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
The Ola scooter range, all variants on the Etergo platform, is energized with floorboard-mounted fixed batteries. However, India's fast-growing fleet delivery market, dominated mainly by Chinese imported two-wheelers, primarily uses portable/swappable batteries. Now, Ola joins the party
In August 2022, Honda announced it would set up a solid-state battery pilot line in Japan. The aim was to study solid-state batteries and ensure the brand was ready with the technology and production in time for the competition. The pilot line has now started production.
This may not be significant for the company. In the short term, there is very little cash that they get access to. However, the listing makes them more attractive to new investors and may eventually get the HyperSport into production.
Electric traction and large lifestyle motorcycles don't play well together. The tech hasn't reached the point yet. So, it was unsurprising that Energica filed for bankruptcy last week. It's not the first and would not be the last electric lifestyle brand to do so.
