Yamaha EC-06 First Ride Review: Building Is Hard, Repackaging Is EC

PHOTOGRAPHY: VAIBHAV DHANAWADE

It’s no secret – legacy two-wheeler manufacturers from Japan haven’t kept pace with India’s fast-evolving electric two-wheeler market. Just look at the maiden attempts by Honda and Suzuki in the market, and it becomes clear the Japanese giants have yet to figure out the pulse of the electric scooter business. Yamaha, which was similarly caught on the backfoot when it came to its EV plans for India, could’ve fallen into the same pit, but a clever strategic manoeuvre has given the company a clever, readymade first solution that could be much better suited to Indian requirements.

Also Read: Yamaha Acquires Stake In Electric Two-Wheeler Startup River With Over $20 Million Investment

A significant investment in Bengaluru-based EV startup River has resulted in the birth of the Yamaha EC-06. To the uninitiated, this could well pass off as a legitimate Yamaha, but the keen-eyed will know straightaway that this is very much an example of a shared product. River, which took years to refine and bring the Indie electric scooter to life, has now polished it further, and with a new set of body panels, the EC-06 has arrived in practically no time.

But was this a wise move, and is the EC-06 the perfect opening salvo from Yamaha? Let’s find out.

Yamaha EC-06: Design and styling

The visual link to the River Indie is hard to miss right off the bat. Yes, the EC-06 wears completely different bodywork – the face is more sculpted and muscular than the Indie’s blunt and buff front-end. The dual-pod headlight of the Indie is replaced by a more sophisticated, single-piece unit, and even the side panels are smaller, to cut away the visual bulk of what is a sizeable scooter. Also different are the tail-light and pillion grab handle.

But if you merely covered up the bodywork of the EC-06 and the Indie and parked them side-by-side, you’d find it almost impossible to tell one apart from the other. That’s because the cycle parts are identical – the EC-06 employs the same tyres, wheels and suspension as the Indie. Even the mirrors have been carried over unchanged.

What’s really surprising, though, is that even the grips have River branding on them, as does the motor shield, which bears the ‘R’ logo. For a product that’s being passed off as a Yamaha, these touches appear lazy and inexplicable.

To my eyes, the EC-06 is a reasonably smart-looking electric scooter, even if it isn’t the most original. And between this and the scooter is based on, I much prefer the industrious Indie.

Also Read: Yamaha EC-06 vs River Indie: How Different Are The Two Electric Scooters?

Yamaha EC-06: Quality and ergonomics

It’s clear that the EC-06 is based on the latest iteration of the Indie, because unlike the original River product, the Yamaha has good overall quality, as well as fit and finish. The grips are soft, all the controls are placed logically and fall easily to hand, and the seating position is comfortable, with plenty of footboard space even for those with large feet. The seat itself has plenty of room for the rider to move around, and is sufficient for two-up riding. Pillion foot pegs are high quality, and in terms of overall seating comfort, there’s not much room for complaint.

It’s in the details that the EC06 loses some sheen. Like the Indie, it employs an old-school physical key slot with dedicated switches to unlock the seat and charging port cover on the right, a setup that feels dated in this day and age. And the barebones key itself feels like it should be supplied only with a scooter that costs half as much as the EC-06.

Yamaha EC-06: Practicality

One of the key attractions with the Indie is just how cleverly it is packaged. The kind of practical touches you see on the River are almost unmatched by other electric scooters, but unfortunately, almost all of those advantages have been deleted from the Yamaha.

First up, the underseat storage, at 24.5 litres, is almost 20 litres less than the Indie, and the raised, sloping base of the compartment limits practicality.

The Indie’s lockable glovebox has also been removed and replaced with nothing, and the Yamaha also lacks the rider footpegs as well as the pannier mounts built into the Indie’s side panels. The reasoning is that the Yamaha buyer is someone more style-oriented, and will not miss the practical bits of the Indie, but these absences are hard to ignore.

Yamaha EC-06: Performance, dynamics and range

If you were hoping for Yamaha to have worked its magic on the Indie package to turn it into a sporty scooter, you’ll be sorely disappointed. From a spec standpoint, the EC-06 is much the same as the Indie, and that is why the ride experience isn’t too far removed from that of the River. Even the real-world range is more or less identical, thanks to the presence of the same 4 kWh NMC battery. With a full charge, I saw a range estimate of 111 km in Eco mode, 90 km in Standard mode and 70 km in Power mode.

In Eco, power delivery is predictably gentle, and with an indicated top speed of around 50 kmph, this mode is best suited for effortless cruising around the city. Throttle response is dull in this mode, so if you need to get somewhere on time, you’ll have to switch to Standard mode. In Standard, the EC-06 has a pep in its step, gliding effortlessly past 50 kmph and achieving an indicated top speed of around 70 kmph. It offers the right mix of punchy performance and reasonable range, and will be the mode most people will find themselves using for about 80 per cent of their riding time.

In Power is where the EC-06 feels remotely like a Yamaha, because it is in this mode that you access the full 9 bhp and 26 Nm of torque with a greater sense of urgency. Top speed is 79 kmph as per Yamaha, but the dashboard displays a figure well into 80 kmph, and the EC-06 climbs to this speed with welcome enthusiasm in this mode.

The chunky tyres provide solid grip, paired with excellent stability afforded by the 14-inch wheels, and the EC-06 feels fun to ride in this mode, easily gliding through corners despite weighing a considerable 132 kg.

Yamaha claims to have optimised the suspension on the EC-06, but to me, it felt quite a lot like the Indie in terms of ride quality. When riding solo, the front felt firm, but the rear was quite bouncy over broken patches, and it settled only when I had my photographer riding pillion, similar to what I’ve experienced on the Indie.

The brakes are well calibrated and offer good stopping power. The EC-06 comes to a halt predictably and without any drama, despite lacking anti-lock brakes (ABS), providing good feedback to the rider.

Yamaha EC-06: Charging

This is another area where the EC-06 falls short compared to its competition. Yamaha is only bundling a 480-watt charger with the EC-06, which will take 10 whole hours to charge the battery to full. In comparison, even River offers a more powerful charger, which cuts charging time to a more acceptable level. There is, of course, no question of charging the EC-06 in any other way, because the batteries are fixed, unlike on the Yamaha Aerox E.

Yamaha EC-06: Verdict

At Rs 1.68 lakh (ex-showroom), the Yamaha EC-06 is nearly Rs 22,000 more expensive than the Indie it is based on, a gap that will widen even further once road tax and other charges are added on. All in, the Yamaha will be a near-Rs 2 lakh scooter on road, and there isn’t enough to justify a price tag that lofty, when a similarly capable product can be had for a lesser amount of money.

Is the EC-06 a smarter first step than the E-Access or Activa E? Absolutely. It is unrivaled in the fact that it employs a 14-inch wheel at both ends – which no one among Bajaj, TVS, Ather, Hero MotoCorp, Honda and Suzuki currently offers – and is stylish, capable and well rounded in its dynamic abilities. At the same time, it isn’t impossibly expensive like the E-Access, or require one to commit to an expensive subscription plan like the Activa E.

Add in the fact that Yamaha has a bigger network than River, and the EC-06 becomes more easily accessible than the Indie, even if at a higher price. Yes, the EC-06 is built by River at its Hoskote plant, but it could reach the masses sooner than the Indie.

Then again, at this price, you could have the fully loaded Ather Rizta 3.7 kWh with all the smarts of the Pro Pack software, something the Yamaha just cannot hope to match. And then there’s the advantage of a widespread public charging network with Ather.

There’s plenty to like about the Yamaha EC-06, and it will meet most of your expectations for an electric scooter… even if it doesn't meet your expectations as a Yamaha.