Honda to release 30 electrified models by 2030
Honda has concretised its electric plans. According to the Japanese company, they want to bring 30 battery-electric and hybrid-electric models onto the market worldwide by 2030 and achieve a sales volume of more than two million electric cars per year with these in the same year.
As the carmaker announced following a briefing “on the business of automotive electrification”, the company will invest around five trillion yen (equivalent to around 36.5 billion euros) in the areas of electrification and software technologies over the next ten years. Honda wants to reshape its portfolio in such a way that the focus will shift from the one-off hardware sales business to the recurring business. In other words, Honda wants to continue to earn money with the software over the usable life of the (electric) car.
The Japanese carmaker is planning to build plants for electric cars in China, specifically in Guangzhou and Wuhan – the plans for Wuhan were announced in January. Up to 120,000 electric cars per year are to be built there with partner Dongfeng from 2024. For the Chinese market, Honda announces in the strategy update that it will further strengthen its cooperation with CATL.
North America is also to have its own production line for electric vehicles, but there are no details on this yet. For North America, Honda has so far cooperated with GM and wants to use its Ultium platform for electric vehicles. In early April, the two partners agreed to also build more affordable electric cars from 2027. In January it also became known that Honda and the South Korean cell manufacturer LG Energy Solution are negotiating a joint battery factory in the USA.
For its home market in Japan, Honda wants to buy batteries for ‘mini EVs’ from Envision AESC. Such a vehicle in the price range of less than one million yen (7,320 euros) is to be presented in 2024. After that, more mini EVs and electric SUVs are to be introduced. Honda, however, does not mention the planned electric car cooperation with Sony.
Europe does not play a major role in the announcement, although the company recently achieved its transition to a completely electrified portfolio with the presentation of the eleventh Civic generation – Honda no longer sells pure combustion cars in this country, but at least hybrids.
In addition to cell plans with partners, Honda is also pushing ahead with its own battery developments: Honda will also build a demonstration line for the production of solid-state batteries, which is scheduled to go into operation in spring 2024.
With its own battery know-how, Honda plans to adapt next-generation batteries to vehicle models coming onto the market in the second half of the decade, according to the statement. These are then likely to include vehicles on the pure EV platform e:Architecture, which is to be used for the first time in 2026.
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