Honda Motor Co. said at a live conference on Monday evening that it will launch 30 electric car models by 2030, with a manufacturing volume of more than 2 million vehicles per year. Over the next ten years, the Japanese manufacturer plans to invest $40 billion (5 trillion yen) in electrification, including developing its own electrification architecture and researching new development prospects in space exploration, eVTOL, avatar robots, and other areas.
According to Toshihiro Mibe, Honda’s CEO, the company will invest around $64 billion (8 trillion yen) in research and development over the next decade, as well as an additional $80 million (10 billion yen) per year in startups that could help the automaker expand its business and shift from selling products alone to offering combined solutions. Last month, Honda announced a partnership with Sony to develop and market electric vehicles.
At the briefing, Honda SVP Kohei Takeuchi stated that the company will rely on external finance options if needed. Honda said last month that it will issue $2.75 billion in USD-denominated Green Bonds to fund the development and manufacture of zero-emission vehicles. Honda said in June 2021 that it will phase out gas-powered vehicles entirely by 2040. On Monday, Honda covered a lot of territory, including plans for battery development, the commercialization of its tiny EV, and more, so let’s take a look at the automaker’s new electrification strategy.
By 2024, Honda plans to offer a ridiculously inexpensive mini-EV vehicle for commercial usage in Japan, with a price tag of $8,000 (1 million yen). Honda will next begin to roll out personal use mini-EVs and EV SUVs, according to the firm. According to Mibe, Honda is first selling this car for business usage since Japan lacks the charging infrastructure needed to implement a large-scale EV deployment. Honda also hopes to offer two mid-to-large EV cars in North America by the same year – a Honda Prologue SUV and an Acura SUV – that are now being developed with General Motors and will be cost-competitive with internal combustion engine vehicles.
Honda and GM announced a cooperation last week to co-develop electric vehicles in North America by 2027, based on GM’s Ultium platform that would cost under $30,000. In addition, the manufacturer has stated that it would construct a dedicated EV production line in North America.
In addition, Mibe reaffirmed Honda’s prior pledge to launch 10 new electric vehicles in China under the e: N Series by 2027, with two of them, planned to go on sale this year. To boost manufacturing in one of its most significant markets, Honda plans to create a specialized EV facility in Guangzhou and Wuhan. According to Takeuchi, Honda is also aiming to offer two electric sports vehicles, a specialist and a flagship model, by the middle of the decade, although it’s unclear if these cars will be as inexpensive as the others Honda is planning to release shortly.
