Honda recently launched the Activa e: and QC1 electric scooters in India, and one of our main complaints with the former was that you have to rely on Honda’s battery-swapping infrastructure exclusively for charging its batteries. Now, though, that problem has a potential solution.
- Honda CUV e comes with a charging dock for the batteries
- CUV e and Activa e are closely related under their slightly different bodywork
- Honda’s Indian battery-swapping infrastructure is still in nascent stages
Home charging now a possibility for the Honda Activa electric
Instead of a conventional charger, the batteries are charged through a charging dock
The Honda Activa e: is effectively a slightly restyled version of the European CUV e: scooter, with both EVs sharing their mechanicals, features, and some bodywork as well. Honda has officially begun sales of the CUV e: scooter in European markets, and it offers a charging dock, which can be used to charge the battery packs at home.
Unlike most other electric scooters, which have a fixed battery pack, the Honda Activa e: and the CUV e: have two removable ones. Neither scooter comes with a built-in charging port to charge the batteries while keeping them attached to the scooter itself. As a workaround for this, Honda offers you a charging dock into which you place the removable battery pack and charge it. The company claims that a 0-100 percent charge takes 6 hours, and a 25-75 percent SOC top-up will require 3 hours, courtesy of the 270W supplied offboard charger.
Do bear in mind that these figures are claimed by Honda for the European CUV e: scooter, which has a 2.6kWh battery capacity, split into two packs of 1.3kWh and weighing 10.2kg. The Indian Activa e: has a 3kWh battery capacity split into two 1.5kWh portable packs.
Admittedly, this is neither as straightforward nor as elegant a solution as in other electric scooters, where you simply plug them in to charge just like any other device. However, it is a step in the right direction, as currently, if you purchase an Activa e:, you are forced to rely on Honda’s battery-swapping network to go back to a full charge.
There are only a handful of these stations, mainly spread across Bengaluru for now, with other metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi slated to have these set up in the future. If Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) introduces this charging solution from the CUV e: for the Activa e:, it would solve one big issue for a potential customer – charging it at their residence.
Currently, Honda sells the Activa e: only on a BaaS (Battery as a Service) model, with its subsidiary Honda Power Pack Energy India Private Limited managing the batteries for the scooters sold.
Ved Janve
Vishal Venugopal
