Honda Motor Co To Establish A New Subsidiary For Battery Sharing Business In India

Honda Motor Co of Japan has announced that it will establish a new subsidiary in India for conducting battery sharing business for electric rickshaws. The battery sharing business will begin in the first half of 2022 itself. The service will use the Honda Mobile Power Pack, which is designed to be portable and swappable. In a bid to verify the business viability, Honda began testing 30 electric rickshaws in February 2021 for more than 2 lakh kilometres and identified the problems that needed solving. The battery in question will be a Lithium-ion unit and can store 1.3 kWh worth of power. It is also designed to act as a source of electricity for a wide range of devices.

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(Honda started a pilot project for testing the viability of battery swapping business with 30 e-rickshaws in February 2021)

Honda's battery sharing service will enable rickshaw drivers to stop by at the nearest battery swapping stations being set up in various cities and swap a battery with low charge, for a fully-charged battery. The idea is to significantly reduce driver concern about running out of batteries as well as the risk of losing business, with customers waiting for rickshaw batteries to be charged.

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(Few companies like Battery Smart have already established battery swapping stations for electric rickshaws in India)

Minoru Kato, Chief Officer, Life Creation Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., said, "Honda Mobile Power Pack (MPP) has huge potential to electrify all kinds of devices including small-sized mobility products and expand the use of renewable energy. By offering a battery sharing service in India, Honda will contribute to the accelerated electrification of rickshaws and expanded use of renewable energy. Moreover, Honda will continue serving people worldwide with the joy of expanding their life's potential by further expanding the utilisation of the MPP into broader areas."

The subsidiary will install a number of Honda Mobile Power Pack Exchanger units as battery swapping stations in various cities and offer battery sharing services. Honda will work with electric rickshaw manufacturers and begin the service in selected cities first and then expand to other areas in stages.