The Indian electric vehicle market is on an upward drive, drawing lots of foreign manufacturers and experts to the burgeoning market. A recent government tax cut for EV batteries is a clear indication of the massive support coming from the government. The Indian EV market could soon be boosted with a Honda e-scooter. The Honda U-Go e-scooter patent application has been filed in India.

While there is no official confirmation yet that Honda will launch the U-Go in India, it is a plausible possibility. Several patent applications connected to EVs have been filed in recent times in India. The electric two-wheeler and four-wheeler market in the subcontinent is blossoming on the back of strong government support. A recent 13 percentage-point cut in the GST rate for EV battery packs by the government is bound to stimulate more activity.

The scooter is designed as a small two-wheeler for daily urban commutes. It is 179cm long and weighs 83kg. It has a wrap-around design with some graphics on the body panels. The headlight cluster has an inverted DRL and there are LED turn indicators on the handlebar’s sides. There is also LED lighting at the rear for the tail lights. It has a 12-inch front wheel with telescopic suspension. The disc brake system is housed in the front of the e-scooter while a drum brake is at the rear. The rear wheel of the U-Go version in China is 10 inches in size.

The Honda U-Go e-scooter which is currently available in China comes with some decent features. It has a BLDC motor in two sizes – 800W and 1,200W. Its replaceable Lithium-ion battery offers a range of 75km, which can be extended to 130km using the dual battery pack. The scooter can reach a top speed of 53km/h. The coming weeks may see an announcement by Honda concerning the patented scooter.

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Honda is entering the EV scooter segment with its all-new Honda Activa E. In an interview with ET Auto, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India President, Atsushi Ogata, confirmed an HMSI EV product debut in the country. But the lunch is not expected in India until 2023.

The electric scooter is said to come with battery swapping technology, which will be a convenient option for buyers to replace a discharged battery with a charged battery at swap stations and to charge the battery at home. Consumers will have two options: they will be able to swap their dead batteries with charged ones through either a subscription model or a nominal fee or the user can also buy back up a battery pack that can be charged and replaced when the installed one gets discharged.

Earlier this year, Bounce also launched the Bounce Infinity E1 electric scooter which became India’s first swappable battery electric scooter. The company has also introduced a similar subscription-based battery swapping system dubbed ‘battery as a service.’

In that accord, the upcoming Honda Activa E will be a direct competitor to the Bounce Infinity E1 along with other major electric scooters in India like the Ola S1, Bajaj Chetak, Ather 450X, and Hero Electric scooters.

This may also prove to be the right time to enter the EV market for Honda as battery prices are coming down and central and state governments announced incentives to encourage a faster transition to e-mobility, industry stakeholders also said that the potential of conversion is high as this time as 21 million two-wheelers were sold before the outbreak of the pandemic in FY19.

Honda’s previous partner Hero is also set to release its new EV scooter next month, introducing more competition in the developing Indian EV market.

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