Honda to focus its efforts and bring massive corporate muscle to the electric motorcycle segment.
At the end of 2023 the company provided a briefing on the plans for Honda electric motorcycles. Turns out they are substantial.
First the big numbers. Honda had previously announced an annual production target of 3.5 million electric motorcycles by 2030. That number has jumped to 4 million electric electric motorcycles produced annually by 2030. Next comes new about the bikes they plan to sell because right now the options are slim pickings. To bolster the options and reach that annual target, the company says they will introduce 30 new electric motorcycles over the next six years. While a large portion of these offering will be small, limited speed urban transportation options like the concept SC e:Concept scooter show, Honda claims they will also introduce electric motorcycles in the super sport, naked, off-road and ATV categories to create a full line-up of offerings.
That all sounds good, but it also sounds like many other manufacturers plans for the electric segment. There was one bit of interesting news in the briefing and it was tucked way down the bottom, the company states that they will strive to reduce the cost of some Honda electric motorcycles by 50% compared to the current cost of comparable models. That is promising news as one of the characteristics most current offering from the big OEMs, and many of the niche ones, is the high price tags often found dangling from the handlebar. Part of the cost savings is said to come from the opening of electric dedicate plants building bikes on shorter assembly lines combined with the modularization technology and procurement changes.
The briefing statement ended with this line, “Please keep your expectations high for electric motorcycles Honda will deliver to its customers in the years to come!”.
Okay, we will.