While Honda Motorcycles & Scooters India (HMSI) has been late to the electric scooter party, the company aims to be at the forefront where electric motorcycles are concerned. It is now revealed that Honda will start production of electric motorcycles in 2028, from a dedicated manufacturing plant in India.
Honda Electric Motorcycle Plant In India
In line with the Make In India initiative, HMSI has been on the verge of converting its Indian manufacturing facilities into a global export hub. Today, HMSI has emerged as the country’s second largest 2W manufacturer and is closing the gap rapidly with market leader, Hero MotoCorp.
With a dedicated electric motorcycle manufacturing facility in India, HMSI aims to capture a major market share in the world’s largest 2W market. Alongside this dedicated electric motorcycle manufacturing facility, HMSI has also laid plans to enhance their battery charging network in the country to reduce range anxiety for buyers.
HMSI has made decent strides to reduce TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for buyers, which will strike as a major challenge associated with introduction of electric motorcycles. Honda mentioned that they’re striving to launch electric motorcycles at a price range where TOC of three years of ownership will be equal to that of its ICE counterparts.
As of now, Honda has not confirmed the exact models and model names of its upcoming electric motorcycles to be manufactured in India. The goal is to offer a wide variety of models with a common module, thus reducing development costs.
Also, Honda is working with multiple battery manufacturers in India to design and develop batteries of the right specification and application. Ensuring stable procurements of parts is another challenge that OEMs in India face. With local suppliers, Honda can achieve high levels of localisation, taking the input costs down and gaining higher profits.
Honda Activa e and QC1
Honda Motorcycles & Scooters India Ltd just launched their maiden electric scooters in the form of Activa e and QC1. While QC1 is more budget-oriented, Activa e is the current flagship and is the only one to get swappable battery technology. QC1, on the other hand, has to make do with a fixed battery pack, but gets usable storage, which Activa e lacks completely.
With QC1 and Activa e, Honda is getting their foot into the EV game in India. Price starts from Rs 90K (Ex-sh) for QC1 and Rs 1.17 lakh (Ex-sh) for Activa e. Maximum range with these scooters is 102 km on a single charge (Activa e) with a max top speed of 80 km/h. Exact timeline for the Honda electric motorcycle plant has not been revealed yet.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
