EICMA 2026: a 14.4 kWh microcar, a $8,000 Zero and a 2 kWh swappable moped battery

The Eli ZERO MX is the first L7e vehicle from Eli Electric Vehicles, and the classification is the whole point. Electrek reported on 3 November that the MX reaches 80 km/h, up from 45 km/h on the L6e original. The extra speed fits inside the same 2.25-metre body.

Underneath sits a 14.4 kWh lithium iron phosphate pack. The motor peaks at 20 kW, against the original's 12 kW, and a 3.3 kW onboard charger handles charging. Eli claims up to 200 km per charge. The company also showed a Race Edition with a Turbo mode triggered by holding the hazard light button, according to Electrek.

Two things are worth separating here. The range figure is a claim, not a tested number. The L7e upgrade also means a higher licence class in Europe. The MX is a better suburban runabout than the old car. It is not a car replacement, and the article does not pretend otherwise.

The same Milan show produced a second battery story with a different shape. Zero Motorcycles unveiled Project Ventura, a lightweight street bike targeted below US $8,000. It offers over 20 kW of peak power, a sustained 65 mph top speed and a brief 81 mph maximum. Electrek noted on 3 November that Zero quoted a 93-mile estimated range without publishing battery capacity. That makes the range hard to verify.

Small packs, removable packs

ReBake Motors, founded by former CAKE CEO Karl Ytterborn, brought the Abler to EICMA. The €3,990 Abler45 is an L1e-B moped with 4 kW nominal and 5.12 kW peak output. The €4,990 Abler80 moves to A1 and pushes past 80 km/h. Both run on removable 2 kWh LFP batteries weighing 17 kg each. The Abler80 carries two for 4 kWh and a claimed 114 km of urban range, Electrek reported on 3 November.

Yamaha went the other way with the 2027 NMAX E. The 125cc-equivalent scooter uses a fixed 3.5 kWh lithium-ion pack, 6.7 kW nominal and 7.5 kW peak. An 800W onboard charger fills it in about 5.5 hours. Yamaha quotes 104 km on the WMTC Class 1 cycle. Pricing and market availability were not announced, per Electrek's 3 November report.

Ytterborn spent eight years at CAKE from its founding in 2016 through 2024, and says ReBake is meant to apply the lessons from that collapse.

Battery chemistry choices in this segment are converging on LFP for cost and cycle life. They are also converging on small removable packs where riders have no driveway. The trade is weight. A 17 kg pack is portable in the way a suitcase is portable, not in the way a laptop is.

What the swap networks show

Scale changes the arithmetic. Nio said on 3 November that it passed 130 million cumulative battery swaps, 88 days after crossing 120 million on 7 August. Daily swaps average more than 110,000. CnEVPost reported the company now runs 4,236 swap stations in China, up 230 in that window. It also reported that 84.5% of users have a station within 3 km of home or work. Cumulative energy delivered through swaps reached 6.89 billion kWh.

Heavy trucks are further along than passenger cars in one respect. Electrek reported on 2 November that battery-electric trucks were 50.3% of China's heavy truck sales in September, 33,100 units, while the overall market shrank 21%. The ICCT and CATARC put battery-electric trucks about 19% cheaper per tonne-km than diesel in good conditions. The advantage disappears at low annual mileage.

Europe's regulatory clock is running too. From 18 February 2027, new e-bike and light EV batteries sold in the EU must carry a digital battery passport under the 2023 Batteries Regulation, accessible by QR code, Electrek reported on 2 November. Manufacturers selling on both continents will have to comply. That is how a European rule reaches US riders.

One context point from further back: SNE Research figures relayed by CnEVPost on 2 November put CATL at 39.1% and BYD at 15.2% of the global EV battery market in January to September 2026. The pack makers are not neutral parties in any of these launches.