Honda to ramp up e-motorcycle production
Honda Motor Co., Ltd., has recently announced that the company will be ramping up its electric motorcycle production globally and has set a target of 4 million units by 2030.
Additionally, Honda also plans to introduce 30 new e-motorcycle models by 2030. The 4 million units target is up by 500,000 vs. the previous target of 3.5 million units announced in 2022.
Moreover, Honda says it will introduce a new model globally in 2024, based on the SC e: Concept, which was exhibited at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 and will be followed by the global introductions of “FUN-oriented” models and plug-in electric models in 2025.
Honda will also introduce electric models in various categories such as super sports, naked, offroad, kids’ bikes and ATVs, accelerating its initiatives to build a full lineup of electric models by taking a proactive approach to introducing a total of more than 30 electric models by 2030.
50% cost reduction for finished e-motorcycles
Currently, one of the reasons why customers are not yet switching to a zero-emissions ride is because of the high and unpractical price of an electric motorcycle compared to a regular underbone or scooter. Honda wants to resolve that issue by reducing the cost of their upcoming e-motorcycle models by up to 50% vs its existing models powered by swappable batteries.
To this end, Honda says it will adopt plug-in models, optimize battery cells, increase the efficiency of procurement and production through the adoption of common modules and increase production efficiency through various measures such as producing at factories dedicated to the production of electric models.
For the production of electric models, Honda will initially utilize its existing infrastructure for internal combustion engine (ICE) models and by 2027, the company will begin the operation of dedicated electric motorcycle factories which are designed with an annual production capacity of 1 million e-motorcycle units.
To accomplish all of these, Honda says that it will invest JPY 500 billion (almost PHP 200 billion) until 2030.
With this recent announcement, we can expect more e-motorcycles will be introduced by Honda in the local market within the next few years. Let’s just hope that the price tag of these e-motorcycles will be affordable and practical even for the everyday Juan Dela Cruz.
Keyword: Honda targets 4 million e-motorcycle sales by 2030