PHOTOGRAPHY: PAWAN DAGIA
There’s no denying this fact – in India, ‘scooter’ means ‘Honda’. The Activa is an unending success story that has made Honda a household name across the country, but when it comes to electric scooters, other players have made a name for themselves, with Honda nowhere to be seen – so far. It has taken a long time, but finally, there is an all-electric Activa on the market. The Honda Activa E shares its name with India’s best-selling scooter, looks smart, is well-equipped and promises to rid buyers of the burdens of charging and battery ownership – sounds like the perfect product, doesn’t it?
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But before you think Honda has come up with a practically unassailable product, let me tell you, there is a catch; a hiccup that will almost certainly limit the appeal of what is otherwise an impressive scooter. What is that hiccup? Read on to find out.
Even though the Activa E debuted last year alongside the budget-focused QC1, thankfully, this does not look like a compromise like its affordable sibling. It shares its front end with the QC1 (the only differentiator is the presence of an LED daytime running light on the Activa E’s cowl), but other than that, this scooter is completely different from the QC1. It utilises a different frame, and is larger on the whole. This has a longer wheelbase, at 1,310 mm. It also has 12-inch wheels at both ends, unlike the QC1, and because of that, this scooter has a more balanced stance.
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The tail section has the right visual mass, and the compact, wide, frosted-over LED tail-light adds a feeling of sophistication to the Activa E’s rear end. I think the Activa looks really neat and well put together. It looks cohesive and mature, and it should age well over time. In fact, I think of all the family electric scooters on sale today, this might just be the best-looking option.
When it comes to storage spaces, there aren't too many of them on the Activa E. You have two pockets built into the back of the apron, but they are not deep at all, and they're also quite narrow and rigid, so usability is severely limited. In fact, it didn’t even fully fit my smartphone, though if yours fits, you can connect it to the USB-C charge port located right above the pocket.
There are two bag hooks, and the floorboard is sufficiently spacious. The seat has the right amount of firmness, but it isn't long, so pillion space is a little tight. To keep the pillion comfortable, a chunky and sturdy grab rail is present, along with foot pegs that fold flush into the body panels and are well-built.
You don’t have any real underseat storage to speak of with the Activa E because of the swappable batteries placed under the seat. There is a little shelf at the back, but that will accommodate your wallet, at best.
Overall, switchgear quality, though, is impressive. Some switches appear to be shared with the QC1, but other than that, the switches feel nice to use. In fact, the joystick on the left cube, I think, is one of the best joysticks I've used on an electric two-wheeler so far.
The joystick is one of two main controls, along with the scroll buttons, used to operate the Activa E’s 7.0-inch TFT screen on the top variant. This display – which is not a touchscreen – is crisp, lag-free and has great use of colours, with all elements placed logically. Legibility is great even under harsh sunlight, and the display houses all key information, including a distance-to-empty readout, ride mode indicator and a power gauge.
It also has navigation, powered by Mapbox, which works seamlessly, and you can also access call and music controls through this screen. Pairing your smartphone to the scooter via the RoadSync Duo app is also easy, but access to the connected features is free only for the first year – you'll have to shell out Rs 999 every year after the first. All things considered, this may well be the new benchmark for a digital dash in India’s electric scooter industry today.
The feeling of this being a well-engineered scooter continues when you take it out for a spin. The Activa E pulls away smartly and silently from a standstill, with its direct drive motor offering sufficient power even in its most economical setting.
A switch on the right cube lets you choose from three ride modes – Eco, Standard and Sport – and I’m happy to report the Activa E feels fairly responsive even in Eco, and thankfully, top speed isn’t capped in this mode, so you can realistically cruise on the highway in Eco with no issues.
Standard mode provides crisper throttle response and more willingness from the motor, and it is in Sport mode that the Activa E is at its sharpest. Power delivery is impressive, with the full 6 kW and 22 Nm of torque available in Sport, and you can achieve an indicated top speed of 84 kmph the quickest in this mode.
I can say with confidence this is the most fun-to-ride scooter to bear the Activa name till date. The scooter feels stable at high speeds while remaining light enough to be eased through gaps at low speeds; the tyres provide good grip, and while it may sometimes feel a tad skittish and bouncy over broken surfaces – owing to the weight of the batteries placed high up in the scooter – the Activa E has a largely settled and pliant ride, too. The front disc brake has sufficient bite and stopping power, and when you’re pushing it, the Activa E is refreshingly enjoyable to ride.
