Electric power is rapidly replacing the combustion engine across a vast array of machines and with each technical improvement of batteries and motors they make another step toward total domination. Electric cars have gone from a laughingstock to objects of desire in little more than a decade and electric motorcycles are rapidly improving, so it’s no surprise that some major players in the ATV world are also looking at the same technology.



This is Yamaha’s take on the idea. The Japanese company has filed several new patent applications related to an electric single-seat sport ATV accompanied by illustrations that show a machine with proportions and design reminiscent of its older gas-powered models but packing batteries and an electric motor instead of a combustion engine.







The frame and suspension look much like the simple, steel chassis you’d have found on a two-stroke Raptor 250 or 350 a decade or more ago, but there’s a three-phase, AC electric motor driving the rear wheels via a simple, single-speed reduction gearbox. Since it takes up relatively little room, there’s plenty of space left for a substantial battery pack in front of it, with the control electronics mounted where you’d normally find a fuel tank.







Yamaha already has plenty of electric vehicle experience. The company pioneered the idea of power-assisted bicycles with the PAS range, first introduced 30 years ago, and today it manufactures several battery-powered scooters led by the 11 hp, 22 lb.-ft. E01 that was introduced this year. But that’s just scratching the surface of the company’s electric capabilities. Yamaha is already competing against combustion engine machines with its TY-E 2.1 electric trials bike in the All-Japan Trials Championship and plans to launch 10 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) by 2024. Meanwhile, it’s also developing electric motors to sell to car manufacturers, including one that’s capable of an astounding 469 hp.









There’s no indication in Yamaha’s patents where the electric ATV will sit on that performance scale, but the electric motor appears to be significantly larger than the E01′s 11 hp unit. Matching the power level of a YFZ450R or YFM700R would be relatively simple, though the low energy density of even the best lithium-ion batteries means it’s still nearly impossible to offer the same combination of power, weight, and endurance that fossil-fueled combustion engines are capable of.







Yamaha won’t be the first to make an electric ATV—there are already some options on the market—but it could well be in the vanguard of established, big-name brands making the leap to battery power. Others developing similar machines include Can-Am, which returns to the motorcycle market next year with a range of electric two-wheelers and is sure to use the same technology on ATVs and UTVs. In a few years’ time it’s likely that most manufacturers will have at least a couple of electric models in their ranges.