If you've been observing electric motorcycles for a good length of time, then you're probably aware that the legacy OEMs got off to a slow start in development. Although Zero Motorcycles is now a veritable grandaddy in the electric motorcycle space (at the ripe old age of 19 in 2025, no less), it was once a young upstart, eager to change how people thought about motorcycles.
Other EV brands have come and gone in the years since Zero was founded, but it also took nearly as long for the legacy OEMs to start rolling out EV two-wheelers of their own. Whole startup companies burned brightly and then went kablooey, seemingly before a company like Honda could begin to hit anything approaching an EV stride.
Part of that comes from a place of caution, and part of that comes from a place of analyzing the global market and making very precise, strategic moves to advance its two-wheeled EV development. While some riders would love to have an EV equivalent of a middleweight or larger combustion bike, currently available battery technology (and energy density) can't yet give the ranges that riders want in the small, nimble package they'd prefer. Also, pricing is clearly a factor, as EVs are already perceived as being quite expensive—which, of course, makes them less accessible to the average rider.
If you're a company like Honda, and it's taken you a few minutes to analyze the situation and figure out how best to get off the ground, there's also another factor to consider. That's because, if you're Honda, you currently have an approximately 40% share of the global motorcycle market. And like any good OEM, you want that market share to go up; not down.
So, your plans? They're very carefully laid.
And maybe then, after standing back and watching what competitors both big and small do, you go where the EV winds are at your back, pushing you forward—and more importantly, where they aren't headwinds, steadily sapping your range.
That's why Honda is not only doubling down on its EV motorbike development plans, and even building a dedicated factory for them—but it's doing so in India, first and foremost. For the past couple of years, India has been in the midst of a massive push to electrify as many vehicles as it can. There's a huge amount of governmental support, including of the monetary kind.
And while homegrown EV makers like Ola Electric have surged forward but also faced setbacks, Honda's been quietly waiting in the wings, watching these developments unfurl. Although some might criticize Honda for being a bit too slow and possibly overly cautious about its two-wheeled EV development, this play-it-safe approach has been part of why Honda has such an international reputation for reliability and customer support.
Something that the company, no doubt, doesn't want to place in jeopardy, even as it presses on into previously unexplored EV two-wheeler territory. It's going to do the thing, Honda says; but on Honda's terms, and no one else's.
The new, dedicated Honda EV two-wheeler factory in Bengaluru is planned to open in 2028. Some design components will be standardized, while batteries will be sourced from outside manufacturers. Honda is taking all possible measures to both increase efficiency and lower costs so that it can be as competitive as possible in the Indian EV market, according to Nikkei Asia.
But while India is the first goal, Honda also plans to expand its EV two-wheeler reach elsewhere. Instead of fighting an uphill battle, it wants to expand first into other EV-friendly markets like Indonesia and the Philippines before attempting greater global glory.
It remains to be seen how this all plays out, but to a certain way of thinking, it makes sense. If you can't be first, let your overeager competitors leap forward into the fray and show you where the pitfalls are, so you can avoid them. Then charge forward and run the whole game board, assuming you've planned correctly.
Will that be how it ultimately works out for Honda? Multiple Chinese OEMs are forces to be reckoned with in the EV space, both on four wheels and two. While it's true that few brands anywhere have the decades of reliability and stability associated with them that Honda does, for the right price (especially in the current economic climate), how much will that matter?
