Honda’s next electric vehicles will have both fixed and interchangeable batteries.
The country’s second largest two-wheeler maker, Honda Motorcycles, plans to launch 10 electric two-wheelers in the next ten years, supporting a whole range of zero-emission vehicles in the future.
Upcoming Honda electric vehicles: details
As per various informed sources, it aims to offer a variety of powertrains, speed ranges, and body variants. Honda’s EV strategy has been developed after a thorough investigation of over two years. Fixed and swappable versions of manufactured products will be available.
Work has already started on two projects, GJNA and K4BA, to launch the EV game plan. The moped-based Activa Electric will have a swappable option, while the other is based on a fixed battery design.
Honda is one of the few major mainstream brands yet to enter the EV market in India by 2024, but it could be the first Japanese two-wheeler brand to do so.
Honda’s First electric vehicle
Honda Motorcycle will release its first EV as an electric scooter (likely Activa Electric) in March 2024, followed by a separate model in September 2024. With three years to build each of these models, Honda could produce 500,000 units. According to a source about Honda’s EV strategy, the company wants to increase sales to around one million units by 2026-2027, when additional models are introduced.
Honda expects to produce 1 to 1.5 lakh units of each model in the first year. The company expects significant double-digit growth in the mainstream market in FY24 to around 5 million units.
Honda Power Pack Energy India Pvt Ltd (HEID) has already carved a niche in Bengaluru by offering swappable battery options. The three-wheeler industry is currently providing swappable solutions; Ultimately, Honda’s internal power pack business will support the growth of its EV business. In reality, Honda was open to partnerships in the last-mile mobility sector.
Honda launched the electric bike battery replacement service in November 2021 to support the electric auto. In Bangalore, HEID started with a network of 23 exchange stations, which the company would eventually expand to other cities.
While Honda’s immediate target is establishing itself in the domestic market, the corporation eventually wants to export electric Vehicles to other markets.
Honda electric vehicles plan
The company developed the strategy under the leadership of Atsushi Ogata, President of Honda Motorbike & Scooters India, who, over the past three years, has charted a path to develop the addressable market for Japanese two-wheelers.
Ogata targeted the higher end of the market with BigWing Motorcycles a few days before launching its first 100cc motorcycles, the Shine 100, in FY21 and FY22. Now, entering EV territory, Ogata is the third and arguably the most important pillar for the future.
Ogata said in a recent interview that he estimates EV penetration to be between 15 and 25 percent by the end of the decade and that Honda has built its roadmap around these projections. The market share of electric vehicles driven by nascent start-ups and established manufacturers has already crossed 5-7 percent of the total two-wheeler market.
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