The Government of India has proposed a mass electrification strategy, which is expected to be implemented by the year 2025 and two-wheelers under the 150cc segment will be affected by his proposal. Majority of two-wheelers in the Indian market fall under this segment and two-wheeler manufacturers are now scrambling to develop electrified vehicles.
One of the keystones in the mass electrification, is charging stations and major Japanese two-wheeler brands such as Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki have joined hands in their home country to address challenges related to charging infrastructure. Honda in India is likely to do the same and it is being speculated that the brand will be joining hands with rival manufacturers like Bajaj, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor Company to develop electric mobility solutions in India. No detailed discussions have been reported yet, but the brand is likely to collaborate for infrastructure such as battery charging and swapping stations.
Bajaj and TVS Motor Company are reportedly, ready to deploy, electric two-wheelers but the companies feel that the implementation of mass electrification has a very unrealistic deadline and may cause consumer discontent. Adding to that, the electric mobility segment is fairly new and mass adoption has significant risks to the auto manufacturing industry which provides jobs to over 4 million people.
In related news, Yamaha and Suzuki are currently developing electric scooters and are expected to bring them to the Indian market soon. Also, Revolt Intellicorp has unveiled India’s first AI-enabled motorcycle and will open pre-bookings for the same on 25th June with deliveries to begin in the month of July. Many other manufacturers have already entered the Electric two-wheeler market but the lack of charging infrastructure has been repelling buyers.
If major players like Honda, Bajaj and TVS develop charging and battery swapping infrastructure the range anxiety factor will be reduced and then customers will be elated to buy electric two-wheelers