Honda to launch electric two-wheelers in India next year

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India has announced its plan to launch two-wheeler electric vehicles in the country. The company said that it will bring two EVs with swappable batteries in the next finanacial year.

The auto manufacturer is setting up a separate unit at its Narsapura plant in Karnataka to roll out electric two-wheelers. The company aims to touch 10 lakh electric vehicles production capacity annually by 2030.

"Electric mobility is growing in India and our aim is to build the country's best EV business structure. To fulfil our EV business requirements we are coming up with a dedicated factory in Narsapura," Honda Motorcycle &Scooter India (HMSI) Managing Director, President and CEO Atsushi Ogata told reporters.

He said that the company will focus on localisation, main components including battery and other critical components like PCU will be produced in-house. The motor will also be designed and manufactured locally, Ogata added.

"We aim to reach one million annual EV production at Narsapura by 2030," he said.

HMSI is planning to bring in a dedicated platform on which multiple EV models with fixed and swappable batteries would be introduced.

Ogata said the company will utilise its existing sales network of around 6,000 touchpoints to come up with charging stations and for utilizing battery swapping.

HMSI also plans to leverage the overall ecosystem, including battery-swapping stations at petrol pumps, metro stations, and other locations, to provide convenient battery-swapping solutions for EV users.

"With our EV roadmap, now in the execution phase, we are taking substantial steps towards creating exclusive infrastructure for manufacturing a diverse range of electric vehicles. Parallelly, we are also investing in the development of EV technologies, charging infrastructure and aftersales services," Ogata said.

HMSI has started Project Vidyut to cater to the demand of electrification age.

Elaborating on the company's business direction in the next fiscal, Ogata said the company 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.

He noted that HMSI will be expanding exports to 58 countries with 20 models in FY24.

The company currently exports 18 models to over 38 countries.

(With inputs from PTI)