If you spend any time visiting Thailand or Vietnam, you will see scooters and small-displacement motorbikes absolutely everywhere. Many of them (though by no means all) are already Hondas; you'll see Waves and Scoopys in abundance; many of which are 110s.
For city life in particular, little bikes like these are pretty nearly unrivaled. Traffic congestion is so serious that even if you had the money to spend on a larger bike, there wouldn't be much point. In fact, it might almost be as frustrating as having a 4WD and snow tires in winter weather on roads where absolutely no one seems to be able to cope with winter driving in a competent way.
It's all about having the right tool for the situation, you know?
And so, if you're Honda and you've got serious carbon footprint reduction goals in mind, one thing you're going to want to do is address the motorbike needs of Thailand and Vietnam pretty early on. There are literally millions of riders you can potentially reach, who ride their bikes every single day, rain or shine. That's why Honda's hoping to reach them with its new fixed-battery EV scooter, the UC3.
It's a 110cc-equivalent machine, and it's completely plug-and-play, using CHAdeMO chargers in 1200W and 450W strengths. Obviously, the 1200W chargers will offer faster charging time than the 450W ones, but depending on where Honda deploys the infrastructure it's building out in both countries, that may matter more or less.
According to Honda, going from 20 to 80 percent of a full charge can be done in just two hours at a 1200W charger, or 5 hours at a 450W charger. If you instead want to go to 100% of a full charge, the time requirement increases to 4 hours at a 1200W charger, or 9 hours at a 450W charger.
Locating these chargers in parking complexes for apartments, schools, and other places where people are likely to spend long amounts of time in one place seems essential. Simply sticking them at your local 7-11 or gas station probably won't cut it with charge times like those.
The battery in use in the UC3 is a fixed lithium ion phosphate (LFP) unit, which powers a 6.0kW hub-mounted motor with regen, all developed in-house by Honda. The first UC3s will all be built by Honda Thailand, though the plan is to also manufacture them in Vietnam as well.
What kind of range will the UC3 have? According to Honda, it should be good for around 122 kilometers on a single charge, which is about 75 miles. Even assuming a certain amount of OEM optimism in that figure, that's still a pretty reasonable amount for a little commuter scooter that's meant to function in stop-and-go city traffic. If the actual range is anywhere close to that amount, it could help to make a compelling case for adoption of this new scoot.
The design is sleek, modern, and clearly echoes some of the same language found in the Honda WN7, only of course in a bite-sized EV scooter form factor. Three different ride modes are included: Standard, Sport, and Econ, and while it's twist-and-go all the way down, riders may also be happy to note that there's a Reverse gear that can be engaged to help with parking.
Pricing and availability information have yet to be announced, but it's also worth noting here that Honda has already mentioned that it's working on getting a battery recycling program in place for its EV two-wheelers, including this one. If you (like me) have ever fretted over that part of EV ownership as well, we'll both probably want to keep an eye on how that program develops over time.
If you're in Thailand or Vietnam, are you looking forward to trying a UC3 for yourself? Would you try one where you live if you could? Let us know in the comments.
