Honda Will Go Fully Electric For All Its Market, Including The Philippines By 2040

Honda is going all in on battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCV) by 2040 for all its markets, including the Philippines. The target was announced by Honda’s newly-minted President and Representative Director, Toshihiro Mibe during his inaugural press conference.

The ambitious goal is part of the Japanese automaker’s goal to become carbon neutral for all its products and corporate activities by 2050. The “zero environmental impact” will cover the entire product lifecycle, down to the usage of 100 percent sustainable materials.

According to Honda’s electrification road map, 40 percent of North American and China sales will be purely electric (or powered by hydrogen) by 2030, 80 percent by 2035, and 100 percent by 2040. Meanwhile, Japan will walk on a slightly different beat with EV/FCV reaching 20 percent of total by 2030, 80 percent by 2035, and 100 percent by 2040.

In order to achieve these goals, Honda will be utilizing a multi-prong strategy. For instance, it has teamed up with GM to develop two large-sized EV models (one Honda and one Acura) using the latter’s Ultium batteries. Meanwhile, in Japan, the slower roll out of EV/FCV is down to the prevalence of kei cars in the market. That said, they will be rolling out a fully-electric kei car by 2024. Globally though, it will roll out its e:Architecture platform which will spawn a series of battery electric models.

Platform aside, Honda is also investing on the development of solid-state batteries which will realize longer range and lower cost for EVs. These are expected to be rolled out in “creative mover” products which include the Odyssey and StepWGN.

In order for Honda to keep making progress in initiatives, they will aggressively invest in R&D. They have announced that regardless of fluctuations in their sales revenue, they will invest 5 trillion yen as part of their research and development expense over the next six years.

Source: Car Guides PH