Honda Activa Electric could be the name of the first electric scooter from the Japanese manufacturer bound for next FY in India
Honda is readying itself to enter the lucrative electric two-wheeler segment in India in the next financial year (April 2023 to March 2024 period). The Japanese auto major will bring in two new zero-emission models initially and they will be underpinned by a brand new architecture, internally codenamed Platform E. It will be modular and scalable in nature.
The Platform E will give rise to a slew of new eco-friendly offerings from Honda across different segments and price brackets as well as battery capacities and technologies. Honda is expected to leverage the popularity of the Activa nameplate further and use the existing ICE model as a base in terms of design to bring up its first electrified model.
It will more likely have a fixed battery setup and will be affordable targeting high volume sales. Whether it will strictly appeal to commercial use or regular commuting purposes initially is yet unknown. The Honda Activa Electric is expected to be packed with features as well. It will be followed by a more advanced e-scooter with swappable battery technology.
This will help in making it more practical as the battery can be swapped when required and Honda intends to establish a proper charging infrastructure for that to materialise as over 6,000 touchpoints will be set up across India. In its first phase, a total of 23 battery swapping stations are available in Bengaluru and it will further be expanded soon.
Honda is also setting up a new production facility in Karnataka where the electric motors for its forthcoming range of EVs will be rolled out. By the end of this decade, it is estimated to manufacture around one million units. The first EVs will carry heavy local content courtesy of locally sourcing components like battery packs and PCUs.
The electric two-wheeler segment is getting crowded with new brands, especially start-ups, over the last few years. But we will witness plenty of activity from the mainstream brands over the next couple of years to push the boundaries and the underlying potential.