Emobi Deploys 100 Electric Scooters in Bengaluru in Partnership with Musashi and Honda Unit

Emobi Manufactury Pvt. Ltd. has deployed 100 AKX Kyari electric scooters in Bengaluru, combining Musashi India's e-axle technology with a battery-swapping network operated by Honda Power Pack Energy India Pvt. Ltd. (HEID). The company says the deployment is intended to reduce operating costs for last-mile logistics operators while creating income opportunities for individual riders in the city.

The vehicles have been manufactured for Tekinverse, which leases them to rider-partners through the gig logistics platform Muvnw under a micro-fleet model. The arrangement is structured to give riders access to vehicles without requiring ownership, while keeping fleet availability consistent through defined service-level agreements, trained maintenance engineers, and roadside assistance. Emobi says the model is designed so that lower running costs allow riders to retain more of their earnings compared to fuel-dependent alternatives.

The AKX Kyari scooter is rated for an IDC range of 106 km, a top speed of 80 km/h, and acceleration from 0 to 60 km/h in 12 seconds. It is powered by a 3.7 kW peak motor and runs on 1.5 kWh dual swappable battery packs, with a synchronised braking system for added safety. Emobi positions the vehicle's performance as comparable to conventional 125cc petrol scooters, making it a direct substitute for existing two-wheelers used in delivery operations across Indian cities.

The battery-swapping service is provided through HEID's Honda e:Swap station network, which uses the Honda Mobile Power Pack e: and Honda Power Pack Exchanger e:. HEID describes the model as Battery as a Service (BaaS), which removes the cost of a battery from the vehicle's upfront purchase price and eliminates the long-term concern of battery degradation and replacement. The approach also reduces the downtime associated with conventional plug-in charging, which can be a practical constraint for riders working on delivery schedules.

Bharath Rao, CEO and Co-Founder of Emobi, framed the deployment as part of a broader push toward scalable microentrepreneurship. "By integrating high-performance EV technology with reliable battery-swapping and strong local service, we are building an ecosystem where electric mobility becomes the most accessible, efficient, and profitable choice for every rider," he said. The company's stated goal is to make electric two-wheelers the default economic choice for last-mile logistics, rather than a subsidised or niche option.

Naoya Nishimura, CEO of Musashi India and Africa Region, said the deployment reflects the potential of India-developed engineering in the broader EV transition. "Our partnership with Emobi demonstrates how localised e-axle engineering, combined with a robust battery-swapping ecosystem, can unlock dependable and high-uptime EV solutions for last-mile logistics," he said. Musashi India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan's Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co., Ltd., is the country's largest manufacturer of two-wheeler and four-wheeler transmission components, and serves most of the major global automotive OEMs operating in India. The company has expanded into electric and autonomous vehicle components as part of a broader strategic shift by its Japan-based parent.

Tomohide Haraguchi, Vice President and CTO of HEID, pointed to the operational benefits of combining battery swapping with an automotive-grade drivetrain. "This solution cuts charging downtime during B2B operation, lowers vehicle upfront costs by removing battery purchase, and eliminates future battery replacement worries," he said. HEID is a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Japan, and was established specifically to accelerate battery-swapping adoption in India. It draws on Honda's existing expertise in mobile power pack technology, developed initially for international markets, and has been building out a network of swap stations across Indian cities.

The deployment in Bengaluru comes at a point when India's logistics sector is under increasing pressure to reduce fuel costs and emissions, particularly in urban areas where two- and three-wheelers dominate last-mile delivery. A number of EV manufacturers, fleet operators, and battery infrastructure companies have entered this segment over the past few years, though scale, vehicle reliability, and the availability of charging or swapping infrastructure have remained consistent challenges. Models that separate battery ownership from vehicle ownership — as HEID's BaaS approach does — have emerged as one possible route to reducing barriers for operators and riders.

Emobi says it plans to scale its micro-factory and micro-fleet service model to additional metro cities, with Delhi NCR identified as the next target market, ahead of further product expansions. The company, which was founded in Karnataka and focuses on last-mile delivery, passenger transport, and utility vehicles, has a management team with backgrounds spanning automotive, telecoms, renewables, and energy storage. It manufactures using what it describes as frugal engineering and lean manufacturing processes, with a stated aim of making vehicles affordable for community-level deployment rather than premium fleet operators.

The three-way collaboration between a domestic EV startup, a global drivetrain supplier, and a Honda subsidiary points to a model in which international component and infrastructure expertise is applied to vehicles designed and assembled locally. Whether that model can be replicated at the scale needed to shift urban logistics away from petrol-powered two-wheelers will likely depend on how quickly battery-swapping networks can expand and how effectively operating costs can be maintained as fleets grow.