to speed.

The firm has been readying itself, with Chery’s commercial vehicle arm receiving government approval for motorbike production in late September. It also showcased two of its planned NEV-motorbike models at a tech event at its Wuhu headquarters.

Showcased under Chery’s Cinnox brand, one bike is classed as a “pure-electric adventure (ADV) scooter”, with a claimed range of 150 to 200 km. Chery says that the bike can be recharged from an “automotive charger”, but hasn’t specified if it supports AC or DC charging.

The other bike, the “Grow C3”, is an EREV motorbike, which Chery calls the “world’s first range-extended Artificial Intelligence (AI) intelligent cruiser”. The firm is positioning it as a V2L-capable camping companion, and says the bike will replace generators with “external power freedom”.

China’s auto market is reaching maturity amid claims of saturation and overcapacity. Its two-wheeled market, though, still has room to grow, and the pivot to NEV tech may give automakers another path to profit.

Source: Yu Lei Kan Che, Zhang Shang Dian Dong Che, Weibo – Qin Zhang Yong Qzy

Source: CarNewsChina (View original)