Honda Activa electric scooter set to launch soon in India with a swappable battery

Honda is venturing into the EV scooter segment with the all-new Honda Activa E. In an interview with ET Auto, Honda Motorcycle India President, Atsushi Ogata, has confirmed an HMSI EV product debut in the subcontinent. But the launch is not likely to happen until 2023.

The electric scooter is said to arrive with battery swapping technology, which will be a more convenient option for buyers to replace a discharged battery with a charged battery at swapping stations and to charge the battery at home.

The customers will get two options, the first being able to swap their dead batteries with charged ones via a subscription model or a nominal fee, or secondly, the user can also buy back a battery pack that can be charged and replaced when the installed one gets discharged.

Earlier this year, Bounce had launched the Infinity E1 electric scooter which became the first swappable battery electric scooter in India. The company has also introduced a similar subscription-based battery swapping system that is dubbed as ‘battery as a service.’

The upcoming Honda Activa E will be a direct competitor to the Bounce Infinity E1 along with other major electric scooters in India like Ola’s S1, Bajaj Chetak, Ather 450X, and Hero Electric scooters.

This could also prove to be the best time to enter the EV market for Honda as battery prices are falling and the Centre and State governments have announced incentives in order to encourage a faster transition to e-mobility, industry stakeholders have also said that the potential of conversion is as high as this time 21 million two-wheelers were sold before the pandemic began in FY19.

Honda’s previous partner Hero will also be releasing its own EV scooter next month, which will lead to increased competition in the developing Indian EV market.

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