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The Japanese automaker, Honda will enter the electric vehicle market in India with an all-new electric SUV based on the Elevate. This model will be the brand’s first model under its new Project ACE (Asian Compact Electric). Scheduled to be launched by 2026, the Honda ElevateEV (Codenamed DG9D) will be produced at Honda’s Tapukara production facility in Rajasthan.
The Tapukara production unit will also work as an export hub, as the new Elevate EV will also be exported to select international markets including Japan. Honda aims to produce around 1 lakh units of the EV every year out of which, 60-70% will be for export markets. At the launch event of Honda Elevate ICE in 2023, the Japanese brand confirmed that it will introduce 5 electric SUVs in India by 2030 starting from 2026.
Honda will tweak the existing Elevate platform for an electric vehicle. This will help the company to achieve cost competitiveness, as it won’t require heavy investment and retooling of the existing production line-up to create an all-new electric SUV.
Upon launch, the Elevate EV will compete against the upcoming Hyundai Creta EV which is likely to be launched in 2024-25. Adding to it, the EV will rival the Tata Curvv EV, Maruti Suzuki eVX and the Mahindra BE.05.
Although no official image has come out for the upcoming Elevate EV, it is expected to retain its overall silhouette as the petrol-powered Elevate. The SUV will receive several EV-specific design changes to look different from the ICE version. It is most likely to share styling cues from the global Honda electric SUVs. The electric SUV is likely to feature a battery pack of around 40-50kWh capacity with a front-axle mounted electric motor. We expect the new model to offer a range of over 400km on a single charge.
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