Honda To Launch Electric Scooter In India With Swappable Battery, Unveils EV Roadmap

Honda has developed an EV platform - Platform ‘E’, which will serve as the foundation for a variety of EV models, including fixed battery type, swappable battery type, and mid-range EV.

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Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has announced its Electric Vehicle roadmap, revealing the blueprint for developing EV business structure in India. The EV roadmap for India includes new EV technologies and infrastructure, along with future electric vehicles. Honda has not announced if they will enter the Indian EV market with an electric motorcycle or a scooter, but reports suggest Honda is working on an electric scooter based on its popular Activa. The two-wheeler company also announced its Future Business Direction for expansion of overseas business and production capacity in the upcoming financial year. Here's what Honda has announced:

Factory ‘E’ – dedicated EV manufacturing facility

To meet the production demand of electric vehicles, a specialized manufacturing facility-Factory E is being established at HMSI’s Narsapura Plant in Karnataka. This factory will exclusively focus on the production of electric vehicles and is in line with the government's "Make in India" and localization directives, said Honda. The Honda EV will utilize domestically manufactured components such as batteries and PCU. The motor for HMSI’s EV will be designed and produced in-house by Honda.

Platform ‘E’ dedicated EV platform

HMSI has developed an EV platform - Platform ‘E’, which will serve as the foundation for a variety of EV models, including fixed battery type, swappable battery type, and mid-range EV. HMSI has also initiated Project Vidyut under which, the brand will launch two new 2W EVs in FY2024. The first one, a mid-range Electric Vehicle and the second, a swappable battery type that utilizes the Honda Mobile Power Pack e:.

Workshop ‘E’ - for EVs of the future

To meet the needs of customers, charging stations will be installed across HMSI’s existing 6000+ network touchpoints. Eventually some of them being transformed into Workshop ‘E’, the exclusive set-up will house HEID battery exchangers and mini battery exchangers for swappable battery type and charging cables for fixed battery type. Additionally, HMSI plans to leverage the overall ecosystem, including Battery swapping stations at petrol pumps, metro stations, and other locations, to provide convenient battery swapping solution for EV users.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Atsushi Ogata – Managing Director, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, “In line with Honda’s global direction – to increase Electric Vehicle and Fuel Cell Vehicle unit sales ratio to 100% by 2040, we will continue to improve efficiency of ICE engines with introduction of Flex fuel engine and follow government direction for alternate fuels while expanding electrification of models and eco system.

On the EV front, we are committed to build India’s best EV Business structure and lead in the development of sustainable transportation. With our EV roadmap, now in the execution phase, we are taking substantial steps towards creating exclusive infrastructure for manufacturing diverse range of captivating electric vehicles. Parallelly, we are also investing in the development of EV technologies, charging infrastructure and aftersales services”.