Honda traveled to the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan today to unveil its first European model with electric drivetrain, the Honda EM1.
The Honda EM1 unveiled in Milan
Electrek was on hand at the show to visit Honda’s stand and see the new electric model in the flesh.
In a storm of creativity, Honda has named the new electric two-wheeler using an abbreviation of Electric Moped 1. The EM1 will become the brand’s first electric model in Europe when it is released next summer.
It’s the first of 10 new Honda electric motorcycles that the company has promised to unveil by 2025.
If you can’t wait that long and want to hear the specs now, you’ll be deeply disappointed. Honda plays the EM1 close to the vest and hasn’t released many tech specs yet. The two main pieces of information we have are that it will use the Honda Mobile Power Pack as the battery and that the scooter will have a range of 40 km (25 miles).
I was able to take these photos of the new bike at the Honda stand, but no one shared many details.
With just one of Honda’s MPP batteries, the scooter shouldn’t be very powerful.
The range of 40 km (25 mile) is also likely to be figured at low speeds. In fact, it is highly likely that the scooter will hit the European market with a top speed of 45 km/h (28 mph) to be classified as an L1e-B moped.
We can also glean some information just by looking at the scooter. There’s a rear hub motor that’s probably a nod to affordability, a seat big enough for a second rider with matching footpegs, and a rear rack that should come in handy for adding cargo or a rear trunk.
Although we don’t know much about the technical side of the scooter, Honda has made it clear that the company will be using the EM1 to target younger riders.
As the company explained to the press:
The model is resolutely aimed at a young population, looking for easy and fun urban transport. It is compact, with a flat floor, with a smooth style which marks its difference and its unique identity within the Honda range. Perfect for short city trips and for making commutes to work or college efficient, quiet and emission-free, the EM1 e: perfectly syncs with modern expectations for urban mobility.
What’s less clear is whether Honda plans to bring its battery swap stations to Europe or whether riders will simply charge the scooter’s MPP battery at home.
Honda has developed a Gogoro-style battery charging station that can provide quick swaps for depleted batteries. That would be ideal for the young audience Honda is targeting, which includes apartment dwellers who often lack ground-level charging at home.
Honda has recently caught up with the rest of the electric motorcycle industry.
While the brand has been late to the game, a series of interesting patent applications have revealed several designs for new electric mopeds and even shared electric scooters.
With several more electric motorcycles set to be unveiled in the next few years, Honda will likely soon offer a series of electric scooters, larger electric mopeds and fully electric motorcycles.
These models could join Honda’s existing small-format electric scooters that are currently available in Asia, but have so far failed to penetrate Western markets.
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