The Honda Activa e: electric scooter has finally been introduced in the Indian market. The Japanese e-scooter has quite a few interesting aspects and here are its top five highlights.
Neat and simple design
The Honda Activa e: has a simple design but it also manages to stand out. Styling elements like the apron-mounted LED headlight, and the LED DRL on the handlebar cowl are neatly executed. The side panel has a few creases and silver accents while the flush-fitting pillion footrest is a nice touch.
Even the tail section looks good, especially with the dark smoke effect on the LED tail light cluster. On the whole, the design of the Honda Activa e: is nice and pleasing. It is available in five colours- Pearl Shallow Blue, Pearl Misty White, Pearl Serenity Blue, Matt Foggy Silver Metallic and Pearl Igneous Black.
Swappable batteries only
The Activa e: has a pair of 1.5kWh swappable batteries. With a total capacity of 3kWh, Honda claims that the scooter can cover 102km on a single charge. What’s interesting, however, is that these batteries cannot be taken out and charged at home, like you can in the case of the Vida V1’s removable batteries. This limits you to using Honda’s swappable battery stations to get a fully charged battery once the battery in the scooter is almost depleted.
While Honda claims it will set up a dense network of battery swapping stations, with 84 currently operational in Bengaluru, there is a caveat. One will have to plan their route as per the range that is available and the accessibility to a battery swapping station, should the need arise for more range if one needs to head somewhere else as well. Besides Bengaluru, Honda is setting up these stations in Mumbai and Delhi with more cities to follow. Nevertheless, despite the convenience and time-saving that these swappable batteries offer, accessibility to swapping stations may influence buying decisions.
TFT display but no touchscreen
The top-spec Activa e: comes with a TFT display with Bluetooth connectivity, incoming call alerts and navigation. The layout is neat and the display is crisp. However, it is not a touchscreen and one needs to use a toggle switch on the left side of the handlebar to navigate through the settings.
Motor performance
Honda has put a swingarm-mounted motor on the Activa e: electric scooter. It has a peak output of 6kW and Honda says it propels the scooter from 0-60kmph in 7.3 seconds. The scooter comes with three modes - Eco, Standard and Sport and can hit a top speed of 80kmph.
Launch timeline
The Honda Activa e: has only been unveiled for now. Bookings will commence in January along with the price announcement. Deliveries will begin in February 2025.
