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HONDA'S ELECTRIC MOPED - IS IT THE STUFF OF ELECTRIC DREAMS?

BY Lucy England ON 15 November 2023

Here are a few words about Honda's new model EV aimed at younger riders. The EM1e is billed by Honda as a fun, practical and convenient mode of town transport.

It is, obviously, emission-free and boasts a swap-able mobile power pack for ease of use which weighs in at 10kg and can be easily carried and replaced with a useful carry-handle.

There is an in-wheel electric motor, supplying the drive with a usable range of 41.3km and a top speed of 45.0km/h. As you might expect from Honda, there are a lot of useful features like a digital instrument panel, USB socket, pillion footpegs for your passenger and a rear carrier and underseat compartment for storage.

The EM1e is the first Honda EV for European riders and is really aimed at younger riders, offering them an uncomplicated urban runaround. Honda are promising a range of 10 or more electric powered two wheelers by 2025 and carbon neutrality for all it's motorcycles in the 2040's.

The 'EM' in the bike's moniker stands for 'electric moped' as you may probably have guessed, and it's designed to be ideal for short trips round an urban landscape. So it looks to be great for students who might, for example, be making daily short trips to college or going out and about in the town on short journeys of around 30km or under - with the bonus of not polluting the atmosphere as they go.

Motorcycles, scooters and mopeds are always a great solution for towns, as they can quietly bypass traffic snarl-ups and are a lot easier to park.

Features
The Honda EM1e has a conventional steel underbone frame, twin shocks, telescopic forks and disc front/drum rear brakes. All pretty standard moped fare so far, just without the ICE.

The real changes come with the electric in-wheel motor and the Honda power pack, which just lifts out for easy charging at home in the specific Honda charging unit.

There's also an innovation, which Honda says is aimed at making sure customers don't have to deal with the eventual disposal of the power pack. This is that the whole machine, power pack etc will be available on a lease, rent or subscription basis, depending on the country it is sold in. Honda says that this will give customers peace of mind regarding the on-going performance of the power pack and it's eventual disposal.

The 2023 (23YM) EM1e comes in either Pearl Sunbeam White, Digital Silver Metallic or Matte Ballistic Black Metallic, complete with a power pack and charger ready for 2,500 charges.

Each charge offers capability for 41.3km normal or 48.0km Econ riding, under Honda's own internal test conditions and the battery is designed to easily withstand different temperatures, humidity, vibration and impacts.

Charging from 0 to max takes around 6 hours and from 25% to 75% only 2.7 hours so you can be out again before very long or just charge overnight inside.

All in all it's a practical little machine, designed to be lightweight and durable with easy handling for good town manoeuverability.

What do you think of it? Would you give one a try? Are you contemplating electric motorcycles, or a firm ICE fan?
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