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Comment by tim-projects | Hacker News Reader

This doesn't mention motorcycles

> For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025 (FY2025), motorcycles accounted for about 17% of total revenue, while cars made up around 65%.

I wonder what the plan is for motorcycles, where in much of Asia cars aren't really viable and there are no real competitors to Honda engine bikes.

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Honda is launching the WN7 this year. It seems like a typical Honda motorcycle: not for those obsessed with specs, but definitely a solid and well-designed bike. If I were currently looking for a mid-sized electric motorcycle, this would be my top choice for the same reasons people choose Honda for gasoline-powered motorcycles.

It's $15,000 about 15x the price of a standard gas powered Honda motorcycle. Also completely impractical for daily life in Asia.

No wonder I've not seen one yet

Yes, you’re absolutely right. The WN7 is intended more for the European market. For the Global South, something like the Zeno Emara is more suitable. Although I’d buy one right away if it were available here in Germany at a similarly affordable price. Since the beginning of the year, my perspective on e-motorcycles has shifted a bit. I ride an e-scooter to the office and have really gotten into it. Ride, charge, ride, charge, ride, charge, ride, and practically no maintenance: I find that very appealing! That’s why I took notice of the WN7.

Well, they just launched the Honda WN-7. It seems to be a commuter and fun bike. It has a limited range, so it's not a touring motorcycle but it does have fast-charging.

I watched the reviews on YouTube, and they're all quite favorable.

I'm yet to see a EV bike that can be classified as a "fun bike". Not fun and impracticle compared to pure "inner city mobility vehicle" such as Renault Twizy.

Stark Varg or any of the electric motocross/enduro bikes? People love them.

They had a ubuquitious 100cc/9hp scooter called Activa in India. Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki are a drop in the bucket in EV scooter sales and Honda's offerings are the most hilarious.

What do you mean by "hilarious"?

They are more expensive than the offerings by legacy (TVS and Bajaj make petrol and EV) and neo manufacturers and offer much less in battery, charging speed etc.

>and there are no real competitors to Honda engine bikes.

e-bikes/mopeds?

Yeah, e-bikes with thumb throttles are so good that the only reason they haven't already supplanted motorcycles is that there are ten bajillion old unkillable motorcycle engines in use.

It's a shame that US law doesn't have a nice in-between that would slot these bikes between proper e-bikes and motorcycles.

What's wrong with following motorcycle regulations?

Because e-bikes have effectively done regulatory arbitrage and the sky didn't fall. You want more people using small electric vehicles where before they would have used a car, you lower the burden to get one on the road.

Head injuries are way up.

Because owning a motorcycle is a huge pain in the ass on account of motorcycles costing a decent amount of money, weighing 300lbs, going on the highway. If a $1000 ebike can only hit 40mph and weighs less than 100lbs, why not let people just buy them and ride them with a normal drivers' license?

The ebike could meet motorcycle regulations easily and cheaply.

Ebikes definitely aren't a viable alternative in Asia yet. Most Asian countries either have no charge stations or very few. Range doesn't compare with gas motorcycles.

Hundreds of millions of motorcycles are still in active use with no real incentive to change

Genuine question, could many of them not charge at home? I own an EV and the number of charging stations near me is irrelevant to it because the 120V outlet in my garage is more than sufficient. My naive thinking is that an ebike is an order of magnitude smaller, so surely the same outlet would be even less of a limitation, right? (not to mention that many other countries have ~240V standard outlets)

Maybe the answer is truly "no, that wouldn't actually be practical for how people in those places live" for some reason, but I'm genuinely curious.

> Ebikes definitely aren't a viable alternative in Asia yet. Most Asian countries either have no charge stations or very few. Range doesn't compare with gas motorcycles.

I was in China last year and one apartment complex I stayed at had a garage full of e scooters and bikes all plugged in to charge.

The streets in China are remarkably quiet now with so many electric vehicles.

Nope, they're increasingly viable. Nearly 10M electric scooters/bikes were sold last year, with the top three players being China, India and Vietnam.

https://www.motorcyclesdata.com/2026/03/11/electric-motorcyc...

Just those 3 countries is over 3 billion people. Most of them can't afford cars

> Most Asian countries either have no charge stations or very few

I think Vinfast would like to have a word with you…

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