Honda has pledged to invest $64 billion to develop seven bespoke electric vehicles, which it plans to launch by 2030 on its way to selling only EVs and fuel-cell vehicles after 2040. However, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus within the company that there is enough demand for EVs, which is reflected in its limited selection of available battery-powered models.
This is true for Japan’s home market but also for North America, where Honda sells two vehicles (the Prologue and the Acura ZDX), both of which are made by General Motors on the Ultium platform. Whenever Honda’s top executives come out to speak about selling fully electric vehicles, it always sounds like a mixed message that, in part, reaffirms the brand’s commitment to electrification while also suggesting it’s not yet convinced this is the way.
I feel like EV could be like Car version 2.0 but all I’m seeing is Car version 1.2. Maybe because they’ve driven themselves into a profit corner where basically anything they do that isn’t exactly what they are doing stands to lose money. It’s a mismatch between what the market wants (smaller, lower cost, safe, cars in all form factors that prioritize user experience and forgo ‘luxury features’) and what companies are optimized to deliver (big gas vehicles with loads of bells and whistles that look good in commercials).