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Honda's Electric Plans Include Two Sports Cars and a Pickup Truck

Honda is not only a car manufacturer. It is also a relevant motorcycle and power units producer. Think about all it will have to do to adapt these businesses to feed on electricity. The Japanese company explained its plans to achieve that and revealed it would have two sports cars and a pickup truck powered by batteries.
Among Honda's new EVs, we'll have a sports car and a pickup truck 22 photos
Photo: Honda
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Although this is what will stand out to car lovers, it is far from being the most crucial aspect of the company’s plans. These new vehicles are just 10% of the 30 EVs Honda plans to sell worldwide by 2030. Apart from the electric pickup truck, the sports cars will not help much in achieving 2 million EVs until then, as Honda plans to do.

In the next ten years, the Japanese company will invest 5 trillion yen ($39.8 billion at the current exchange rate) in electrification and software development. The total investments in R&D (research and development) in the same period will reach 8 trillion yen ($63.6 billion), which denotes that Honda will put money into more than just electrification and software.

We have a clue about that when Honda states it will invest in carbon-neutral fuels. As we have mentioned before, the company is relevant in power unit manufacturing. We should add that Honda is the world’s largest producer of these power units, which shows a big chunk of profits come from them. Investing in such fuels shows Honda expects to keep them as they currently are – which is a pity.

As we have said more than once, combustion engines are not a problem only for burning fossil fuels. Even if they burn carbon-neutral fuels such as ethanol, they’ll still produce all other pollutants the combustion process generates, such as carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, hydrocarbons, and particulates. Honda could invest in power units with fuel cells instead. Considering the company also said it would invest in this tech, that may be on the plans.

Most of Honda’s electrification efforts will be in China. It will have ten new EVs for sale there by 2027. That’s related to the Chinese government’s goals for the massive adoption of NEVs (new energy vehicles). In North America, it will sell two EVs until 2024: the Prologue and an Acura electric SUV, which will probably be the Prologue with some design differences.

In Japan, Honda will create an electric kei car for both personal and commercial uses. Honda calls it a “mini EV.” It will cost around 1 million yen ($7,955) when it is introduced by 2024. The company also plans to have an electric SUV for sale by then in its home market.

To ensure it has all the batteries it will need, Honda made a partnership with GM for North America. It is also studying a joint venture to manufacture cells in the region. In China, the Japanese company has a deal with CATL. Envision AESC is Honda’s partner in Japan for its electric kei car.

Things will start to accelerate in 2026. That’s when the carmaker will debut its Honda e: Architecture. The company did not share many details about it apart from a slide that shows it will have a software platform (a vehicle operating system) and will be able to work with OTA (over-the-air) updates.

Regarding the electric sports cars, Honda said one will be a specialty vehicle and the other a flagship. The profiles suggest a new NSX as the flagship and a very similarly shaped vehicle – although a bit taller – as the specialty EV. Honda could call it anything: Prelude may be fitting, but S2000 would imply a roadster.

Among the shapes that Honda presented to talk about the 30 electric vehicles it intends to have by 2030, we can see one in which the Ridgeline would fit perfectly. Electric pickup trucks will be essential for the American market, especially if Honda already has solid-state batteries to power them.

The Japanese company said that the development of these cells will have a demonstration line operating by spring 2024. Honda will invest 43 billion yen ($342 million) to create this pilot manufacturing line and said a car with these cells will arrive “in the second half of the 2020s.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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