Suzuki reveals hybrid concept in patent filings

SUZUKI has given us an insight into the firm’s future plans this week after patent filings have been unearthed that show a revolutionary petrol and electric hybrid motorcycle.

With hybrid motorcycle being big news this week, see our earlier news item on the Kawasaki two-stroke supercharged hybrid here and Yamaha’s hybrid leaning trike here, it’s safe to assume that motorcycle manufacturers see hybrid power as a viable future propulsion method.

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What’s interesting with the design of the Suzuki is the modular production method used to create the bike. In fully electric mode, the bike features a large battery pack located where an internal combustion engine would normally sit. In this mode the bike is a pure electric machine, drawing all its power from batteries.

An alternative method of construction that is also noted in the pictures (shown above) shows a small internal combustion engine nestling in the space that formally carried the bike’s large battery pack. In this setup, the bike is a petrol-electric hybrid, with the petrol engine now acting as a generator for the electric motor and not driving the wheels directly.

While the pictures don’t give us a clear indication as to whether changing the bike from one mode to the other can be done at home or on the production line, the patent does show that Suzuki is seriously planning putting both into production.

Many patent drawings use very basic designs of bikes, the kind a 10-year-old would draw if you asked them to. The reason being is that in those patents it is the tech of the bike and not its overall appearance they wish to focus on. In these pictures though, the design of the machine is highly stylised and not dissimilar in shape and riding position to the Suzuki Crosscage concept we saw a few years ago.

While the cross cage was a hydrogen concept and more of a styling exercise, the thought and time taken to get this design just right points to Suzuki already having some form of prototype of the machine hidden away somewhere. Indeed, the level of detail in the patents is so high, we can even pick out the way the two halves of the frame join together, with just a few bolts located in front of the bike’s rearsets.

Sadly we’ll probably have to wait some time to see the machine in the flesh, with Intermot, EICMA, the NEC and the Tokyo motorcycle shows all cancelled, Suzuki will likely be buffing up the stand-ready version of the machine ready for the 2021 show season.