Honda will open bookings for its new electric scooters – the Activa e: and the QC1 – on January 1, 2025, with deliveries commencing in February.
- Honda plans to make 1 lakh units of these models annually
- It has 6.2 million-unit annual production capacity
- Both models have close to 99 percent localisation
Honda electric scooter India production plans
“First year, we are planning to manufacture around 1 lakh units of both the electric vehicle models,” Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) President, CEO and MD Tsutsumu Otani told reporters on Wednesday.
Honda can manufacture around 6.2 million two-wheelers annually in India across its four factories – Manesar (Haryana), Alwar (Rajasthan), Narsapura (Karnataka) and Vithalapur (Gujarat). The Activa e: and QC1 will be manufactured at the Narsapura factory.
When asked about localisation, Yogesh Mathur, director of sales and marketing at HMSI, said: “We have localised around 99 percent of it with batteries being procured from local supplier here.”
The Activa e: comes with a range of around 102km and a maximum speed of 80kph. The model comes with batteries that can be swapped at its swapping stations called Power Pack Exchanger. These stations are already live in Bengaluru and Delhi, and will soon be launched in Mumbai. There are around 88 stations in Bangalore with plans to take that number up to around 500 by March 2026, company officials said. These swapping stations will be accessible to vehicles from other OEMs as well.
QC1, which comes with a fixed battery, is built to be a compact, cost-effective scooter. It has a hub-mounted motor making 1.8kW and a 1.5kWh lithium-ion battery. Claimed range is 80km and top speed is 50kph.
Also See: Honda Activa e: revealed with 102km range
Honda electric scooter India roll out plan
In the initial stage, the automaker will adopt a phased rollout for its electric scooters in India and eyes to cover 50 percent of the electric two-wheeler market in the first year. The management noted that it currently has no plans to export electric vehicles from India.
Honda plans to start selling the Activa e: in three metros – Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai initially. The automaker currently has over 6,000 sales and service touchpoints across the country.
“The sales of electric vehicles will be through our existing Red Wing dealerships. They will be having a dedicated corner for electric vehicles. We do not plan to have a separate network for electric vehicles,” Mathur said.
Honda is the second-largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India, selling 45.30 lakh scooters and motorcycles in 2023-24 and exporting 3.63 lakh units.
Also See: Honda QC1 electric scooter revealed alongside Activa e: