Honda To Bring Hybrid Technology To India To Kickstart Its EV Journey

In India’s race for electric vehicles, Honda might be a late participant. Earlier, the company has announced that by 2023, its first-ever all-electric vehicle will come to India. The Japanese automaker stated the absence of supporting infrastructure for the late plan.

So instead of an all-electric car, Honda will release its hybrid vehicles on the Indian market first. One of the company’s senior officials has stated that Honda will bring to India some hybrid offerings for the upcoming two years.

A big plus of hybrid technology, when compared with all-electric vehicles, is that hybrid cars can run on conventional fuels in case there is no battery left. The company thinks that it is a necessary enabler at the moment, given the country’s scarce EV charging network.

Rajesh Goel, Senior Vice President and Director at Honda Cars India Ltd, said:

Honda’s hybrid vehicles can still reduce emissions. At the time being, the only Honda model in India that is equipped with its hybrid technology is the Honda Accord while globally there are only two other Honda cars that have its hybrid tech.

So it is not clear which models would make it to India as no official details have been revealed up until now.

Goel continued:

The thing here is that the FAME scheme hasn’t given many concessions to hybrid vehicles compared to all-electronic vehicles. So when Honda officially launches its hybrid cars, these vehicles will be in the same category as those big diesel and petrol cars.

However, there are still some concessions applied to the country’s hybrid vehicles production, which includes the electronic systems and batteries used in them. So it’s possible that there might be a slight drop in the price tag of hybrid vehicles.

Because of the lack of concessions for hybrid vehicles, not many car manufacturers have plans to introduce their products to the country.

Since next year, the BS-VI emission standards will be effective, the main goal of the company is to develop engines that meet those standards. Goel said:

The next plan of Honda is to introduce its all-electric vehicles to the public and the company has termed this agenda as Vision 2030. By 2030, two-thirds of the company’s global automobile unit sales will consist of electric vehicles which include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, and battery electric vehicle.