- Honda plans to sell 2 million EVs a year by 2030, while offering 20 EVs in the US by then.
- First, the automaker is pushing aggressively into hybrids, and its goal is to sell 50% hybrid versions of its CR-V, Accord, and Civic.
- Honda still has not sworn off hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and continues working on the technology with General Motors.
Honda admits, the “electrification nut is a difficult one to crack due to technology, cost, and regulatory challenges,” but the Japanese automaker promises there are lots of Honda and Acura all-electric vehicles on the way, based on a lengthy online presentation last week.
Specifically, Honda is planning to launch 30 EV models globally by 2030 with production volume of more than 2 million units annually. Over the next decade, Honda will spend some ¥5 trillion ($3.89 billion) on electrification and software technologies, while about ¥8 trillion ($6.22 billion) has been budgeted for overall R&D.
First will come gas-electric hybrids. Look for a new CR-V hybrid this year, Honda says, followed by hybrid versions of the Accord and Civic. The Civic could be seen as the replacement for the Insight hybrid, which will end production in June after selling 70,000 units since the introduction of the third-generation model in 2018. The company sees hybrids as an effective first step toward full electrification, and its goal is to sell 50% hybrid versions of the CR-V, Accord, and Civic.
“Hybrid-electric vehicles are effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and are a critical pathway toward Honda’s vision for 100% zero-emission vehicle sales in North America by 2040,” said Mamadou Diallo, vice president of auto sales at American Honda Motor Co. “Making the volume leader of our core models hybrid-electric will dramatically boost electrified sales in the Honda lineup, a strategy that will be augmented by the arrival of a Civic Hybrid in the future.”
Honda will release a hybrid version of its highly popular CR-V crossover.
Next will come all-electric vehicles—an important step for an automaker currently offering no BEVs in the US.
“In April 2021, Honda global CEO Toshihiro Mibe outlined the company’s vision for global sales of electrified vehicles as part of Honda’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality for its products and corporate activities by 2050,” Honda said in a statement April 14. “This vision calls for 40% of North American sales to be battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles by 2030, increasing to 80% by 2035, and to 100% by 2040.”
Honda’s first EVs will use GM’s Ultium technology like this battery pack. Ultium pouch cells can be stacked horizontally or vertically in modules, and are interchangeable for many different configurations.
While it sells the Honda e electric subcompact in markets outside North America, it will offer its first BEV here in the US by 2024, the Prologue SUV. An Acura version will follow, but the name of that one isn’t yet known. Both will be co-developed with GM—Honda will put its own body on the same GM Ultium skateboard, batteries, and motors that underpin the mighty GMC Hummer, though size of the Honda and Acura versions has not been announced. So while those two may be shared—just like Honda and Acura’s first SUVs were shared with or bought from Isuzu—it’s a start. Honda says its initial sales target for the Prologue is 70,000 units a year.
Honda says it will then introduce a series of electrified vehicles starting in 2026 based on its own Honda e:Architecture, including global mass-market small crossovers codeveloped with GM, with production of BEVs at Honda plants in North America. After that, specifics get slim and numbers go way, way up. “Honda will deploy 30 EV models by 2030, with more than two-thirds of those launched in China and North America.” Among those 20 will be two “sporty” entries, possibly along the lines of an NSX replacement, and something else.
Honda’s goal is to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
“This is a unique challenge for Honda, as we make not only cars and trucks, but motorcycles, a variety of power equipment products, and aircraft for our customers here and in markets around the world,” said Rick Schostek, executive vice president of Corporate Services at American Honda.
“At the same time, as we announced last year, Honda is already developing electric vehicles using our own Honda e:Architecture and they are in the pipeline. So, we’re not providing details on where the Honda derivative from the new affordable EV series will sit in the Honda lineup. What I can tell you is that our offerings will align with our customers’ and dealers’ expectations in North America and other markets where they will be introduced. And we will align it with the models we are creating based on our own e:Architecture.”
Tesla currently leads the world in electric car sales, but Honda plans to join in the chase soon.
Honda also announced a partnership with Sony last month to build electric vehicles under a new brand. No specific model plans have been released for that deal but the idea is that Honda will do the manufacturing and Sony will provide the electronics.
Honda still has not sworn off hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, either, and may include that in its mix since a hydrogen fuel cell is still an electric vehicle. Its Clarity fuel-cell vehicle did not exactly set the sales chart on fire. Nonetheless, Honda and GM continue working on a next-generation fuel-cell system.
Do you think Honda is on the right path to electrifying its lineup? Please share your thoughts below.
Mark Vaughn
Mark Vaughn grew up in a Ford family and spent many hours holding a trouble light over a straight-six miraculously fed by a single-barrel carburetor while his father cursed Ford, all its products and everyone who ever worked there. This was his introduction to objective automotive criticism. He started writing for City News Service in Los Angeles, then moved to Europe and became editor of a car magazine called, creatively, Auto. He decided Auto should cover Formula 1, sports prototypes and touring cars—no one stopped him! From there he interviewed with Autoweek at the 1989 Frankfurt motor show and has been with us ever since.
