Honda Motor Company is testing a mobile battery pack used for powering electric rickshaws in India as part of its project on swappable battery technology for electric vehicles. This is the first time that Honda is testing its technology on three-wheelers in the country. Honda, however, has no fixed plans to launch battery-powered electric three-wheelers in India yet.

“Honda is conducting a verification testing of battery sharing business using electric rickshaws which contains swappable Honda Mobile Power Pack. The purpose of this testament is to verify the business and technological viability of battery sharing business,” said Honda Motorcycle Scooter India (HMSI).

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“As the project is currently in the testing phase, there are no fixed plans for the commercial launch which can be shared at this time,” HMSI added. Over the last couple of years, the electric rickshaw segment has seen very strong participation from traditional automotive heavyweights and start-ups. Mahindra & Mahindra, Piaggio, Omega Seiki, Kinetic Green, Altigreen, Etrio to name a few retail electric three-wheelers. Some of these models have swappable battery technology where a power-depleted battery powering an electric vehicle can be replaced by a battery that is fully charged by the user without seeking any technical help.