Say what you will about Yamaha Motor, but if there's one thing to know about the company, it's that it loves its leaning three-wheeler designs. Whether you'd ever ride one or not, there's no denying that both the Niken and the Tricity are unique, legit think-outside-the-box designs.
If you're a legacy OEM that's gradually dipping your toe into EV development, there are a number of considerations that might come to mind. In terms of design language, do you play it safe and stick with what's worked before? Or do you take it as an opportunity to do something a bit different, pushing things in a new direction to go with your new drivetrain?
In Yamaha's case, it kind of split the difference in designing the C294 EV sidecar concept. Actually, that's a separate question. Is it a trike? Is it a sidecar? Is it both? I think that really, it's probably both. Take a close look and tell me what you see, though.
Featuring a very clean and minimal Scandinavian design, the C294 concept was created in partnership with Sony Group, Futaba Kogyo, and Futaba Furniture. Honestly, thinking about most of Sony's recent design language, this math makes so much sense. Although, if you think about something like the swoops and curves of the PlayStation 5, this design hews quite a bit more retro-modern.
Part of that is the color choices, of course.
Done entirely in shades of white and a pleasing, classic tan, the seat and handgrips have a leather-look finish (unclear if it's actual leather, and we'll probably never know because it's just a design concept). The interior of the sidecar pet basket area is finished in the same color, though the visual texture looks like it's a different material.
If you're like a lot of people, and you love taking your pet with you on your adventures, this could be a fun way to get out. When your fur kid isn't riding in the sidecar, you could easily stick some groceries or other items in the basket instead, making it even more potentially useful as a simple neighborhood transport vehicle built for one.
This is another of the concepts that Yamaha brought to Tokyo Auto Salon, as part of its Diapason personal EV mobility platform, to be powered by the Honda Mobile Power Pack e:. As to whether or not we'll ever see it materialize, that's unclear at this point. If I had to guess, in a universe where this concept did make it into production, it'd be released in limited numbers in Japan, and that's about it (though I'd love to be wrong here).
What do you think of this funky little EV sidecar concept from Yamaha? Would you love to take your fur kid for a ride in it, assuming they're the type of furry buddy who likes going out for rides in the first place? Let us know in the comments!
