Daily News Impact 31-Mar-25: Honda has announced the commencement of production of the ICON e: electric scooter in Vietnam. This is an important event - a global manufacturer starting local manufacturing of an electric scooter in one of the hottest E2W markets in the world.
This is my most important letter to date and until next week. We are making many changes to InsightEV, enhancing our research offerings, increasing our frequency and coverage, and bringing more value to you.
For all non-fans, sushis are the same - a handcrafted roll with a trinket of fish, a sliver of vegetables, short-grain rice, and seaweed. But they are not. Each has a strong character and an unmistakable identity; you remember some more than others. Clubbing them together is a cardinal sin.
26-Mar-25: Honda has an electric motorcycle...sort of. Is Zapp Electric to get delisted? Ola Electric coughs up supplier dues. Argentina extends ABS by six months
How many swappable batteries would any brand make? That's a rhetorical question. Honda has already answered that. They would only do the MPP. So it's goodbye to SBMC, which may be the consortium's death knell. With Honda and Yamaha exiting, there is not enough meat on the bone.
The Europe-focused Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC) was formed in September 2021 by Honda, Yamaha, KTM, and Piaggio. However, little has moved three years later, and the two Japanese founders have left. Is there a future for SBMC (and battery-swapping consortiums in general)?
Honda's 50% market share of the Indian scooter market is handy as it enters electric mobility with the Activa e: and QC1 scooters. But the prices and the subscription plans leave everyone puzzled. They don't want to disrupt the market. Instead, Honda wants to take it apart, brick-by-brick.
Late-entrant Honda shows no urgency in its India E2W play. Its Go-To-Market is linked with its battery-swapping network rollout. The problem is that three years after the start of the pilot, the Honda e-swap has reached only 1% of the population. Are they serious about India's E2W market?
For electric mobility to be truly sustainable, battery recycling has to be a core requirement for participants. Honda and Spiro are at least making the right moves, figuring out in the early days how their batteries would be redeployed and recycled once their charge drops to below usable.
The industry takes slow yet significant strides towards electrification
Why did Honda launch two different scooters on the same platform for India and Indonesia/Europe?
India and ASEAN are the two legs that Honda stands on. It has been disappointing that the Japanese giant has let startups lead the way in the Indian scooter market, a market where it has a 50% market share. Honda is now doing catchup with the CUV e: in Indonesia and the Activa e: and QC1 in India
