So far, Honda’s foray into electric mobility has been a rather muted one, with the Activa e: and QC1 both having some crucial misses. But we know that these two are just the first step in the Japanese giant’s big EV plans for India. A litany of electric two-wheelers are being readied and the latest one appears to be an electric motorcycle based on the Shine 100 commuter bike.
- Honda working on multiple electric two-wheelers
- Shine-based electric bike has two battery packs
- Honda looking to set up EV factory in India
Shine 100 could be converted to an EV by Honda
Powered by two swappable batteries, uses same chassis as Shine 100.
In the four-wheeler world, big brands have taken mainstream ICE models and converted them into mass-produced electric vehicles – cars like the Tata Nexon and Hyundai Creta are prime examples of that. However, that trend hasn’t transferred over to the two-wheeler market, at least not so far. While the Honda Activa e: and Suzuki e-Access share their names with their hugely popular petrol-powered counterparts, they don’t share any mechanical fundamentals.
What Honda appears to be doing with this patent is taking a leaf out of Tata and Hyundai’s playbook and converting the Shine 100 into an EV. The main frame appears to be more or less same as the ICE Shine 100 but the engine, fuel tank and other accompanying parts have made way for an electric motor and two small battery packs.
Honda is working on establishing a battery-swapping network across major cities like Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai, and once it's at full operating capacity, it's hard to imagine that the Activa e: will be the only model it will cater to. Since this electric bike based on the Shine 100 platform also has two small battery packs like the Activa e:, it points to the fact that they are likely to be swappable at these stations. Since Honda’s swappable batteries come in a specific size, it is quite likely that the Shine electric’s battery capacity will be the same as the Activa e: – total 3kWh (1.5kWh per pack).
Honda is playing the long game in the electric two-wheeler market in India, and it also has plans to set up a dedicated EV manufacturing facility in our country in the next few years.
Source: Cycle World
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
