In 2022, Honda will be putting swappable battery packs into their rickshaws in India. While many rickshaws run on compressed natural gas, there has been a steady increase in electric ones within India. Honda is stepping up to the electric game within India with their e-Rickshaws that will come with swappable batteries.
India is no stranger to electrification and has been planning to transition to EV rickshaws for quite some time now. If a lot of this sounds familiar, it’s because what Honda is doing is not a new idea. The collaboration between Gogoro and Hero Motocorp has already introduced a swappable battery system for e-scooters. Honda is going for a similar approach but with the popular three-wheelers.
The swappable battery that Honda will introduce to India.
Honda’s e-rickshaws will be using the company’s new type of battery called the MPP e: which has a capacity of more than 1.3kWh. This will take about five hours to charge but because of the whole swappable battery situation, the only time you need to get from 0 to 100 per cent is the time it takes to carry the battery to your rickshaw.
The only snag is that these MPP e: batteries weigh just over 10 kg, so you may need to do some lifting if you want to get around India.
Honda hasn’t specified their range, but that would likely vary from vehicle to vehicle assuming that other Honda EVs can use the same battery.
We hope that a system like this could come in place with South Africa’s future electrification. One thing we would like to add is that government should set a standard in place for the batteries so that you can pick a battery up from any station, regardless of your bike, trike or other crazy EV vehicles.
“Honda Mobile Power Pack (MPP) has huge potential to electrify all kinds of devices including small-sized mobility products and expand the use of renewable energy. By offering a battery sharing service in India, Honda will contribute to the accelerated electrification of rickshaws and expanded use of renewable energy. Moreover, Honda will continue serving people worldwide with the joy of expanding their life’s potential by further expanding the utilization of the MPP into broader areas,” says Minoru Kato, Chief Officer, Life Creation Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
