Honda wants to kiss the engine goodbye by 2040, plans new EV platform
While it works with GM, Honda has its own electric car platform in the works as it aims to ditch fossil fuels.
Honda on Friday laid out ambitious targets for its business: It wants to phase out all engines in production cars by 2040. According to Honda's new CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, a mix of electric vehicles and fuel-cell powertrains will take their place.
The specific goals call for Honda to ramp up its share of EV and fuel-cell vehicles in the coming years, starting with 40% of all cars sold globally featuring one of the zero-emissions powertrains by 2030. The share under these plans moves to 80% by 2035 and finally 100% by 2040, effectively ending the internal-combustion engine at Honda. Can VTEC kick in with batteries?
The automaker again confirmed it has two large EV models under joint development with GM and publicly disclosed for the first time that one will be for Honda -- and the other for Acura. Rumor has it they'll be a pair of electric SUVs GM will also build for Honda at two of its North America production sites. However, Honda won't simply task GM with all the EV development work.
The company said it plans for a new electric car platform in the second half of this decade dubbed the "e:Architecture." We'll see a "series" of new EVs based on the platform in the years to come. Honda said it'll first launch in North America before heading to other parts of the world. In tandem, Mibe said the company will launch extensive research and development initiatives into solid-state batteries -- with the goal of putting such a battery into production by decade's end. On the hydrogen side, Honda plans to continue working with GM via another joint venture: a focus on commercial trucks and other power sources.
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