Honda partners HPCL for battery swapping stations

Three months after announcing its plans for entering the battery swapping business in India, Honda Power Pack Energy India, a new subsidiary of Honda Motor Co for battery sharing service has announced partnership with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), a Maharatna Oil & Gas Public Sector undertaking.

The partners have entered into commercial agreement to collaborate in the field of e-mobility and provide battery sharing services in HPCL’s retail outlets in major cities across India. This the Japanese company says marks the global debut of its battery sharing service and HPCL has been chosen as preferred partner.

It maybe recollected that Honda had announced its plan to begin battery sharing service in India starting with electric three-wheelers through its newly established subsidiary. The battery sharing service will enable rickshaw drivers to stop by at the nearest battery swapping stations being setup across the selected cities and swap discharged batteries (Honda Mobile Power Pack e:) with fully charged ones. The use of this service will significantly reduce drivers’ initial cost to purchase EV as well as reducing concern about running out of batteries.

The partners says it plans to start its Battery as a Service (BaaS) business on commercial basis from Bangalore in the first half of 2022. Honda will set up strong network of battery swap stations at strategic locations like HPCL’s retail outlets. Initially, the focus will be on the three-wheeler segment and would eventually expand to two-wheelers as well. For this purpose, Honda has been developing its ties with multiple OEMs in various applications.

Kiyoshi Ito, president and CMD, Honda Power Pack Energy India said that he is looking forward to a long-lasting partnership and friendship between Honda and HPCL to bring the reliable and customer centric battery sharing service in India and to ensure a greener future.

Rajnish Mehta, ED - Corporate Strategy Planning and Business Development, HPCL said that HPCL is already committed to become a net zero company by 2040 and the partnerships with global players like Honda will be instrumental in achieving this target.