HONDA Activa E

The ergonomics are on point with plenty of room for the rider and pillion. The e-scooter gets a spacious seat with a length of 692 mm, while the floorboard is large enough as well. There is enough knee room and taller riders won’t necessarily end up hitting the handlebar at every tight turn.

That said, the Activa e leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to storage. There’s a small cubby space in the inner apron that can barely hold a mobile phone, while the under-seat storage is completely redundant with the swappable batteries occupying space. It still has a tiny storage space left but that’s best used for a first-aid and a tool kit.

The feature list is extensive on the new Activa e on the top-spec variant. There’s a 7-inch TFT screen with all the features via the Honda RoadSync Duo app. The screen itself is big and has a nice display that’s intuitive to use. The colours are bright, the graphics look nice, and the font is easy to read. The digital console comes with Bluetooth connectivity that brings calls and SMS alerts, navigation integrated with eSwap locations, OTA updates, and more. The base variant misses out on the fancier features in favour of a simpler 5-inch TFT console without Bluetooth.

The toggle stick on the left side of the handlebar controls all the functions and the unit is intuitive to use with easy readability and a rider-friendly interface. There are up and down buttons as well, with the down button doubling up as the throttle when engaging in the reverse mode. The Activa e gets the Smart Key with keyless start, remote seat unlock, backlit illumination, and more as standard, which feels at home for the premium feel.

The Honda Activa e draws power from a swingarm-mounted PMS motor that develops 6 kW (8 bhp) and 22 Nm of peak torque. Power output is decent with 0-60 kmph coming up in 7.3 seconds. There is the strong initial surge that you expect from an electric scooter but the throttle calibration is equally on point. Power delivery is seamless irrespective of the riding mode. Speaking of which, there are three modes - Eco, Standard, and Sport.

The Activa e truly surprises with its ride. The Eco mode is dull while the standard feels apt for the city, but the Sport is a pleasant surprise. Honda may not outright say it but this is the sportiest Activa they’ve built so far. The Sport mode adds that extra kick to the performance that helps make this an enjoyable ride. Manoeuvrability through traffic is easy and the scooter feels nimble. High-speed stability is impressive but a surge in power is mostly restricted between 50 to 70 kmph, enough to make quick overtakes. The scooter takes some time to climb to its top speed of 80 kmph.

In the city, the Sport mode will give you enough punch to slice through traffic. The scooter is nimble in terms of handling and the weight distribution works well too. You hardly feel the 119 kg kerb weight when on the move or even when parking the scooter. The suspension setup is plush and does a good job of absorbing the undulations. The ride quality is rather good on the Activa e and works well on broken roads.

Braking is progressive with a disc at the front and a drum brake at the rear, helping shed speeds quickly. There is no regenerative braking on the electric scooter, which I do think is a miss in optimising range. The overall mechanicals comes together well on the Activa electric with little to complain about the day-to-day usability.

Battery swapping technology is quite popular in many Southeast Asian countries, and it has helped achieve two major goals in those markets: ease range anxiety and reduce the parity between a petrol-powered scooter and an EV. While range anxiety certainly disappears with Honda’s eSwap technology in place, there are more questions than answers about pricing.

The Honda Activa e promises a range of 102 km (IDC) on a single charge from a 1.5 kWh battery pack and every swap should give you about 100 km of range with the least downtime possible. However, fails to reduce the delta between the petrol-powered Activa 125 and the electric model.

The Activa e is priced from ₹1.17 lakh for the base trim, going up to ₹1.51 lakh (ex-showroom) for the top variant. This is substantially more expensive than its petrol counterpart. Customers need to pay a subscription fee for the batteries monthly over and above the ex-showroom cost. Honda has two subscription packs on offer - a 40 km/day plan at ₹1,999 (+ GST) and a longer 100 km/day plan at ₹3,599 (+ GST). This feels like a significant premium over the standard Activa ownership experience.

What most buyers want with the Activa e is convenience, which is the hallmark of any scooter ownership experience. A more accessible price tag would’ve made it truly a model for the masses, which the petrol-powered Activa has always been. More so, once you consider the battery packs, which form the major chunk of any e-scooter’s overall cost, are not part of the ex-showroom price. You do not own the battery pack.

If a customer has to draft an Excel sheet to understand the economics of the Activa e, it is slightly counterproductive. Then, there’s the physicality of swapping the 10.5 kg battery packs at regular intervals. A large chunk of scooter users are women and senior citizens, who may find this a challenge.

Honda's biggest task, however, is establishing the battery-swapping infrastructure to support its customer base. Since there is no alternative charging option, customers are completely dependent on the eSwap stations to fuel their scooters. The manufacturer will need a comprehensive swapping network in each market and this strategy will be crucial to its success. The brand will commence sales in Bengaluru first where it has an eSwap station every 5 kms, followed by Mumbai and Delhi in April. Will Honda’s bets pay off? The swapping network and pricing will play the deciding factors.