Honda unveils EV roadmap for India; to roll out two new electric two-wheelers in FY24

Atsushi Ogata, Managing Director, President & CEO, HMSI

Unveiling its electric vehicle (EV) roadmap in India, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has announced that it will launch two electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) under ‘Platform E’ in the country in fiscal 2023-24.

The EVs will be launched under ‘Project Vidyut’, which the company claims is its new customer journey that caters to the demand of the electrification age.

The first EV will be a mid-range fixed battery scooter, which will be based on Activa’s BS-IV version platform and will go into mass production in mid-March 2024, followed by market launch. The second model will be a product equipped with the ‘Honda Mobile Power Pack e’ swappable batteries.

With these rollouts, the Indian arm of the Japanese auto giant will take on TVS, Bajaj, and Hero MotoCorp, which have already forayed into the E2Ws space.

Atsushi Ogata, Managing Director, President & CEO, HMSI, said, “With our EV roadmap now in the execution phase, we are taking substantial steps towards creating exclusive infrastructure for manufacturing a diverse range of captivating electric vehicles. Also, we are investing in the development of EV technologies, charging infrastructure, and aftersales services. By 2030, we will launch many new EV models in multiple body styles.”

While Honda is not considering any electric motorcycle in the commuter category, it is exploring the feasibility of developing sporty electric motorcycles, which would be modelled on the lines of the ‘Navi’ Concept.

Manufacturing in Karnataka

HMSI also revealed that it would manufacture the two EVs for the Indian market at the Narasapura facility in Karnataka. The dedicated assembly line for EVs, which the company calls Factory-E, will have a high level of automation. At present, the Karnataka facility has four assembly lines and is producing the Activa scooter (which will later be shifted to Gujarat).

The auto company also has long-term plans to export these EVs to global markets. The company also said that EVs will utilise domestically manufactured components such as batteries and power control units (PCUs). The motor for HMSI’s EV will be designed and produced in-house by Honda. All the aggregates and components will be produced at its EV-specific facility in Karnataka.

“In the beginning, getting certain components will be difficult. We are negotiating with major suppliers on enhancing localisation. But Honda alone cannot create localisation (and) maybe we need some alliances with other OE (original equipment) makers,” Ogata told reporters in a round table meeting.

The Japanese auto company said the initial EV production capacity is expected to be six lakh units per annum, which will be further enhanced to one million by 2030.

HMSI will also come up with ‘Workshop E’, which will equip Honda’s current dealership network of 6,000 touch-points with EV charging infrastructure, battery swapping points and charging cables.

Meanwhile, HMSI also revealed that it will complete the transition of its existing model line-up to the latest OBD2 regulation and E20 fuel compliance in the first half of the next financial year. HMSI has also expanded its export footprint in the Oceania region by commencing exports to Australia and New Zealand and providing powertrains for the global market from HMSI’s Gujarat plant. In the long term, HMSI will be expanding exports from 18 models in 38 countries to 20 models in 58 countries in FY24.

Currently, the Japanese automaker has four manufacturing facilities in the country, one each in Manesar (Haryana), Vithalapur (Gujarat), Tapukara (Rajasthan) and Narasapura (Karnataka). Its total annual production capacity stands at 5.2 million units. Realigning the production strategy, HMSI plans to soon start a new assembly line for scooters in the next financial year with an additional capacity of six lakh units at its Vithalapur plant in Gujarat.