Honda will Offer Swappable Batteries on Electric Three-wheelers in India

Japanese manufacturer Honda has announced that the brand will be starting a new Battery Sharing service in the Indian market. The new Honda battery swapping service will be first available on electric rickshaws in the Indian market. Honda also announced that the new service will begin in the first half of 2022. The company will use Honda’s “Mobile Power Pack e:” known in short as “MPP e:”, to power the electric three-wheelers.

Furthermore, a study reveals that more than 80 lakh auto-rickshaws are operational on Indian roads. The Auto Rickshaw is an essential means of daily transportation for citizens. These auto-rickshaws mainly use CNG (compressed natural gas) powertrains, in cities and it is quite a challenge to get them converted to battery power. Many companies have been facing the same challenges in the adoption of electric three-wheelers. This includes short range, long charging time and high cost of batteries. But Honda plans to defeat these challenges through the use of swappable batteries. The brand will also share such batteries using MPP e: technology, in the first half of 2022.

Honda Mobile Power Pack Exchanger e:

Honda has announced that the brand will launch a subsidiary in the Indian market to conduct the battery sharing service business. The new subsidiary will be “Honda Mobile Power Pack Exchanger e:”. This will conduct battery sharing service in the city. Honda will also work with electric rickshaw manufacturers enabling them to adopt the new MPP e: technology. The brand will help them integrate the battery system in existing electric powertrain technologies and begin the service in major cities. The Company also plans to expand its service to other small cities shortly.  

Honda Already Testing MPP e: Technology in India

Honda has already begun testing the new technology in India from February 2021. The brand employed the MPP e: on 30 units of the electric rickshaws. These electric rickshaws are under test for more than 200,000 km. The brand also identified various issues and verified business viability during the test phase. The company also revealed that it will set up various battery swapping stations in key cities. This will help rickshaw drivers to stop by at the nearest battery-swapping station and swap an MPP e: with a low charge for a fully-charged MPP e:. Thanks to the quick exchange of batteries, the driver’s will have a low risk of losing business opportunities with customers while waiting for rickshaw batteries to be charged.

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