Honda Activa electric scooter to be unveiled by March 2024, confirms CEO

By March 2024, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) will introduce the eagerly awaited Honda Activa electric scooter in India. HMSI MD and CEO Atsushi Ogata clarified the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer's projected timeline for the launch of the first Honda electric scooter in India at the launch of the Activa H-Smart ICE scooter. Ogata had confirmed about the Activa electric scooter last year.

The Activa electric scooter will be built on the existing Activa petrol scooter with a new electric drivetrain attached, and it will have a top speed of 50 kmph. Honda will then unveil a different electric scooter with interchangeable battery technology as a follow-up.

The upcoming Activa electric scooter will be based on the current ICE-powered Activa and will be released in March 2024. To keep costs down, the electric motor and battery will be sourced locally. Honda will also reuse many parts from the outgoing ICE-powered Activa, such as the braking system.

The scooter will have a fixed battery pack and an electric powertrain conversion that will increase its top speed to 50 kmph. Specifications for the battery pack or range are still unknown. Although the EV's price is not yet known, it will probably compete with vehicles like the Ather 450 Plus and the Ola S1.

According to HMSI's top executive, Atsushi Ogata, the company is developing the Activa electric scooter in India on its own, with assistance from its Japanese team. A large portion of HMSI's investments in FY 2023–24 will go toward modernising the existing infrastructure so that ICE and electric models can be produced at the same plant.

After the Activa launch, Honda will unveil a second electric scooter in India that is built on a new platform and has a swappable battery pack. Before releasing the second electric scooter, Honda intends to install more than 6,000 battery-swapping stations at its customer touchpoints. The CEO did, however, add that because ICE-powered models require less fuel to start up and can travel farther, the company is still driven to continue the development and sale of them.

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