Honda plans an electrification push in India by 2023

-    The Indian electrification plan is a part of the global roll-out which will kick start in China next year. 

-    The first Honda EV to be sold in India by 2023-2024.

-    The first EV could be a B-segment vehicle.

 Honda India is planning to go electric in the country in the span of next five years. According to reports, the first electric Honda in India will be a part of the carmaker’s global electric plan which will kick start in China in 2019. The first EV could be a B segment vehicle and we expect it to be the production version of the Urban EV Concept (pictured here). 

The India-spec Honda EV might be specially developed catering to specific Indian conditions as compared to the ones sold in the international markets. While the government is yet to formalize the EV policy in the country, the Japanese carmaker doesn’t want to play catchup when it comes to the electrification plans amongst other carmakers.  At first, there will be a hybrid version of the City sedan, and apart from the B-segment EV, an electric SUV is also part of the plan, according to reports. 

On the other hand, when Honda showcased the Urban EV Concept at the Frankfurt stage last year, its production version was slated to hit the European market by 2019. Even the dimension of that concept was just 100mm short of the Honda Jazz. Moreover, Honda plans to develop a dedicated EV platform similar to VW Group’s MEB architecture which will feature a  fully-electric powertrain with ease of scaling different body types. Although no concrete details are available at the moment, Honda’s EV powertrain will include a high-density, lightweight battery pack, integrated heat management and the evolution of energy transfer functions. An electric range of 150-200 kilometres at least is also a part of the plan. 

Maruti Suzuki has already announced plans to launch electric vehicles by 2020. A fleet of electric Wagon Rs is already on test in the country. This same EV development might be shared with Toyota Kirloskar. Hyundai already plans to build the electric Kona in India sometime soon. Meanwhile, Mahindra and Tata are already working on electric KUV and electric Tigor respectively.

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