The QC3 will be presented as the brand’s flagship electric scooter in India with a fixed 3 kWh battery pack and fast-charging compatibility
Honda 2-Wheelers India has unveiled the QC3 electric scooter in the country. It is the Japanese brand’s third all-electric model in the Indian market after the Activa e: and QC1. The launch date has not been announced yet, but we expect Honda QC1 to go on sale within FY27 in India to rival the likes of TVS iQube, Bajaj Chetak, Ather 450, and Hero Vida V2. The QC1 electric scooter could be priced between Rs 1.10-1.25 lakh (ex-showroom) in our country due to bigger battery pack, longer range and modern connectivity features.
First things first, Honda QC1 will be powered by a 3 kWh battery pack which will return an IDC range of 145 km on a full charge. It will take nearly 2 hours and 40 mins for a 0-80 percent charge while a complete (100%) juice-up will consume 4 hours. Some of the notable elements on-board the e-scooter will be 32-litre under-seat storage, Smart Key, and a 5-inch TFT cluster with turn-by-turn navigation and Honda RoadSync.
Honda presently retails QC1 and Activa e in the Indian market. The QC1 is offered with a fixed 1.5 kWh battery pack which delivers max range of 80 km on a single charge while the top speed is 50 kmph. The price tag of Rs 90,708 (ex-showroom) makes it Honda’s most affordable electric scooter in India. Hence, it is quite obvious that with a larger battery pack and higher range, the QC3 will be positioned above the QC1.
On the other hand, the Activa e is powered by two detachable batteries of 1.5 kWh each which ensure a range of 102 km in one go. There is no option of home charging of these battery packs and the customer has to soley rely on the brand’s battery swapping network, which is still in the nascent stages. Further, the starting price of Rs 1.20 lakh (ex-showroom) makes it a totally impractical offering.
Therefore, Honda has a great opportunity to cash in the growing popularity of electric scooters in India with the QC3. It has been learnt that, despite being manufactured locally in India, the e-scooter will be launched in a phase-wise manner in our market. It will not be available in every city of India right from the launch, and the availability in tier 2 and 3 cities will be expanded gradually.
Presently, the electric scooter segment is dominated by legacy players such as TVS, Bajaj and Hero. While the iQube and Orbiter from TVS have been ruling the roost, the Chetak EV has also enjoyed massive popularity in the electric two-wheeler market. Honda is the only mainstream brand to not have a mass-market model in this segment as even its other Japan-based counterparts like Suzuki and Yamaha have presence in this category.
