Last year, Honda announced that it intends to convert all of its car sales to electric and fuel cell vehicles by 2040. To make the phase-out of gas-powered cars feasible, it needs to come up with a wide range of zero-emission vehicles for customers to choose from. Now the automaker has announced that it will spend 5 trillion yen, or about $40 billion, on its electrification efforts over the next 10 years.
in one live briefing, the company also said it plans to launch 30 EV models by 2030, with a production volume of 2 million vehicles per year. By the end of the decade, 40 percent of the fleet should consist of electric vehicles,
When TechCrunch Honda is reportedly planning to get the ball rolling in Japan by introducing an ultra-affordable mini EV model by 2024, priced around $8,000. It will also launch the Prologue and Acura electric vehicles, both of which are jointly developed with GM, in North America the same year. In early April, Honda and GM announced they were working together to jointly develop a line of affordable electric vehicles based on a global architecture and GM’s Ultium battery technology.
However, Honda has plans that don’t involve GM and is using part of its $40 billion budget to develop its own electrification platform. It is also exploring the possibility of merging with other battery production companies. In addition, the company will invest 43 billion yen (US$343 million) to build a solid-state battery demonstration line by 2024.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe has also reiterated that a large part of its electrification efforts are aimed at ensuring a solid presence in China, currently the world’s largest electric vehicle market. As the company has announced in the past, Mibe said Honda will launch 10 new models in China under its e:N Series brand by 2027. The company will also build plants in Guagzhou and Wuhan to manufacture its electric vehicles for the country.
This article was previously published on Source link
