With the Indian automobile industry transitioning from conventional fossil fuels to cleaner electrical power, OEMs are now investing resources heavily in developing electric vehicles. The two-wheeler segment has seen the most development in battery-powered technology.
Honda, being one of the major two-wheeler manufacturers in the country, is also expected to play a major role in this transition. However, there has been no product launch in the EV space from Honda yet. This is expected to change soon as the Japanese auto giant has filed two new trademark applications in India.
Honda iM, iM1 e: trademarks filed
It has come to light that Honda has filed two new trademarks in India– iM, and iM1 e: — both presumably EVs. In all possibility, these could be the name of the brand’s upcoming electric two-wheelers. It was earlier reported that Honda is working on a fully-electric version of Activa.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Honda will be bringing two electric scooters to India. While earlier it was believed that one of these scooters would adopt the Activa moniker, it now seems that Honda would use both these new trademarks for the respective models, instead. These new e-scooters are expected to make their debuts sometime next year.
The new products will be built from the ground up and based on a dedicated EV platform, codenamed Platform ‘E’. This new platform will underpin different models with varying battery architecture and installation.
As reported earlier, one of these models could be a mid-range model with a fixed battery type while the other could be a long-range model with a swappable battery in place. The former is likely to be an affordable, entry-level offering from Honda while the latter is expected to compete against the likes of the premium electric scooters with high performance and range.
Honda EV manufacturing facility
Honda is looking to build up demand in the EV segment and to cater the same the company is building a new EV manufacturing facility called ‘Factory E’ in Narsapura in Karnataka. The upcoming EVs from Honda will be built here and by 2030, this facility is expected to boast a production capacity of 1 million units per year. Honda will be sourcing batteries and power control units from local vendors to keep the cost in check.