Last Updated on March 3, 2022 by Anu Joy
Although late to the party, Honda is finally entering the EV scooter segment in India. According to a report, it could be working on an electric avatar of its largest selling Honda Activa scooter. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter President, Atsushi Ogata, has green signalled the EV project for India. The e-scooter will take on the offerings from rivals such as Ather, Ola, Bajaj, Hero Electric etc.
Honda Activa has been selling like hotcakes since its launch and is a brand in itself. It wears the crown for the highest selling scooter in the Indian market, with a sale of around two lakh units per month. The second position is held by TVS Jupiter, which sells a significantly lower 50,000 units per month in India. Such is the trust and craze for the ICE version of the Honda Activa in the country. Honda will look to capitalise on the success of the ICE version of the scooter and dominate the EV scooter space with the launch of this new product.
Honda Activa E Expectations
Expect the Honda Activa E to carry the design language of the ICE Activa but with futuristic elements. Electric vehicles are usually heavier than their ICE counterparts, mainly due to the heavy battery packs. Honda Activa’s all-metal body is its USP and it remains to be seen whether the Activa E would retain the metal construction or switch to a fibre body to keep the weight in check.
Honda is expected to adopt the battery swapping technology for its electric Activa. Honda has over 6000 dealers across India and can provide the necessary charging infrastructure and battery swapping stations for its customers. The removable battery packs provide the convenience of replacing the discharged battery at battery swap stations or you can charge it at your home. Such an option would be perfect for those who don’t have an EV charging point in their parking space or at their workplace. Also, you can easily replace the dead batteries with new ones as opposed to inbuilt ones.
Honda seems to have assessed the subscription model offered for the Bounce Infinity E1 vehicle. The subscription service will allow you to rent the batteries and swap them at Honda’s service stations. This will save the upfront cost of the batteries for the buyers and will allow Honda to launch the Activa E at aggressive prices.
Honda Activa E Price, Availability
Honda has been testing the Honda Benly E concept scooter with the battery swapping technology, which keeps the hopes high. Also, the fact that Honda has set up a Honda Power Pack Energy India Private Limited subsidiary firm in Bengaluru, suggests that the e-scooter from the brand may arrive sooner than expected. The Activa E, including the battery, could be priced at around ₹1.25- ₹1.40 lakh ex-showroom. The scooter with the battery rental service subscription could come for around ₹1 lakh ex-showroom in India.
Discussion about this post