According to Atsushi Ogata, President & MD, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, Honda is looking to have a diversified portfolio including electric 2-wheelers
One of India’s favourite motorcycle manufacturers, Honda is all set to introduce an electric 2-wheeler in April 2023. There’s no clarity on what the exact scooter will be, but further details will be made available by the 29th of March, 2023.
As of now, only 2 manufacturers actively sell their electric 2-wheelers in India – TVS & Bajaj Auto. Obviously, other OEMs like Hero, Yamaha, Suzuki etc will come onboard in the near future but the launch of an electric scooter right now will help Honda tap into the emerging EV market and carve an identity for itself in the EV space and leverage the same to create a robust portfolio of electric 2-wheelers for India.
Globally, Honda has an expansive range of electric 2-wheelers, some of which may be homologated. According to Atsushi Ogata, President & MD, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Honda is looking to have a diversified portfolio in India with 3 specific categories of electric 2-wheelers which will be categorised by their top speeds.
The EB (electric bike) category will have a top speed of 25 kmph and this EV category will require no driving license or registration. The second category is EM (Electric Moped) with a top speed of 50 kmph. The third category will be EV (Electric Vehicle) with a top speed north of 50 kmph mark. Ogata also stated that the launch of the electric scooter in April will be followed by the launch of a high-speed EV.
That being said, Ogata also mentioned that the company’s major focus will continue to remain on petrol-powered 2-wheelers and it is and will continue to be a huge market for the foreseeable future. So it makes sense financially to not put all the eggs in the EV basket and prioritise ICE-powered 2-wheelers which will make up for the major chunk of sales in the short to mid-term while having one eye on the long-term and steadily but calculatively investing into it.
Honda plans to further introduce flex-fuel vehicles and reportedly, it plans to have 10 new electric 2-wheelers by 2025. About April’s launch, many suspect that Honda will launch the electric Activa but we’d all have to wait and watch as things unfold.