Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India has announced its electric vehicle roadmap, confirming that it will launch two electric two-wheelers in the country in FY2024, under its ‘Project Vidyut’. The first EV will be a mid-range two-wheeler, likely to be a low-speed model, while the second model, a scooter, will have swappable batteries and is likely to be called Activa Futuristic. The company will join the EV bandwagon where rival companies like TVS, Bajaj and Hero MotoCorp have already forayed into the electric two-wheeler space with the likes of the iQube, Chetak and Vida V1 respectively.
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Honda will establish a dedicated EV plant at Narsapura, Karnataka
Honda 2Wheeler EV Roadmap
The EV roadmap announced by Honda consists of three ‘E’s – Factory E, Platform E and Workshop E. Starting with Factory E, Honda will establish a dedicated EV manufacturing facility in Narsapura, Karnataka. The aim will be to roll out 1 million EVs per annum by 2030. The factory will have advanced automation and have a 100 per cent renewable energy rate. Honda says that the EVs manufactured at the new facility will have high levels of localisation which include domestically sourced batteries and the PCUs, while the electric motor will be designed and manufactured locally by Honda.
Honda will design and manufacture EVs at its new plant with high levels of localisation
‘Platform E’ will be Honda’s dedicated EV platform, which will have electric two-wheelers with fixed and swappable batteries, powered by Honda Mobile Power Pack e technology. Lastly, the ‘Workshop E’ aims to offer Honda’s EV customers with good ownership experience and equip Honda’s current dealership network of 6,000 touch-points with EV charging infrastructure, battery swapping points and charging cables. Honda is likely to offer battery solutions to customers with touch-points at petrol pumps, metro stations and other public locations across the country. This means Honda is likely to use its current dealership network to sell its electric vehicles. Plus, Honda will also offer battery swapping round the clock.
Honda's future EVs will have battery swapping technology as well
Speaking on the occasion, 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 per cent 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.
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Future Business Direction
Honda also said that its entire two-wheeler line-up will conform to OBD-2 (on-board diagnostics) by the first half of FY2024. The company will also deploy a new scooter assembly line at its plant in Vithalapur, Gujarat, which will have an annual capacity of 6 lakh units. Lastly, HMSI plans to expand its export operations to 58 countries, with 20 models, in the next financial year. Currently, the company exports to 38 countries with 18 models.