The swappable batteries on the Activa E can be exchanged for fully charged units in just a couple of minutes at a Honda e:Swap station, which means you will never have to bother with charging the Activa E like a regular electric scooter – and the ownership as well as the responsibility of maintaining the batteries will lie with Honda’s battery swap subsidiary, so you will never have to worry about battery repair or replacement costs. These batteries have a combined energy capacity of 3 kWh, and real-world range is likely to be close to 80 to 85 kilometres, which is par for the course. I rode the scooter mainly in Sport mode on the highway, and spent nearly 60 per cent charge to cover nearly 40 kilometres.
So the Activa E looks good, feels good, performs admirably, rids you of hassles of charging and owning a battery, and saves you time thanks to quick swaps. So then, where is the catch? The catch lies in what it will take to keep the scooter running because in order to run the Activa, you will need to subscribe to Honda's battery swapping plan.
The Activa E is available in two variants – the base variant is priced at Rs 1.17 lakh, while the top variant, with its excellent 7.0-inch TFT display, costs a hefty Rs 1.52 lakh (ex-showroom). However, paying that much money only buys you the shell of the scooter. To actually be able to ride the scooter, subscribing to the battery swap network is mandatory. You will have to shell out a minimum of Rs. 2,000 a month, plus taxes, to be able to use the swap facility, with an energy cap of 35 kWh. If you exceed it, you’ll have to pay more money per swap.
Additionally, you need to pay a Rs. 4,000 security deposit up front, and you will receive a postpaid bill for your usage at the end of the month. For those with higher usage, there’s the advanced plan with a monthly energy cap of 87 kWh. A rough calculation reveals over a 5-year ownership period, you will pay a minimum of Rs. 1.20 lakh for tapping into the swap network, and over Rs. 2.16 lakh if you opt for the advanced plan.
That is significantly higher than the monthly costs one would incur on a fixed battery electric scooter, and while it does insulate owners from the prospect of enormous battery replacement costs in the future, it also leaves them bound to make monthly payments to a single energy provider indefinitely, as well as vulnerable to potential increases in monthly usage fees as well as changes in usage terms, which owners will simply have to accept as they will have no other option. This, in effect, is dictating how owners use their scooters, as well as controlling how much they spend on simply using their scooter, even after paying a high price for the scooter itself.
And then there’s the question of network density – to make this model work, Honda will need to proliferate urban areas with swap stations, but building out a swapping network is a hugely expensive and time-consuming affair. Swapping will only work in densely populated areas, which is why the Activa E will only be available in Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai initially. Add to that the fact that this swap network is also catering to three-wheelers, and the availability of fully charged batteries at your nearest swap station will never be guaranteed. And can you imagine having to travel 10 kilometres or more, just to be able to locate a pair of fully charged batteries, in cities where even short distances take a long time to cover?
The challenges facing the Activa E could potentially be circumvented if Honda offered a fixed battery version of the scooter, as it would give potential buyers the power of choice, and also free up some usable underseat storage space. However, the company says a fixed battery model cannot be built using the Activa E’s construction at present.
So, the Activa E, then, promises convenience like no other electric scooter, but it also promises to be quite a lot more expensive to run compared to any other electric scooter. It’s almost tragic that most of India will not get to experience what is otherwise an impressive e-scooter for quite a while, and that potential owners may be spooked by subscription plans that dilute the affordability associated with electric two-wheeler running costs. If it offered customers the power of choice, the Activa E would doubtless give all other family electric scooters a proper run for their money, but in its current configuration, it is likely to remain a fringe option at best.
Honda Activa E RoadSync Duo: Tech specs
Battery: 1.5 kWh x 2 (3 kWh total)
Motor: Direct drive PMSM
Power: 6 kW
Torque: 22 Nm
Weight: 119 kg (with batteries)
Wheelbase: 1310 mm
Ground clearance: 171 mm
Seat length: 675 mm
Wheels: 12-inch (front and rear)
Top speed: 84 kmph (indicated)
Range: 80-85 km (estimated, real-world)
Price as tested: Rs 1.52 lakh (ex-showroom)
