Japanese manufacturer Honda’s new subsidiary, Honda Power Pack Energy India Private Limited, has recently announced a partnership with HPCL. The battery sharing service company has agreed to set up battery swapping stations along with the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. As a Maharatna Oil and gas Public Sector undertaking, HPCL has signed an MoU with Honda for a collaboration. This also marks Honda’s debut in India’s E-mobility field, where it will deploy its battery sharing services via HPCL.
In October 2021, Honda announced its plans of starting the battery sharing service in India, starting with electric three-wheelers. Via its newly established subsidiary, Honda Power Pack Energy India, the company’s battery sharing service will target rickshaw drivers. The drivers can make their stop at the nearest battery swapping stations across selected cities and swap their discharged batteries.
By swapping the drained batteries with fully-charged Honda Mobile Power Pack e’s, drivers can reduce their initial buying costs for EVs. Additionally, the service will reduce the risk of drivers losing business opportunities whilst waiting for the charging of batteries. Honda aims to start its Battery as a Service (BaaS) facility on a commercial basis in Bangalore from Q1 2022.
Honda aims to set up a strong network of battery swapping stations at strategic locations from HPCL’s retail outlets. The company will launch the network in Bengaluru city with the intention of expanding to other cities in a phased manner. The two companies state that they will initially focus on the three-wheeler segment and eventually expand to the two-wheeler segment. In order to fulfil its plans in India, Honda has been partnering with multiple other OEMs to serve various applications.
On February 7th, 2022, the two companies held an online signing-off ceremony where they reaffirmed their commitment to carbon neutrality. Both companies will also work together to achieve a greener future for India and the world by expanding renewable energy utilization. Honda and HPCL will actively pursue the electrification of the transport sector in India, which accounts for 20% of emissions. HPCL reiterated its aim of becoming a net-zero company by 2040 via partnerships with global players like Honda.
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