Honda has confirmed that their first production electric scooter will come into existence as early as 2018.
The recent comments made by Honda’s president and CEO Mr Takahira Hachigo, there will be a lot more electric and hybrid motorcycles in the works as part of their effort for the future.
Rumours have also been circulating that their next generation Goldwing will indeed be a hybrid variant powered by a 1,200cc petrol electric engine with an additional electric motor.
According to a recent report made by Visordown, Honda’s President and CEO Mr Takahira Hachigo has finalised all the necessary details to put launch their latest electric-powered scooter for 2018 in an effort to promote more sales and awareness towards electric vehicles worldwide.
In the article, it was mentioned that almost all of the manufacturer’s vehicles will either be fully electric or hybrid variants. The technology and move towards eco-friendly transportations will see effect on their motorcycles as well with the next battery-powered scooter to be launched as early as 2018.
According to Takahira Hachigo himself, he stated “We are currently working on the research and development of a highly-convenient system for electric commuters, which feature a detachable mobile battery that is easy to replace and/or recharge. We are considering to conduct demonstration testing of this mobile battery in collaboration with the Japan Post Co., Ltd. in Japan.”
Based on that statement alone, we can safely assume that it’s not just going to be a one-off project. Instead, there will be an entire fleet of electric and hybrid motorcycles in the works from the giant Japanese motorcycle manufacturer.
There are also rumours floating around the next generation Goldwing will implement such technology. The super tourer will be equipped with a hybrid 1,200cc petrol-electric hybrid four-cylinder together with another electric motor as backup. Now, we know for a fact that Honda has great electrical experience thanks to Mugen’s successful racing effort in the Isle of Man TT Zero series. It won’t be a surprised if that technology is transferred for their road motorcycles in the very near future.
With all that being said, their first all-electric production motorcycle will in fact be a scooter. Looks like the future is bright in the world of motorcycles and it is electrifying.
