Honda Activa e: Battery Rentals, Swapping Costs Revealed - Check Here

Bangalore (Anirban Mitra): Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India is bullish on electric vehicles, and expects EVs to contribute around 20 per cent of the overall two-wheeler sales by 2030, a top company official told NDTV Auto. The company has begun dispatches of its first-ever electric scooters, explained the phase-wise market expansion plans and subscription charges for battery swapping of Activa e:.

Production Capacity and Market Expansion:

HMSI's new electric scooters will be manufactured in the company's third plant in Narsapura, Karnataka. "We can currently manufacture up to 1 lakh units of EVs at our new plant with a bandwidth to expand if demand increases," said Yogesh Mathur, Director, Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India.

Activa e: and QC1 will be sold at RedWing dealerships alongside internal combustion models. In the first phase, the QC1 will be sold in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. The Activa e:, which relies on battery-swapping technology, will be available in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi in the first phase. Mathur said, "HMSI will cover 50 per cent of the entire EV market in the first year itself. We have commenced dispatches to select dealerships in Bengaluru."

Battery Swapping (BEx) Subscription Charges:

The QC1 comes with a 1.5 kWh fixed battery, which takes around six hours and 50 minutes to fully charge using a 330-watt charger. The Activa e: comes with swappable batteries, where customers can replace the drained batteries at a battery swapping station. At the outset of Activa e: dispatches, there are 231 e: Swap stations in Bengaluru, 110 in Delhi and 28 in Mumbai.

HMSI has revealed the BaaS (battery as a service) subscription charges for Activa e: customers, where they can choose between basic and advance plans. The basic plan comes at a monthly rental of Rs 1999 (+GST), allowing 35 kWh of energy. This is ideal for riders who use the e-scooter for 40 kilometres or less in a day. The advanced plan is suitable for those who ride up to 100 kilometres a day. The monthly rental for advance plan is Rs 3599 (+GST) for 87 kWh of energy.

"We are aiming to create a new concept. No other manufacturers have fixed and swappable batteries simultaneously. The initial response is positive, and we await customer feedback on the product, Mathur added.

Activa e: is introduced in two variants, starting at Rs 1.17 lakh (ex-showroom). The connected variant, termed as RoadSync Duo, will cost Rs 1.52 lakh (ex-showroom). The Activa e: is powered by a 6 kW motor and gets two swappable batteries of 1.5 kWh capacities, offering a claimed range of 102 kilometres. Honda QC1 is priced at Rs 90,000 and has a 1.5 kWh fixed-type battery, offering a range of 80 kilometres on a single charge. It is powered by a 1.8 kW motor.