Yamaha is one of the veterans of the ebike industry. Both with its own ebikes and with its motors. These can be found as drives in the bikes of various manufacturers and also form the point of departure for most of Giant’s SyncDrive drives. At this year’s Eurobike, Yamaha presented the PW-XM, a high-end motor for e-mountain biking. Now the manufacturer is rejuvenating its portfolio in the entry-level segment.
Not every ebike requires a motor that is bursting with power. For models that are mainly used on flat terrain and rather shorter distances, other criteria count. Reliability is certainly one of them. Just like the absence of annoying noises. And for bicycle manufacturers, good options for integration as well as an attractive price, so that the final ebike can then also attract the attention of corresponding target groups with rather lower costs.
New unit provides higher torque
At Yamaha, the PW-CE has so far fulfilled this requirement profile. Since its introduction in the 2021 season, it has mainly been used in urban ebikes. Its successor is now the PW-C2, which was presented a few days ago. The differences between the two units are relatively limited. The most noticeable is the PW-C2’s ten percent higher torque. It generates 55 Newton metres, which is slightly above the PW-CE’s 50 Newton metres. Both the weight of three kilograms and the dimensions have remained unchanged.
Yamaha PW-C2
The already familiar automatic assistance mode is also found on the PW-C2. In this setting, the motor switches between the four regular riding modes High, Standard, Eco and Eco+. Of course, this does not happen randomly, but rather depending on the respective riding situation. If the route leads up a steep hill or a strong wind is blowing towards you, you will end up in High mode. If you are riding on the flat in calm weather or rolling down a descent, the motor will effectively fall back on one of the more energy-saving modes. You will certainly be familiar with this logic from the drives of other manufacturers. If you don’t care much about switching riding modes manually, you should quickly become a big fan of the Auto mode.
In addition to the aforementioned support levels, there is also an obligatory walk assist.
Downward compatibility guaranteed
According to Yamaha, you can use existing displays and batteries on an ebike with the new PW-C2 without any problems. From the point of view of reusing resources, this is definitely good news.
Yamaha PW-C2 mid-mounted motor at a glance
- Continuous rated power: 250 W
- Operating voltage: 36 V
- Support: up to a maximum of 25 km/h
- Weight: 3 kg
- Torque: 55 Nm
The new mid-motor will probably be seen primarily on city ebikes.
Pictures: Yamaha Motor Europe
