Honda Activa e and QC1 electric scooters didn’t live up to the company’s expectations as the sales never really took off in the country
Honda Activa Electric was launched earlier this year in the Indian market at a price point of Rs 1.17 lakh (ex-showroom). Now, it has been learnt that the company has temporarily stopped the production of the electric scooter due to zero sales in the last few months. According to the SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) data available, Honda has not produced a single unit of the Activa e: from August 2025 onwards. In addition, Honda QC1 production has also come to a halt due to unsold inventory.
The SIAM data further reveals that Honda had produced a total of 11,168 units of the electric duo between Feb-Jul 2025. However, it could only retail 5,201 units of these models during the six months period in the country. Hence, as evident, more than half of the inventory remains unsold and it could be the foremost reason for stopping the production of the Activa e and QC1.
Honda Activa electric was launched with a detachable battery pack in just three cities namely Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The company had set up its battery swapping stations in these cities for the customers. It was also believed that ‘Activa’ branding will help the brand to achieve higher sales but the e-scooter failed to perform and the sales never really took off.
Honda had also reduced the rental price packages in order to boost the sales numbers. It was also reported widely in the media that the brand is also contemplating introduction of a home charger for the Activa electric. However, despite these efforts, the electric scooter didn’t find buyers as battery swapping is not something that has been accepted by the general people in India as of now.
If we take a closer look at the sales data, Honda QC1 performed much better than the Activa e: as it comes with a fixed battery pack which can be charged at home as well. Out of the total 5,201 units, the QC1 accounted for 4,461 units while only 740 units of the Activa electric were dispatched to the dealers. It can be assumed that lower price, fixed battery pack and portable charger helped the cause of QC1.
Presently, Honda is the only legacy brand to offer battery tech in the Indian market. However, for it to succeed, a vast infrastructure of battery swapping stations is required so that the buyers can replace the discharged battery with a fully charged one. Hence, we can witness a rather aggressive approach from Honda in future to tackle this situation and improve battery swapping infrastructure across the country.
