First Honda Electric Motorcycle Launch Confirmed for India in 2024

• Published On: 1 December 2023
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After simultaneous launch of two electric scooters, Honda has set their plans to launch the first EV motorcycle for the Indian market in early 2024.

Honda Global Motors has confirmed their plans to launch its first EV motorcycle for the Indian market in early 2024. The EV bike is going to be an equivalent competitor for other 110-125 cc motorbike variants already present in the market. This announcement was made in the wake of Honda Motors Co’s brand-new motorcycle electrification strategy, which is going to observe the manufacturer invest around $3.4 billion by 2030 on new developments and products. The motorbike giant even revised their global sales target from 3.5 million to 4 million electric motorcycles by 2030.   

The manufacturer has equipped the electric motorcycle with swappable batteries and is going to be manufactured in the current existing manufacturing facility in India. The plan is set for the EV bike to first travel on Indian roads, post that the bike will be launched in other countries, like ASEAN markets, Europe, and Japan. In early 2023, Honda Motors announced electrification plans for India with a promise to offer 2 electric two-wheelers equivalent to 110-125 cc offerings. Where one EV scooter will be facilitated with a fixed battery, the other offering is going to get swappable batteries. 

Daiki Mihara, Executive Officer, Honda Motorcycle Power Products Electrification Business Development Unit, Honda Motor company, suggested during the presentation that, “Next year 2024, we will launch an electric motorcycle with swappable batteries starting in India followed by ASEAN, Japan, and Europe.”

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The company’s overall Indian operations are going to play a strategic factor behind Honda’s motorcycle electrification strategy taking steps forward. As of now till the year 2027, the bike manufacturer is going to utilise their existing manufacturing facilities to manufacture the two-wheelers. But, after 2027, the company has planned to launch a specific manufacturing plant targeting electric vehicles manufacturing along with in–house parts manufacturing to reduce a big part in overall cost procured in the process. As suggested, the new facility will be able to manufacture around 1 million units per year, per plant with an investment around 50 billion yen (approximately INR 28,000 Crore) for each of the new facilities. 

Mihara additionally added that the two-wheeler manufacturer will have a specific electric motorcycle manufacturing plant in India. Whereas, the other e-manufacturing, post the Indian one, will be opened up in the ASEAN region. The company is looking for different methods to cut down huge amounts in the cost of finished electric motorcycles by around 50%through adopting modular platforms, optimising production & procurement, and optimising batteries. The new assembly lines for these EV motorcycles will be 40% shorter when compared to ICE vehicles. 

Moreover, the company plans to infuse huge changes in their supply chain in lieu to achieve its goal of selling 4 million e-motorcycles by 2030 along with gaining a 10% operating profit margin. Honda Motors also plans to repurpose its Kumamoto plant in Japan to produce larger-capacity e-motorcycle equivalent to 600-700 cc offerings. 

The two-wheeler manufacturer’s future goals include launch of 30 new e-motorcycles globally by the end of 2030. These new offerings will accumulate new technologies including OTA updates, modern data collection systems, and advanced connectivity. The firm is also diligently working on to improve their overall battery technology and will employ LFP battery cells in coming times, along with NMX lithium-ion batteries currently intacted on its electric two-wheelers.