Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) today announced its Electric Vehicle roadmap, aimed at creating a healthy and sustainable EV market in India. The road map is a blueprint for developing EV business Structure in India, which includes new EV technologies and infrastructure. The company also announced its Future Business Direction for expansion of overseas business and production capacity in the upcoming financial year.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Atsushi Ogata – Managing Director, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, “In line with Honda’s global direction – to increase Electric Vehicle and Fuel Cell Vehicle unit sales ratio to 100% by 2040, we will continue to improve the efficiency of ICE engines with introduction of Flex fuel engine and follow government direction for alternate fuels while expanding electrification of models and ecosystem.
On the EV front, we are committed to build India’s best EV Business structure and leading in the development of sustainable transportation. With our EV roadmap, now in the execution phase, we are taking substantial steps towards creating exclusive infrastructure for manufacturing a diverse range of captivating electric vehicles. Parallelly, we are also investing in the development of EV technologies, charging infrastructure and aftersales services”.
Factory ‘E’ – dedicated EV manufacturing facility
To meet the production demand for electric vehicles, a specialized manufacturing facility-Factory E is being established at HMSI’s Narsapura Plant in Karnataka. This factory will exclusively focus on the production of electric vehicles and has been designed to optimize production with high efficiency and maximum production value.
In line with the government’s “Make in India” and localization directives, Honda’s EV will utilize domestically manufactured components such as batteries and PCU. The motor for HMSI’s EV will be designed and produced in-house by Honda. Additionally, the factory plays a significant emphasis on sustainability, with an 80% sustainable material ratio and close to 100% renewable energy rate. The advanced automated facility will ramp up in a stage-wise manner to produce 1 million EV units by 2030.
Platform ‘E’ dedicated EV platform
HMSI has developed a futuristic EV platform – Platform ‘E’, which will serve as the foundation for a variety of EV models, including fixed battery type, swappable battery type, and mid-range EV.
Project Vidyut has been initiated by HMSI to introduce a new customer journey that caters to the demand of the electrification age. As a part of this project, HMSI will launch two new 2W EVs in FY2024. The first one is a mid-range Electric Vehicle and the second is a swappable battery type that utilizes the Honda Mobile Power Pack e:
Workshop ‘E’ – for EVs of the future
HMSI’s objective is to provide its customers with a comfortable experience and a high-quality journey. To meet the needs of customers, charging stations will be installed across HMSI’s existing 6000+ network touchpoints. Eventually, some of them being transformed into Workshop ‘E’, the exclusive set-up will house HEID battery exchangers and mini battery exchangers for swappable battery types and charging cables for fixed battery types. Additionally, HMSI 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.
Future Business Direction for Financial Year 2024
Further continuing the trend, HMSI 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. Maintaining the highest level of Global Quality standards, HMSI has explored new opportunities for expanding business. Currently exporting 18 models to over 38 countries, HMSI also expanded its export footprint in the Oceania region with the commencement of exports to Australia, New Zealand and providing powertrains for the Global market from HMSI’s Gujarat Plant. With HMSI’s long-term plans of Make in India for the World, HMSI will be expanding exports to 58 countries with 20 models in FY24. Realigning the production strategy, HMSI plans to soon start a new assembly line for scooters with an additional capacity of 6 lakhs at its Vithalapur Plant in Gujarat.
